In a local exhaust ventilation system, where the pollutant or the emitted flows are captured near the generated source, the knowledge of the capture efficiency is necessary to evaluate performance. This article reports a study of the influence of the exhaust hood slot height on the capture efficiency. For this study, the emission of gases and vapors from open surface tanks used in industrial treatments has been simulated in an installation fitted with two ventilation systems: lateral exhaust and push-pull. Several configurations were possible by varying the geometrical and operational conditions. Both qualitative and quantitative evaluations have been performed, the former through observations of the flows using smoke and the latter by using sulfur hexafluoride as tracer gas. The results obtained on capture efficiency for both ventilation systems tested with several exhaust slot height and as a function of the operating flows rates, are presented. It was found that varying the exhaust slot height between 15 and 45 cm had no effect on capture efficiency. The results show that there are no significant differences between the exhaust slots heights tested, although, in the case of 60 cm for lateral exhaust ventilation, the efficiency was slightly lower.

In this paper, the influence of sample pressure on benzene measurements obtained with two automated in situ gas chromatographs is studied. The analysers were calibrated using a non-linear regression at 293 ± 1 K and 101.3 ± 0.2 kPa. A gas mixture of benzene in air (5 μg/m) was produced and measured at calibration conditions. Subsequently, the sample pressure was changed to 80 and 110 kPa. Differences in readings were observed even though the pressure compensators were on, indicating incorrect performance of this tool. Further tests with two different benzene in air mixtures (5 and 40 μg/m) at 80, 90, 105 and 110 kPa were also carried out. Results showed that the analysers take air from one or several unidentified inlets (apart from the sampling port) when the sampling pressure is lower than the atmospheric one. This is usually the case in air monitoring stations, so this phenomenon is particularly important as systematic biases could be affecting air quality data.

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Semi-empirical tire models are mathematical models, the parameters of which are identified after a process of error reduction to fit experimental data obtained in the laboratory. In this process, the algorithms used for estimating the model parameters are usually based on nonlinear least-squares fitting methods, in which only vertical residuals between the model and the test points are considered. Although extensively utilized, this type of fitting implicitly considers that errors in the slip data (horizontal residuals) are either nonexistent or negligible, which is not true. This paper introduces a new methodology to the identification of semi-empirical tire model parameters based on weighed orthogonal residuals, which takes into account possible errors inherent in the test measurements of dependent and independent variables. The results show that the methodology offers a reliable parameter identification providing an even fitting for all the zones of the mathematical semi-empirical tire model.

A pilot installation was designed that simulates a surface treatment tank fitted with a push-pull ventilation system. The installation contained elements for measuring and controlling the operational variables (flow rate and tank temperature) and smoke generating equipment for injecting smoke through the holes of the push unit and from the tank surface. Visual observation and video recording of the flows involved meant it was possible to follow the qualitative behavior of the push flow rate along the tank surface and to identify any emissions not captured by the exhaust system. It was possible to differentiate the initial semifree push curtain, its impact with the tank surface, the wall jet that moved toward the exhaust, and its entrance into the exhaust. The methodology proposed is complemented by a quantitative technique for measuring the efficiency, using sulfur hexafluoride as tracer, which permits the causes and location of losses in the ventilation system to be determined.