Recirculated and

Replacement Air

Recirculated And Replacement

Introduction
Air
Replacement air

Replacement air distribution

Replacement air flow rate
Room pressure
Environmental control
Environmental control air flow rate
Air changes
Air supply temperatures
Air supply vs. Plant heating costs
Replacement air heating equipment
Cost of heating replacement air
Air conservation
Evaluation of employee exposure levels

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Introduction

Supply systems are used for two purposes:

- To create a comfortable environment and.
- To replace air exhausted from a building.
The pressure in a building will be lower than atmospheric
pressure (case of negative pressure) if the amount of
replacement air supplied to the building is lower than the
amount of air exhausted.

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Replacement Air

The amount of air entering a building is equal to the the

flow rate of exhaust air.
Replacement air is necessary to:

Ensure that exhaust hoods operate properly.

Insufficient replacement air and a negative pressure
condition cause an increase in the static pressure.

Eliminate high-velocity cross-drafts through windows and

doors.

Cross-drafts can interfere with the function of exhaust

hoods and can also disperse contaminated air from one
section of the building to another, besides affecting other
processes, unsettling dust and like materials to cause
recontamination.

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Replacement Air

Ensure operation of natural draft stacks such as combustion flues.

Negative pressures can cause backdrafting of flues, and hence health

hazards. For e.G. Combustible products release carbon monoxide.
Secondary effects include difficulty in maintaining flames in burners,
poor operation of air controls, corrosion damage in stacks and heat
exchangers due to condensation of water vapor in flue gases.

Eliminate cold drafts on workers.

Discomfort is not caused, overall ambient temperature and hence
working efficiency is not reduced.

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Replacement Air

Eliminate differential pressures on doors.

Differential pressures are a cause of difficulty in opening and

closing doors and uncontrolled movements.

Conserve fuel.

Lack of replacement air results in cold conditions and hence

installation of heating equipment is required. Sometimes
overheating occurs that leads to uncontrolled circulation of
warm air. To tackle this, exhaust fans will be provided that
further aggravates the problem.Heat is wasted without curing
the problem.

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Replacement Air Distribution

Replacement air distribution is critical especially in process

industries like pharmaceuticals, electronics, paints and facilities

like indoor firing ranges, particularly non-turbulent air-flow.
When turbulence is caused due to mixing effect caused by
high-throw diffusers, local exhaust hoods are redesigned to
draw in more air to overcome it and hence prevent the upset of
contaminant control. Thus energy costs rise.
To get rid of turbulence, air may be provided through a supply
air plenum, or a perforated duct with the face of the plenum
covered with perforations to diffuse air.
Critical attention must be given to the feeding of air into the
plenum and avoid high-velocity.

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Replacement Air Flow Rate

The replacement air flow rate should be approximately
equal to the total air flow rate removed from the building.

Factors considered in determination of actual removed

flow rate are:
Quantity of air removed.
Determination of air exhaust locations.
Testing.
Necessity for a particular piece of equipment.
Reasonable projections for future requirements, etc.

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Room Pressure
Negative pressure is desirable, when contaminants are to be
prevented from escaping into the surrounding areas.
For a clean environment to exist, positive pressure conditions
are maintained.
Either of the conditions are achieved by obtaining a ratio of
the exhaust - supply flow differential.

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Environmental Control
It involves the control of following factors:

Toxic contaminants.
Heat load in the work space.
High horsepower demand of machines.
High light levels in the plant and corresponding greater heat
release and
indoor temperature.
Depletion in efficiency levels and healthful working
conditions.
And increase in tolerance limit of products.

The control is achieved by various methods adhering to process

specifications, using technologies like automated building
control and direct digital control (DDC).

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Environmental Control Air Flow

The design supply air flow rate depends on several factors besides
Rate
health and comfort requirements. They can be enlisted as:

Satisfactory dilution of contaminants assuming perfect distribution of air

and solvent vapors (the mixing factor k is also included).
The location of air supply and exhaust outlets such that the air passes.

Through the zone of contamination (so that spot ventilation can be

considered). Negative pressure is desirable, when contaminants are to
be prevented from escaping into the surrounding areas.

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Environmental Control Air Flow

The location of air supply and exhaust outlets such that

Rate

the air passes through the zone of contamination.

To attain optimum utilization of air supply it is distributed
in the living zone of the space i.E. Below 8-10 feet level
(where majority of people and processes are located).
Multiple point entry provides uniformity of air delivered
and minimizes.
The re-entry of contaminated air that occurs when large
volume of air is to be delivered.
During cold weather, large amount of air is removed by
mixing rapidly.
The cooler air with the warmer air in the space.

