Industrial Ventilation

General Principles of
Industrial Ventilation

What Is Industrial
Ventilation?
Environmental engineers view:
The design and application of equipment for
providing the necessary conditions for
maintaining the efficiency, health and safety of
the workers
Industrial hygienists view:
The control of emissions and the control of
exposures
Mechanical engineers view:
The control of the environment with air flow.
This can be achieved by replacement of
contaminated air with clean air
General Principles

Industrial Ventilation
Objectives
To introduce the basic terms
To discuss heat control
To design ventilation systems

General Principles

Why Industrial Ventilation?

To maintain an adequate oxygen supply in the
work area.
To control hazardous concentrations of toxic
materials in the air.
To remove any undesirable odors from a given
area.
To control temperature and humidity.
To remove undesirable contaminants at their
source before they enter the work place air.

General Principles

Application Of Industrial
Ventilation Systems
Optimization of energy costs.
Reduction of occupational health disease
claims.
Control of contaminants to acceptable levels.
Control of heat and humidity for comfort.
Prevention of fires and explosions.

General Principles

Solutions To Industrial
Ventilation Problems
Process modifications
Local exhaust ventilation
Substitution
Isolation
Administrative control
Personal protection devices
Natural ventilation

General Principles

Ventilation Design
Parameters
Manufacturing process
Exhaust air system & local extraction
Climatic requirements in building design
(tightness, plant aerodynamics, etc)
Cleanliness requirements
Ambient air conditions
Heat emissions
Terrain around the plant
Contaminant emissions
Regulations
General Principles

Source Characterization
Location
Relative contribution of each source to the
exposure
Characterization of each contributor
Characterization of ambient air
Worker interaction with emission source
Work practices

General Principles

Types Of Industrial Ventilation

Systems
Supply systems
Purpose:
To create a comfortable environment in the
plant i.E. The HVAC system
To replace air exhausted from the plant i.E. The
replacement system

General Principles

Supply Systems
Components
Air inlet section
Filters
Heating and/or cooling equipment
Fan
Ducts
Register/grills for distributing the air within the
work space

General Principles

Exhaust Systems
Purpose

An exhaust ventilation system removes the air

and airborne contaminants from the work
place air
The exhaust system may exhaust the entire
work area, or it may be placed at the source to
remove the contaminant at its source itself

General Principles

Exhaust Systems
Types of exhaust systems:

General exhaust system

Local exhaust system

General Principles

General Exhaust Systems

Used for heat control in an area by introducing
large quantities of air in the area. The air may
be tempered and recycled.
Used for removal of contaminants generated in
an area by mixing enough outdoor air with the
contaminant so that the average concentration
is reduced to a safe level.

General Principles

Local Exhaust Systems(LES)

The objective of a local exhaust system is to

remove the contaminant as it is generated at

the source itself.
Advantages:
More effective as compared to a general
exhaust system.
The smaller exhaust flow rate results in low
heating costs compared to the high flow rate
required for a general exhaust system.
The smaller flow rates lead to lower costs for
air cleaning equipment.
General Principles

Local Exhaust Systems(LES)

Components:
Hood
The duct system including the exhaust stack
and/or re-circulation duct
Air cleaning device
Fan, which serves as an air moving device

General Principles

What is the difference between Exhaust and

Supply systems?

An Exhaust ventilation system removes the air and air

borne contaminants from the work place, whereas, the
Supply system adds air to work room to dilute
contaminants in the work place so as to lower the
contaminant concentrations.

General Principles

Pressure In A Ventilation
System
Air movement in the ventilation system is a
result of differences in pressure.
In a supply system, the pressure created by
the system is in addition to the atmospheric
pressure in the work place.
In an exhaust system, the objective is to lower
the pressure in the system below the
atmospheric pressure.

General Principles

Types Of Pressures In A
Ventilation Systems
Three types of pressures are of importance in
ventilation work. They are:
Static pressure
Velocity pressure
Total pressure

General Principles

Why is air considered incompressible in

Industrial Ventilation design problems?
The differences in pressure that exist within the
ventilation system itself are small when compared to the
atmospheric pressure in the room. Because of the small
differences in pressure, air can be assumed to be
incompressible.
Since 1 lb/in2 = 27 inches of water, 1 inch = 0.036 lbs
pressure or 0.24% of standard atmospheric pressure.
Thus the potential error introduced due to this
assumption is also negligible.

