A functional ventilation system in industrial facilities is one of the basic conditions that must be met in order for production to go smooth without compromising the safety of workers and equipment. Depending on the activity, different facilities experience typical ventilation problems, but some frequent issues occur for reasons other than the narrow expertise of a facility.
Thus, read the following lines and learn how to recognize common industrial ventilation problems and how to fix them easily. Faulty ventilation can cost you and your team much more than it can be expressed with money, so acting in a timely matter should be your number one priority as soon as you notice something is wrong. Although regular maintenance of vent systems should prevent and minimalize unexpected breakage, accidents still happen, and what you should do is know how to handle them when the time comes.
1. Leakage and Lackage
To act in time, you should be aware of how a ventilation system functions and how does it condition the surrounding where workers spend their working hours. In order to cool the air, ventilation systems usually spend different refrigerants. The exact refrigerant your ventilation uses depends on the model of your system’s production, additional repairs over the past period, and potential alterations some repairments could have done on former maintenance sessions. What you should know is that your ventilation system cannot cool the air without the use of refrigerants, but can only filter it without enhancing it with a cooling agent. Thus, if your ventilation underdelivers, make sure you check the status of the refrigerant.
There are two potential issues. Namely, if your vents fail to deliver, they have either run out of the refrigerant or it leaks. If it leaks, you might be paying for additional service since the leakage needs to be patched and the system refueled, and if the system has spent the gas, all you have to do is call the official service and schedule an appointment. Either way, you will have to reach for the helping hand of a ventilation company, unless you have the knowledge and the technology to perform the procedure by yourself.
2. Clogged Filters and Air Passages
Once again, we need to emphasize the importance of regular maintenance. You should either do it on your own steam or hire a professional service to do it for you. Either way, the job needs to be done in order for your ventilation to function properly. If you maintain your vents regularly, then you should be aware of potential issues you might experience in near future, and act to eliminate existing problems. Maintenance also implies that anything that could block an air passage is removed and that the air filters are cleaned. Even when you pay attention to maintaining your ventilation system regularly, there are chances something shall go wrong. Thus, if you notice awkward smells coming from your vent system or you detect poor airflow, make sure you check what is going on with filters and air passages. Again, consulting a professional service before doing things on your own is our humble advice since it is not only that they have experience in handling the same or similar issues, but they also bear the responsibility for their actions and guarantee for their work. At Canarm you can find additional info on how to pick the right ventilation system and what to expect of different variations of AC systems.
3. Power Source
Your ventilation needs to be adequately powered if you want it to function flawlessly. Depending on the size of an industrial facility and the type of implemented system, ventilation spends more or less electric energy. Now, even though ventilation systems are not large power consumers, their electrical installations should be singled out of the rest of the facility, not because they could compromise the stability of the power network, but because you can easily fix any potential issue more easily without shutting the whole facility down. In most cases, if your ventilation does not receive the power it should, the main culprit would be either the fuse that has fallen out or any other electrical issue. Raising the fuse is simple, but it could indicate something else is wrong with electrical installations, thus, if it does not fix the problem and the issue repeats shortly after, make sure you call the pros and do their magic.
4. Dysfunctional Fans
If there were not for the fans that make the airflow through a facility, the whole ventilation process would be compromised, thus, they need to be kept in top shape in order to deliver what is expected. There are several types of fans, but they all have the same purpose. To serve it, they need to be maintained regularly. As we have already mentioned, regular maintenance prolongs the life of the equipment and gives you the chance to fix what is wrong before it causes more damage.
When fans are in question, if you can see and hear them, they should be ok. But if you notice strange sounds or movement, you should wait to start the ventilation until you have checked them for stability. There are numerous things you should check, so we should start with making sure that everything is tightened up. Some fans rotate at high speeds and even a small loosening can cause severe disturbances. Afterward, you should check the blades and how they perform. If the screeching sounds are what has brought you to the fan, make sure you lubricate the machine before turning it on. What you would like to check before restarting the ventilation is the condition of the fan belts. Apart from the aforementioned, additional issues could cause your fan to stop working, but asking for help from the accredited ventilation service is what we suggest you go for.
We certainly hope that you will not experience any complicated issues with your ventilation system, at least not the ones that this article will not be able to help you deal with. We are aware that the goal is to get the whole thing back functioning as soon as it breaks, but sometimes it is better to watch how things get back to normal from a safe distance, while the pros do their thing. Namely, the point is to fix the issue, not to make it more complicated with insufficient knowledge on the issue. Thus, if you have to pay for the service, make sure you do not create additional costs due to ill-handling.
Nicola Holder 