Project Brief

The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Laboratory sits in the basement of Tiernan Hall, in NJIT's Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science. It runs two Bruker superconducting spectrometers: an AVANCE DPX-300 at 7.05 Tesla, a 300 MHz proton frequency with a room temperature QNP probe observing hydrogen, fluorine, phosphorus and carbon, and an AVANCE III 500 at 11.75 Tesla, a 500 MHz system with a broadband probe, variable temperature control and pulsed field gradients. The lab supports structure elucidation, reaction monitoring, purity and quantitative analysis, and the characterization of polymers and materials, for coursework and funded research alike.

KeRi provided the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection and fire alarm design for the gut renovation that built this laboratory, working with ikon 5 architects. The work began with siting. Superconducting magnets are placed to the manufacturer's site planning requirements, which govern stray magnetic field, the steel and moving mass around the magnet, floor vibration and the clear height needed to service and to charge the magnet with cryogens, and those requirements set where the instruments could go before any system was drawn.

Power was designed for instruments that cannot tolerate a disturbance. A new 150 A, 120/208 volt three phase panel was set in the adjacent electrical room, with dedicated two pole circuits for each of the 300 MHz and 500 MHz consoles, the Bruker cooling accessory and the computer tables. A second panel carries the same instrument loads through a 15 kVA three phase uninterruptible power supply, so an outage during a long acquisition does not take the consoles down with it.

The mechanical design holds the room steady and handles the cryogens. A dedicated split system with its own outdoor condensing unit and condensate pump conditions the laboratory, and a process chiller serves the instrument cooling water. Because the magnets are filled with liquid helium and nitrogen, the room was given an exhaust fan on motorized dampers together with oxygen depletion monitoring, the pairing that protects anyone in the room if cryogen is released. Plumbing, sprinkler and fire alarm drawings completed the set, and a second phase followed for additional changes to the lab.

MEP Engineering Scope

What We Engineered

MEP, fire protection and fire alarm for the NMR laboratory:

• Magnet siting to the manufacturer's site planning requirements for 300 to 700 MHz systems
• New 150 A, 120/208 V three phase panel with dedicated circuits for each spectrometer
• 15 kVA three phase UPS and a dedicated UPS panel for the instrument loads
• Dedicated split system air conditioning with condensate pump, and a process chiller for instrument cooling water
• Exhaust fan with motorized dampers and oxygen depletion monitoring for cryogen safety
• Plumbing, sprinkler and fire alarm work for the renovated laboratory

Systems by Discipline

The Challenge

Two superconducting spectrometers had to be installed in a basement laboratory where the manufacturer's siting requirements, stray field, surrounding steel, vibration and the clear height needed to charge the magnets, decided the layout before any system could be drawn. The instruments also needed power that does not flicker and a room that stays at temperature, and the liquid helium and nitrogen that keep the magnets cold carry an asphyxiation risk in a below grade room.

Our Solution

KeRi placed the instruments to the manufacturer's site planning requirements, then built the laboratory around them: a dedicated three phase panel with a circuit per console, a second panel carried on a 15 kVA UPS so a long acquisition survives an outage, a dedicated split system with its own condensing unit and a process chiller for instrument cooling water, and an exhaust fan on motorized dampers paired with oxygen depletion monitoring for cryogen safety. Plumbing, sprinkler and fire alarm drawings completed the set.