General Industrial Ventilation

• It refers to the supply and

exhaust of air with respect
General to an area, room, or
building. It can be divided
Industrial further into two specific
Ventilation functions:
1.Dilution ventilation.
2.Heat control ventilation.
 • It is the dilution of contaminated air with
uncontaminated air for controlling potential
airborne health hazards, fire and explosive
conditions, odors and nuisance type
contaminants. It also includes the control of
airborne contaminants such as vapours,
Dilution gases and particulates generated within tight
ventilation: buildings. Dilution ventilation is not as
satisfactory for health hazard control as is
local exhaust ventilation but circumstances
may be found in which dilution ventilation
provides an adequate amount of control
more economically than a local exhaust
system.
 • It is the control of indoor
Heat atmospheric conditions found in
control hot industrial environments to
ventilation: prevent acute discomfort or
injury of workers.
 Dilution Ventilation Principles

I. Select from available data the amount of air required for satisfactory
dilution of the contaminant.
2. Locate the exhaust openings near the sources of contamination, if
possible, in order to obtain the benefit of "spot ventilation."
3. Locate the air supply and exhaust outlets such that the air passes
through the zone of contamination. The operator should remain
between the air supply and the source of the contaminant.
4. Replace exhausted air by use of a replacement air system that must
be heated during cold weather. Avoid replacement air if the system is to
operate satisfactorily; dilution ventilation systems usually handle large
quantities of air by means of low pressure fans.
5. Avoid re-entry of the exhausted air by discharging the exhaust high
above the roof line or by assuring that no window, outdoor air intakes,
or other such openings are located near the exhaust discharge.
 Dilution Ventilation for Health

The use of dilution ventilation for health has four limiting factors:
• The quantity of contaminant generated must not be too high to
avoid impractical dilution air flow rate.
• Workers must be far enough away from the contaminant source
(i.e. at an appropriate distance) or the evolution of contaminant
or the exposed contaminant must be in sufficiently low
concentrations so that workers will not have an exposure in
excess of the established TLV.
• The toxicity of the contaminant must be low.
• The evolution or the emission rate of contaminants must be
reasonably uniform.
Dilution ventilation is generally used to
control the vapours from organic liquids
with a threshold limit value (TLV) of 100
ppm or higher. To successfully apply the
principles of dilution to such a problem,
obtain factual data on the rate of vapour
generation or on the rate of liquid
evaporation from the plant if any type of
adequate records on material consumption
are kept.
Parameters Required for
Determination of Dilution
Ventilation Rates
• Solvent vapour per minute (i.e.
evaporation rate).
• Specific gravity of liquid.
• Molecular weight.
• Acceptable health standard
(threshold limit value (TLV)).
• K factor for incomplete mixing.
 • Assume constant generation rate G:
dVolvapour Amount evaporated
G= ⟹G=
dt t 2 − t1
Computing mliquid
Volcont. = Volume of 1 mol
Contaminant Volcont.
Mass of 1 mol
Generation mliquid 273.15 + T 760 mmHg
= 22.414
Rate MW 293.15 Patm
Volcont.
SG x ρH2 O x Volliquid 273.15 + T 760 mmHg
= 22.414
MW 293.15 Patm
 • Starting with a fundamental
material balance assuming no
contaminant in the air supply:
Rate of accumulation
= Rate of generation
General − Rate of removal
Vdc = Gdt − QCdtሶ
Dilution • Where V is the volume of the
Ventilation room, G the rate of generation, Qሶ
Equation the effective volumetric flow rate,
C the concentration of gas or
vapour in ppm, and t is the time.
• For steady state condition, the
change in concentration, dC = 0:
ሶ
Gdt − QCdt =0
 t2 t2
ሶ
න Gdt = න QCdt
t1 t1

For constant concentration C and uniform

generation rate G:
G
Qሶ =
C

Due to incomplete mixing, a K value is introduced to

the rate of ventilation; thus:
Qሶ act
Qሶ =
K
Where Qሶ act is the actual ventilation rate (m3/s or cfm),
Qሶ the effective ventilation rate (m3/s or cfm), and K is
a factor to allow for incomplete mixing.
K is based on several considerations:
1.Efficiency of mixing and distribution of replacement air introduced into the
room or space being ventilated.

