DuPont Company
Thermo-man

The DuPont Company wanted a way to provide more rigorous testing of their fire resistant clothing; so, they first built a life-sized, instrumented mannequin equipped with 122 heat sensors. Then they called upon Paragon Engineering to design a system that would provide sufficient fire and heat to replicate a raging fire. The engineering would also require the design of a system of smoke and heat removal which would vary in volume dependent on the stage of the burn and could simulate a person standing still or running. This would be dependent on the volume of air across the mannequin. All this would take place within the confines of a building; so, safety was a primary concern.

Paragon Engineering successfully designed a unique, high volume, liquid propane supply and vaporization system to provide the required fire and heat. A variable volume supply and smoke exhaust system was designed to remove the expanding smoke volume due to the extreme heat. This system also provided air flow across the mannequin to simulate the running requirement. To maintain a safe environment in the building a computerized safety and operating control system was designed.

For this work Paragon Engineering was award first place in the Engineering Excellence and Awards competition conducted by the Consulting Engineering Council of Delaware. Subsequently, the DuPont™ Thermo-Man® was downsized and made portable for use in fire protection training throughout the industry.

Upper Mainline YMCA
Natatorium Air Conditioning
Berwyn, Pennsylvania

The existing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system serving the 7,500 square feet natatorium was over twenty years old and was no longer maintaining the natatorium at the proper comfort conditions. Paragon Engineering Corporation was commissioned to design a replacement system. The system design was based on a “competition pool” occupancy and utilized a 140-ton pool dehumidification air handler. The new unit was located on a platform adjacent to the pool building and ducted to the natatorium. Fabric ductwork (like Ductsox) with an internal support system was used for the distribution in the ductwork in the natatorium. Fabric ductwork was selected because of the humid environment in the natatorium.

The pool dehumidification unit included hot gas reheat to heat the air supplied to the natatorium and included a pool water heater that use condenser heat to heat the pool water. This provided operational energy savings while maintaining the natatorium at the desired temperature and humidity.

Cold Brewing and Bottling Facility – Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

Project consisted of providing conditioning for a 20,000 square feet cold brewing and bottling area for beer. The challenge of the project was to maintain the space at a low dew point to prevent condensation on piping and processing tanks. This was accomplished using a re-generative desiccant heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. The system mixed returned air and outside air and passed the air over a desiccant wheel for moisture removal. Direct expansion refrigeration was used to precool the air after the wheel and cool the air to maintain the discharge air temperature to the space of 60 deg. F and 30 deg. F dew point.

The heating, ventilation and air conditioning system provided 34,000 CFM of airflow requiring 230 tons of cooling.