PRESS RELEASE
November 1, 1995
New way of cleaning ventilation
ducts helps cure sick buildings

In a third of office buildings and a quarter of apartment blocks, the ventilation is inferior. Airflows that are too low, and interior air that is polluted are thought by many researchers to be the real cause of the West's many ‘sick buildings'. A new Swedish method of cleaning ventilation ducts using rotating brushes and compressed air could be very important for improving interior climates. The company involved is now seeking agents in the UK.

So far, no-one has found an effective and economic system for cleaning ventilation ducts in buildings. Soot brushing or similar processes are time-consuming and do not work very well.
Now, the Swedish company Prime Clean AB, in association with the Royal Technical University in Stockholm, has developed a cleaning nozzle with brushes set right at the end. The nozzle is designed so that an internal drive unit is set in rotation and compressed air is ejected through a rearwards-facing orifice. It is therefore propelled through the ducts in much the same manner as a jet aircraft. With a rotary speed of 15 - 20,000 rev/min, the cleaning nozzle travels around inside the ducting and effectively cleans the whole duct on its way.
Up to 50 m can be cleaned, which reduces the need for expensive access hatches. Dirt in the ducting is blown out by the compressed air when the nozzle is pulled back and collected in a dust-bag. Other types of ducting, such as water or transport ducts, can also be cleaning in this manner.
Problems with ventilation ducts mean that almost without exception they are the one place in a building that is never cleaned. Air is contaminated with moulds and bacteria which thrive in damp and dirty places, as well as with dust and other deposits which begin to collect in the ducting from the first day the ventilation is switched on. And, because people today often spend the majority of their time indoors, the situation is made worse.
‘From the beginning of 1993, inspection of all mechanically-switched ventilation systems became obligatory in Sweden', explained Jonas Sjöberg, Managing Director of Prime Clean AB. ‘There is a very great need for effective cleaning. In Stockholm, for instance, there are ventilation systems in 40 per cent of offices and 35 percent of apartment houses'.
‘Cleaning all the ducting and the blower provides a better indoor climate as well as improved efficiency, which gives better operational economy for the ventilation system. And there's no reason to think that things are any different in the rest of Europe. The market is therefore enormous, to put it mildly', thinks Sjöberg, who is now actively seeking sales and service agencies for cleaning equipment in other European countries./ins

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For further information please contact:
Jonas Sjöberg, Managing Director
Prime Clean AB
Box 13
S-770 14 Nyhammar
Sweden
Tel: +46 240 40500
Fax: +46 240 41320
Mobile: 070 - 536 7960


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