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Air Changes
Number of air changes per minute or per hour is the ratio of
ventilation rate (per minute or per hour) to the room volume.

The required ventilation depends upon the intensity of a

problem and not the size of a room and hence no. Of air
changes per unit time is a poor criteria for control and has
limited applicability.

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Air Supply Vs. Plant Heating

Even if supply air were drawn into the building, there is an additional
Costs
loading on heating systems and the fuel costs will rise.
For efficient heat transfer and independence of operation, the same
flow rate of outdoor air can be introduced through separate
replacement air heaters, without exceeding the overall fuel costs.
In order for an equilibrium to be established, the heat outflow from
the building must balance the heat inflow.
Design the supply system to provide sufficient heating to counter air
entering the building through infiltration, to prevent freezing so as to
obtain additional energy saving during downtime.

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Replacement Air Heating

The basic requirements of air heater are:
Equipment

Continuous operation capability

Constant pre-selected discharge temperature under varying
conditions of temperature

Air heaters are classified by property of source of heat as:

Steam heaters (single coil, multiple coil and bypass)

Hot water units
Indirect fired gas and oil units
Direct fired natural gas and LPG units

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COST OF HEATING REPLACEMENT AIR

Equations for estimating replacement air heating costs on
hourly and yearly basis:

QN
C
q
0.154 Q dg T c
Yearly cost (C2)
q
Hourly cost (C1) 0.001

where:
Q = air flow rate in cfm
N = required heat in BTU/hr/1000cfm
T = operating time in hours or week
q = available heat per unit of fuel
dg = annual degree days
c = cost of fuel in $ / unit.

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Air Conservation
Four methods to reduce heating and cooling costs:

Reduction in the total flow of air handled.

Delivery of untempered outdoor air to the space.
Recovery of energy from the exhaust air and.
Recovery of warm, uncontaminated air from processes.

Reduced flow rate.

It is achieved by taking stock of all exhaust and supply systems in

the plant and marking them as necessary, replaceable and obsolete,
and handling the airflow rate by implementing the changes.

Untempered air supply.

Cold outdoor air can be supplied untempered or moderately

tempered to dissipate sensible heat loads on the workers and
provide effective temperature relief from radiant heat loads.

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Air Conservation
Energy recovery

Involves use of heat exchange equipment to extract heat from

the air stream before exhaust by using any of the following
equipment :
Heat exchangers, heat wheel, fixed plate exchanger, heat pipe, run

around coil exchangers, etc

Factors of consideration for selection of a heat exchanger are:

Nature of exhaust system

Isolation of contaminated exhaust stream
Temperature of exhaust system
Space requirements
Nature of air stream
Need for a bypass

Involves recirculation (return) of air from industrial exhaust

systems

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Air Conservation
Selection of monitors
Four basic components of a complete monitoring system:

Signal transfer
Detector/ transducer
Signal conditioner
Information processor

The choice of detection method depends on whether the

contaminants are particulates or non- particulates

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Evaluation Of Employee Exposure

Levels1 C K C
CR

1 KR 1

Where:
CR= air cleaner discharge concentration after recirculation in mg /
m3
= fractional air cleaner efficiency
CE = local exhaust duct concentration before recirculation in mg / m 3
KR =
fraction of recirculated exhaust stream that is
composed of the
recirculation return air (0 to 1.0)
CM = replacement air concentration in mg / m3

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Evaluation Of Employee Exposure

Levels
Q
C C C 1 f C C f K C 1 K C
B

QA

B R

Where:
CB =

8 - hr TWA worker breathing zone concentration

After recirculation, mg/m3
QB =
total ventilation air flow before recirculation
QA =
total ventilation air flow after recirculation
CG =
general room concentration before recirculation, mg/m 3
F = fraction of time workers spend at work-station
Co =
8 - hr TWA breathing zone concentration at work station
before
Recirculation
KB = fraction of workers breathing zone air that is composed of
recirculation
( 0 to 1.0)

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Design of Recirculated Air

Systems

Systems should be designed to bypass to the outdoors

and not to recirculate.

Humid air from wet collectors can cause high humidity
and hence auxiliary ventilation may be required.
Since exit concentration of collectors varies with time,
design of data and testing programs should consider all
operational time periods.
Layout and design of recirculation duct should provide
adequate mixing with other supply air and avoid
uncomfortable drafts on workers.

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Design Of Recirculated Air

Systems
In lieu of a monitoring system, a secondary air cleaning

system is more reliable and is easy to maintain.

Odor and nuisance value of contaminants should be
compared to official TLV values.
Records should be maintained for routine tests,
maintenance procedures and recirculating systems.
Periodic testing of workroom should be done.
Appropriate signs should be displayed in prominent places.

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