At Captive-Aire, the engineering of our products is a priority and leading edge technology plays a critical role. Our engineers are constantly working on enhancements to improve our current products and are aggressively pursuing new product designs to meet the ventilation needs of the future.

In order to make new products designs, our engineers collaborate with marketing and manufacturing personnel to agree on prototype design and the process before it is implemented. This prevents one of the most obvious problems in most manufacturing businesses – theoretical designs, which fail in the real world.

• Our double-wall front design prevents condensation and directs grease-laden vapors towards the exhaust filter bank.
  
• Our signature component "the magic triangle" located on the front inside of the hood is exceptional at capture and containment of cooking vapors.  
  
  [ View Drawing ]
  
• Our front perforated supply plenum, which discharges air at a very slow velocity does NOT interfere with capture and containment of the hood. It evenly distributes the air along the length of the hood, directs most of the air into the hood canopy (not to the kitchen) and is capable of providing up to 80% of make-up air.  Watch the videos:
  
  

  Side View	[ Stream ]    [ Download ]
  Front View	[ Stream ]    [ Download ]

  
  
• Use of available innovative testing methods – we utilize a Schlieren flow visualization technique to understand the flow of heat and effluents generated by commercial cooking equipment and to determine whether the heat is being properly captured by the exhaust hood.  Please watch some videos which demonstrate the Schlieren testing:
  
  [ Schlieren Videos ]
  
• Self-adjusting burner profile plates – a unique feature of our direct-fired heaters. These profile plates ensure proper air velocity and pressure drop across the burner for clean combustion. The spring-loaded profile plates react to the fresh air stream to momentum and therefore, need no motors or actuators to drive them, nor do they need to be manually set to a specific position.
  
  [ Profile Plate/Burner Details ]

If engineering is a priority, quality is an obsession. Our engineers establish and reinforce quality control standards and procedures and schedule regular quality control meetings to keep things on track. Captive-Aire’s "Quality at the Source" programs save both time and money as each component is rigorously tested immediately as it is finished rather than at the end of the line, where problems are time consuming and costly to fix. We manufacture systems that are tested and listed to meet or exceed building codes and safety requirements, and all with a unique sense of aesthetics.

In short, we deliver the most energy-efficient systems available, with the best turnaround time in the industry because we’ve developed the tools to keep costs down and make your job easier!