General industrial ventilation system design refers to the practice of applying ventilation equipment (fans, louvers, gravity vents, heaters) in order to create an environment within an enclosed industrial building which is conducive to employee comfort, productive work, and process efficiency.
General industrial ventilation systems are not air conditioning. They use outside fresh ambient air to ventilate the building. Because most modern industrial buildings are insulated, the best result that general industrial ventilation can achieve is to create an inside building temperature as close to the outside ambient temperature as possible. Clearly, the initial equipment cost, day-to-day maintenance costs, and the operating costs of a general industrial ventilation system are considerably less than air conditioning, which makes general industrial ventilation so attractive to plant owners, managers, and plant maintenance supervisors.
The most effective general industrial ventilation system takes into consideration a number of factors such as the type of industrial building, the building square footage, the building height, the work flow process within the building, isolated areas within the building of high heat generating processes or equipment, outside summer and winter temperatures, and desired inside building temperature.
Another critical factor that can affect general industrial ventilation is noise. Noise not simply generated by the ventilation equipment but also noise restrictions at the property line.
Coming up on the Eldridge blog, we will be embarking on a 4-part series where we will go into detail about the 4 most common methods of general industrial ventilation, what they look like, advantages and disadvantages of each method.
The 4 most common methods of general industrial ventilation systems are:
- Powered Forced Supply/Powered Forced Exhaust
- Powered Forced Supply/Natural Exhaust
- Natural Supply/Powered Forced Exhaust
- Natural Supply/Natural Exhaust
It is important to remember not one method fits all when it comes to general industrial ventilation system design. In fact, some facilities might use a combination of each method depending on the layout of the plant and its needs. We strongly suggest you work with a qualified industrial ventilation engineer and equipment supplier with experience in order to solve any general industrial ventilation problem.