General Principles

Velocity Pressure
It is defined as that pressure required to
accelerate air from rest to some velocity (V)
and is proportional to the kinetic energy of the
air stream.
VP acts in the direction of flow and is
measured in the direction of flow.
VP represents kinetic energy within a system.
VP is always positive.

General Principles

Static Pressure
It is defined as the pressure in the duct
that tends to burst or collapse the duct
and is expressed in inches of water
gauge (wg).
SP acts equally in all directions
SP can be negative or positive

General Principles

Static pressure can be positive or negative.Explain.

Positive static pressure results in the tendency of the air
to expand. Negative static pressure results in the
tendency of the air to contract.
For example, take a common soda straw, and put it in
your mouth. Close one end with your finger and blow
very hard. You have created a positive static pressure.
However, as soon as you remove your finger from the
end of the straw, the air begins to move outward away
from the straw. The static pressure has been
transformed into velocity pressure, which is positive.

General Principles

Velocity Pressure
VELOCITY PRESSURE (VP)
VP = (V/4005)2 or V = 4005VP
Where
VP = velocity pressure, inches of water gauge (wg)
V = flow velocity, fpm

General Principles

Total Pressure
TP = SP + VP
It can be defined as the algebraic sum of the
static as well as the velocity pressures
SP represents the potential energy of a system
and VP the kinetic energy of the system, the
sum of which gives the total energy of the
system
TP is measured in the direction of flow and can
be positive or negative

General Principles

How do you measure the Pressures in a

ventilation system?
The manometer, which is a simple graduated U-shaped tube
open, at both ends, an inclined manometer or a Pitot tube
can be used to measure Static pressure.
The impact tube can be used to measure Total pressure.
The measurement of Static and Total pressures using
manometer and impact tube, will also indirectly result in
measurement of the Velocity pressure of the system.

General Principles

Basic Definitions
Pressure

It is defined as the force per unit area.

Standard atmospheric pressure at sea level is
29.92 inches of mercury or 760 mm of
mercury or 14.7 lb/sq.inch.

General Principles

Basic Definitions
Air density

It can be defined as the mass per unit volume

of air, (lbm/ft3 ). at standard atmosphere
(p=14.7 psfa), room temperature (70 F) and
zero water content. The value of
=0.075
lbm/ft3

General Principles

Basic Definitions
Perfect Gas Equation:
P = RT
Where
P = absolute pressure in pounds per square foot absolute (psfa).
= gas density in lbm/ft3.
R = gas constant for air.
T = absolute temperature in degree Rankin.
For any dry air situation
T = (T)std
= std(Tstd/T) = 0.075 (460+70)/T = 0.075 (530/T)

General Principles

Basic Definitions
Volumetric Flow Rate
The volume or quantity of air that flows through a given
location per unit time
Q=V*A
or
V = Q /A
or
A = Q/V
Where
Q = volume of flow rate in cfm
V = average velocity in fpm
A = cross-sectional area in sq.ft

General Principles

Example
The cross-sectional area of a duct is 2.75 sq.ft.The velocity
of air flowing in the duct is 3600 fpm. What is the
volume?
From the given problem
A = 2.75 sq. ft.
V = 3600 fpm
We know that
Q=V*A
Hence,
Q = 3600 * 2.75 = 9900 cfm

General Principles

Basic Definitions
Reynolds number
R = DV/
Where
= density in lbm/ft3
D = diameter in ft
V = velocity in fpm
= air viscosity, lbm/s-ft

General Principles

Darcy Weisbach Friction

Coefficient Equation
hf = f (L/d)VP
Where
hf = friction losses in a duct, wg
f = friction coefficient (dimensionless)
L = duct length, ft
d = duct diameter, ft
VP = velocity pressure,wg

General Principles

Duct Losses
Types of losses in ducts

Friction losses
Dynamic or turbulence losses

General Principles

Duct Losses
Friction losses
Factors effecting friction losses:

Duct velocity
Duct diameter
Air density
Air viscosity
Duct surface roughness

General Principles

Duct Losses
Dynamic losses or turbulent losses
Caused by elbows, openings, bends etc. In the
flow way. The turbulence losses at the entry
depends on the shape of the openings
Coefficient of entry (Ce)

For a perfect hood with no turbulence losses Ce

= 1.0
I.E
V = 4005ceVP = 4005 VP
General Principles

Duct Losses
Turbulence losses are given by the
following expression
Hl= FN*VP
Where
FN = decimal fraction

General Principles

Terminal Or Settling
Velocity
V = 0.0052(S.G)D2
Where
D = particle diameter in microns
S.G = specific gravity
V = settling velocity in fpm

General Principles