{"id":8750,"date":"2023-10-15T10:00:37","date_gmt":"2023-10-15T15:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/informatech.energir.com\/?p=8750"},"modified":"2023-10-17T12:35:04","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T17:35:04","slug":"improving-air-quality-and-energy-efficiency-a-winning-combination-in-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/informatech.energir.com\/?p=8750&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Improving air quality and energy efficiency: a winning combination in industry"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In industrial buildings, good indoor air quality (IAQ) is critical to the health and safety of workers. In these facilities, contaminant emission rates can be ten to one hundred times higher than in non-industrial facilities. In order to ensure adequate air quality, there must be adequate fresh air ventilation to reduce or eliminate the presence of contaminants, toxic products from processes and other products that are harmful to our health. In this article, we will look at different ways to ensure efficient fresh air supply.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>
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When health and safety equal efficiency<\/h3>\n

According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), the air exchange rate can be calculated using the following formula: <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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In Quebec, the Regulation respecting occupational health and safety stipulates minimum ACPH rates for specific establishments. Here are some examples:1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Classification of establishments<\/td>\nMinimum ACPH rate<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Glass and glass products manufacturing<\/strong><\/td>\n4<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Metal fabricating industries<\/strong><\/td>\n4<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cement industry<\/strong><\/td>\n3<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Slaughterhouses and drysalting<\/strong><\/td>\n2<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tire and tube manufacturing<\/strong><\/td>\n3<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

In addition to the emphasis on air quality, it’s important to create a slightly positive indoor air pressure to prevent a variety of issues—a design element that’s often overlooked by plant managers. When the air pressure inside a plant is negative compared to the outdoor pressure, this deficit causes an issue with extinguishing burners, which impacts the efficiency of all combustion devices used inside the building envelope (including processing equipment). This can lead to unplanned interruptions, significant production losses, and unnecessary costs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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The right equipment makes a difference<\/h3>\n

In order to comply with regulatory standards for indoor air quality and ensure proper combustion within an industrial building, high-flow ventilation equipment is required. Standard equipment in this context uses vast amounts of energy, particularly in facilities requiring a high ACPH rate, such as very large plants. When you need fresh air intake for ventilation purposes, using a direct-fired makeup air unit is a good basic solution for the makeup air. As shown in figure 1a below, the combustion air is drawn from the fresh air intake via an air burner (see figure 1b), and the combustion products are fed directly into the heated air. For this reason, this device is better suited to certain commercial and industrial applications than to residential or commercial applications. <\/p>\n

In addition to providing very high air efficiency (95% or more), this type of unit makes it easy to heat large volumes of air to compensate for the negative pressure issue often present in plants. Because this equipment is considered a basic solution, it should be used in combination with other industrial ventilation units that recover energy to further reduce the energy used for heating.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Figure 1a: direct-fired makeup air unit<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>
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Figure 1b: example of a direct-fired burner<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Characteristics of efficient ventilation equipment<\/h4>\n

To ensure efficient air changes and maintain a slightly positive pressure, stale air must be removed and replaced with fresh air. However, exhausting this air without recovering the energy within it wastes money and energy, and generates significant GHG emissions. <\/p>\n

A good option is an air-to-air heat exchanger that:<\/p>\n