2. Toxicity of the solvent. The guidelines for choosing an appropriate K value are:
a.Slightly toxic material: TLV > 500 ppm.
b.Moderately toxic material: TLV ≤ 100-500 ppm.
c.Highly toxic material: TLV < 100 ppm.

3. A judgement of any other circumstances which the industrial hygienist

determined to be of importance based on experience and the individual
problem:
a. Duration of the process, operational cycle, and
normal locations of workers relative to sources of
contamination.

b. Location and number of points of generation of the

contaminant in the workroom or area.

c.Seasonal changes in the amount of natural

ventilation.

d. Reduction in operational effectiveness of

mechanical air moving devices.

e. Other circumstances which may affect the

concentration of hazardous material in the breathing
zone of the workers.

The K value selected, depending on the

above considerations, ranges from I to 10.
 Therefore, the rate of flow of uncontaminated
air Qሶ required to maintain the atmospheric
The concentration of a gas or concentration of a hazardous material at an
Calculating Dilution vapour at a steady state can be acceptable level can be calculated if the
generation rate G can be determined. Usually,
Ventilation for expressed by the material the acceptable concentration (C) expressed in
balance equation: parts per million (ppm) is considered to be the
Steady-State G TLV. For liquid solvents, the rate of
Concentration Qሶ = generation G is:
C
Constant x SG x ER
G=
MW
Where Constant is the volume (ft3) that
1 pt. (i.e., 0.47 litre) of liquid will
occupy at STP when vaporized, SG the
Specific gravity of volatile liquid, ER
the evaporation rate of liquid, pts/min,
and MW is the molecular weight of
liquid.

G
Thus Qሶ = can be expressed as:
C

403x106 xSGxER
Qሶ =
MW xC
Example
Methyl chloroform (SG = 1.32, MW =
133.4) is lost by evaporation from a
tank at a rate of 1.5 pints per 60
minutes. What is the effective
ventilation rate ( Q)ሶ and the actual
ventilation rate ( Qሶ act ) required to
maintain the vapor concentration at
the threshold limit value (TLV = 350
ppm)? Assume K = 5.

Solution
Assuming perfect dilution, the
ሶ is:
effective ventilation rate (Q)
6
403x10 xSGxER
Qሶ =
MW xC
 ሶ is:
The effective ventilation rate (Q)
1.5
403x106 x1.32x
60
Qሶ =
133.4x 350 ppm
= 1424 cfm

For incomplete mixing, the actual

ventilation rate (Q) is:
403x106 xSGxER
ሶQact =
MW xC
6 1.5
403x10 x1.32x 5
60
=
133.4x 350 ppm
= 1424 cfm
 Integrating yields:
The concentration of a G − QCሶ 2 Qሶ t 2 − t1
contaminant can be calculated ln =
G − QC ሶ 1 V
Contaminant after any change of time. •Where subscript 1 refers to the initial condition
Concentration Rearranging the differential and subscript 2 refers to the final condition.
•Rearranging gives Δt = t2 - t1, the time required
Buildup material balance results in: to reach a given concentration:
dc dt V G − QCሶ 2
= ∆t = t 2 − t1 = ln
G − QCሶ V Qሶ G − QC ሶ 1
If initial concentration C1 = 0, then:
V G − QCሶ 2
∆t = ln ⟹ C2
Qሶ G
ሶ
Q∆t
G 1 − exp − V
=
Qሶ

Rate of Purging
Where a quantity of air is contaminated but
where further contamination or generation has
ceased, the rate of decrease of concentration
over a period of time is:
C2
dC Qሶ t2
VdC = −QCdtሶ ⟹ න = − න dt
C1 C V t1
C2 Qሶ
⟹ ln = − t 2 − t1
C1 V

Qሶ t 2 − t1
C2 = C1 exp −
V
 Example
Methyl chloroform vapour (SG = 1.32, MW =
133.4) is being generated under the following
conditions: G = 1.2 cfm; Qሶ = 2000 cfm; V =
100,000 ft3. How much time is required to
reduce the concentration from C1 = 100 to C2
= 25 ppm?
What will concentration C1 be after 60
minutes (i.e., Δt = 60 min) if the
concentration C1 at tl is 100 ppm,?

