Indus­trial laun­dries are hot, dusty and humid. Laundry is sorted, cleaned, ironed, starched, folded and loaded. At Rentex, that’s around 500 metric tons per week, mainly for hospi­tals and care facil­i­ties. A lot of textile dust gets into the air, espe­cially at work­sta­tions where employees pre-sort towels, bed sheets and clothing. This is compounded by high temper­a­tures in the processing hall during the summer: “We’ve had temper­a­tures of up to 40 degrees in there on occa­sion,” says Titus Mulder.

The employees are the reason for Rentex’s success. I see it as my respon­si­bility to ensure good working condi­tions so that everyone feels comfort­able.

Titus Mulder, CEO Rentex

The company has been part of his family for more than 100 years; he is the fourth gener­a­tion to run it and feels a close bond with his employees: “They are the reason for Rentex’s success. I see it as my respon­si­bility to ensure good working condi­tions so that everyone feels comfort­able.” So he went looking for a solu­tion to keep temper­a­tures comfort­ably low and filter dust out of the air. During a visit to a laundry in Germany, he spotted air purifi­ca­tion units from Zehnder Clean Air Solu­tions on the ceiling. “The air was clean, pleas­antly cool and no heat was building up. So I called Zehnder straight away and said: I want those too!” Freek de Vroet, the area manager at Zehnder, suggested four Zehnder CleanAir 3 Max units with a CARA digital connec­tion for the sorting facility.

Freek and Titus talk to the Rentex employees. “You are the reason for our success,” says Titus. (Image | Judith Jockel / Fotogloria)

Four Zehnder CleanAir 3 Max air purifi­ca­tion units are installed above the sorting plant, where they filter textile dust from the air. (Image | Judith Jockel / Fotogloria)

“I can check Zehnder CARA on my office PC at any time and see that the units are keeping the air perfectly clean,” says Titus Mulder. (Image | Judith Jockel / Fotogloria)

The employees are happy, as are Freek and Titus. They are already plan­ning to install addi­tional air purifi­ca­tion devices. (Image | Judith Jockel / Fotogloria)

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Measur­ably better

A fan in the air puri­fiers draws the air in the hall through several filters to remove dust. It has a MODBUS inter­face that enables it to send and receive data, meaning that para­me­ters such as speed and current draw can be moni­tored at all times. Sensors also measure the PM10 content in the ambient air. These are parti­cles that are only between 0.1 and 1 microm­e­ters in size — in this case, fine textile dust.

The data is analyzed in real time and visu­al­ized on a clear dash­board around the clock. That’s Zehnder CARA, our plat­form for digital air purifi­ca­tion.

Freek de Vroet, Area Manager at Zehnder

The recorded data is collated and then sent in encrypted form to the NEXAIRA Cloud via an ebm-papst gateway. “There, it is analyzed in real time and visu­al­ized on a clear dash­board around the clock. That’s Zehnder CARA, our plat­form for digital air purifi­ca­tion. Titus has access to it just like us,” explains Freek de Vroet. If the dust content rises, the intel­li­gent control system increases the fan speed until the air quality is back within the optimum range. If it drops again, the unit reduces its output. And the Zehnder Clean Air Solu­tions service team is auto­mat­i­cally noti­fied when the filter needs to be replaced, even before it becomes clogged.

“Our customers expect more than clean air”

Magnus Bladh, Head of Tech­nology at Zehnder Clean Air Solu­tions, explains how smart, connected solu­tions create measur­able value for customers.

Read the inter­view

“After we installed the air purifi­ca­tion units, we noticed the differ­ence right away. And even better: It was measur­able,” says Titus Mulder. “I can check Zehnder CARA on my office PC at any time and see that the units are keeping the air perfectly clean. I don’t have to worry about replacing filters or break­downs, as Zehnder takes care of every­thing proac­tively.”

The employees are also happy: The air is dust-free, so they no longer have to wear masks at the sorting facil­i­ties. This is why Titus Mulder is now consid­ering installing more air puri­fiers with Zehnder CARA.