Industrial Ventilation Survey

Local exhaust ventilation is often an integral part of a manufacturing process to control employee exposure to chemical substances. Different types of ventilation include paint booths, chemical fume hoods, vehicle exhaust hoses, glove boxes, welding fume extractors, etc. All these exhaust systems should be checked on a periodic basis for proper functionality.
 

Equipment that has been in use for a while may be blocked, perforated with rust, improperly positioned, not for the original intended purpose, resized, etc. Any of these changes can affect the ventilation’s usefulness and could lead to increased employee exposure. As such, face velocity measurements and integrity checks are recommended to verify that the ventilation is working as intended.
 

Ventilation Surveys
 

An important part of a ventilation system is the air pollution control equipment. Different types of air cleaners include cyclone dust collectors, electrostatic precipitators, bag houses, catalytic converters, and wet scrubbers. This equipment must be kept in good repair for the ventilation system to work effectively.
 

A popular manual published by the ACGIH is the “Industrial Ventilation” manual. It has many practical examples of ventilation design, capture velocity specifications, face velocity specifications, and design calculations. GTA Environmental refers to this manual when conducting ventilation surveys.
 

In regard to air quality, it is known that 50% of air quality complaints are related to mechanical ventilation problems. Ventilation maintenance is an important part of a sound air quality management program.
 

GTA Environmental offers a wide range of ventilation services which includes the following:

• Face velocity measurements (fpm)
• Air duct velocity measurements (fpm)
• Air volume flow measurements (cfm)
• Smoke tests for flow pattern
• Pressure drop measurements
• Dust collection efficiency measurements
• Design change recommendations