Solution
V C2 100000 ft 3 25
∆t = t 2 − t1 = − ln =− ln
Qሶ C1 3
2000 ft /min 100
= 69.3 min
ሶ is:
Assuming perfect dilution, the effective ventilation rate (Q)
ሶQ∆t 2000x60
C2 = C1 exp − = 100exp − = 30.12 ppm
V 100000
 In many cases, the evaporating liquid for If the sum of the fractions exceeds unity,
which dilution ventilation rates are being then the threshold limit of the mixture
designed will consist of a mixture of should be considered as being exceeded.
Dilution solvents. In the absence of information to The air quantity required to dilute each
Ventilation For the contrary, the effects of the different component of the mixture to the required
hazards should be considered as additive: safe concentration is calculated, and the
Health C1 C2 C3 Cn sum of the air quantities is used as the
+ + + ⋯+ required dilution ventilation for the
TLV1 TLV2 TLV3 TLVn
mixture.
Exceptions to the above rule may be made when there
is good reason to believe that the chief effects of the
different harmful substances are not additive but
independent, as when purely local effects on different
organs of the body are produced by the various
components of the mixture. In such cases, the
threshold limit ordinarily is exceeded only when at
C C
least one member of the series itself, 1 or 1 , has
TLV1 TLV1
a value exceeding unity. When it is known that the
effects of the different substances are not additive but
act independently on the different organs of the body,
the required dilution ventilation for each component
of the mixture should be calculated and the highest
cfm thus obtained used as the dilution ventilation rate.
 Another function of dilution ventilation is to reduce the concentration of
vapours within an enclosure to below the lower explosive limit (LEL).
However, this concept is never applied in cases where workers are exposed to
Dilution the vapour; in such instances, dilution rates for health hazard control are
Ventilation always applied (e.g., the TLV of xylene is 100 ppm while the LEL of xylene is
1% (10,000 ppm). An atmosphere of xylene safe-guarded against fire and
for Fire and explosion usually will be kept below 25% of the LEL or 2500 ppm. Exposure
Explosion to such an atmosphere may cause severe illness or death. However, in baking
and drying ovens, in enclosed air drying spaces, within ventilation ductwork,
etc., dilution ventilation for fire and explosion is used to keep the vapour
concentration to below the LEL.
 It is common practice to regard the entire
mixture as consisting of the components
requiring the highest amount of dilution per
unit liquid volume (i.e. use the component
with the highest value for ) to calculate the
required air quantity.

Air quantities required to dilute below the LEL can be

determined by substituting LEL for TLV:
403xSGliquid xERxSf
Qሶ =
MW,liquid x LEL B
Where Sf is a safety In batch ovens, with good air
coefficient which depends In properly ventilated distribution, the existence of
on the percent of the LEL continuous ovens, an Sf peak drying rates requires an
necessary for safe coefficient of 4 (i.e., 25% of Sf coefficient of 10 or 12 to
conditions. In most ovens the LEL) is used. maintain safe concentrations
and drying enclosures, at all times.
vapour concentrations are
maintained at not more than
25% of the LEL at all times
in all parts of the oven.
B is a constant which takes into account the fact that the lower explosive limit (LEL) of a solvent
vapour or air mixture decreases at elevated temperatures.

B = 1 for temperatures up to 2500F; B = 0.7 for temperatures above 2500F, but this concept is never
applied in cases where workers are exposed vapour because dilution rates for health hazard control are
always applied (e.g., the TLV of xylene is 100 ppm while the LEL of xylene is 1% (10,000 ppm). An
atmosphere of xylene safe-guarded against fire and explosion usually will be kept below 25% of the
LEL or 2500 ppm. Exposure to such an atmosphere may cause severe illness or death.

However, in baking and drying ovens, in enclosed air drying spaces, within ventilation ductwork, etc.,
dilution ventilation for fire and explosion is used to keep the vapour concentration to below the LEL.