General Ventilation System Optimization Study for Environment Improvement of Sludge Dewatering Area from a Wastewater Treatment Plant

Local exhaust ventilation solutions for an industrial hall – Part 1 CFD analysis of the local exhaust systems

“…The current paper continues the work presented in (Croitoru, et al, 2017) by detailing the preliminary design process for a local exhaust ventilation solution for the wastewater treatment facility located in Glina county, Romania. The main objective of the project is to find a more suitable way to ventilate the industrial hall in order to reduce the indoor pollutant concentrations to an acceptable level and, at the same time, to ensure an adequate thermal comfort level.…”

“…During the first phase of the project, presented in (Croitoru, et al, 2017), the initial dilution-based ventilation system was analyzed, and an optimization of this system has been proposed and implemented within the facility. First of all, through a series of in-situ measurements and CFD simulations, it was shown that the initial ventilation strategy was not effective in removing the ammonia and heat during summer season.…”

“…These findings were also supported by worker's complaints which were uncomfortable to execute their tasks even while wearing suits and masks. More details on the geometry and on the measurement procedure are presented in (Croitoru, et al, 2017). To provide a more adequate workplace environment, a step-by-step methodology has been proposed in order to find a cost-effective optimized solution for the general ventilation system.…”

“…A detailed list with all the steps can be seen in (Croitoru, et al, 2017). The final optimized solution for the general ventilation system, using the same dilution strategy, has the next configuration: As presented in (Croitoru, et al, 2017), during the numerical analysis this new ventilation strategy has shown great improvements with regards to pollutant removal efficacy and excess heat removal. As a result, the proposed system has been applied to the industrial hall.…”

“…The main pollutant that represents a potential risk for the worker's wellbeing is the ammonia (NH3) produced by the sludge resulted in the process. The preliminary measurements from (Croitoru, et al, 2017) have shown that elevated indoor concentrations are present during working hours. The levels of ammonia are therefore high enough to provoke headaches, nausea or nose, eye and throat irritations.…”