LEV Demo No Video - by John Dobbie

Joint IOSH/BOHS Control Event
Local Exhaust Ventilation Demo

John Dobbie & Emma Thomson
13th November 2014
Types of ventilation
• Local exhaust ventilation (LEV)
– Potentially very effective way to prevent hazardous
materials entering the workplace atmosphere
– Should collect at source and remove contaminants
away from the worker
– However, in many cases LEV is poorly designed, poorly
used or maintained and is ineffective
• Dilution ventilation
– Reduces background concentration of contaminant by
introducing fresh air. However, little reduction of
contaminant concentration near the source
General Features of an LEV System
Source: Adrian Hirst

General Considerations
Source: UK HSE
Three basic types of LEV hood
Enclosing (Contain and remove)
Receiving (Receive and remove)
Capturing (Capture and remove)
Source: HSE
Enclosing Hood
Potentially most effective type
Contaminant released inside enclosure
Kept separate from worker
Full enclosure
– glove box, shot blast cabinet
Partial enclosure
– fume cupboard, paint spray
booth
Compatibility with work?

Source: HSE
Receptor Hoods
Takes advantage of any directional velocity of contaminants

- from grinding / cutting etc
- from hot processes Source: HSE
Can be affected by other air currents in area

Capturing Hoods
The process, Hood has to generate sufficient
source and airflow at and around the source to
contaminant cloud ‘capture’ and draw in the
are outside the contaminant-laden air
hood
Inlets need to be positioned near
source
Source: HSE (adapted from Hemeon’s Plant and Process Ventilation)

Sometimes the failure is blatant
Source:UK HSE
Sometimes the failure is more subtle
Source:UK HSE
Air flow characteristics of
blowing and extracting
Blowing
d
Approximately 10% of face velocity at
60 diameters away
Exhausting
d
Approximately 10% of face velocity at one
diameter away from exhaust opening
NB: Try sucking out a lighted match!

Inlets - Effective capture zone of
an LEV hood
Flange
Source: UK HSE
Capturing hoods – design considerations
• Size, shape and position of source

• Nature of the contaminant
• Speed and direction of contaminant source
• Type of process and operator requirements
• Process induced air movement and draughts
• These all affect the required capture velocity,

capture distance, airflow etc
Source: HSE
Capture velocities by process
Process Capture velocities
Evaporation from liquids 0.25 – 0.5 m/s
Spraying in large booth, filling, low- 0.5 – 1.0 m/s

speed conveyors
Spraying in small booth, conveyor 1.0 – 2.5 m/s
loading, crushers
Grinding, disc cutting, abrasive 2.5 – 10.0 m/s
blasting
Capture of vapour-laden air:
evaporation
Air velocity required
at this point to
“capture” vapour-laden
air ~0.5 metres per
second (m/s)
Source: UK HSE
Capture of vapour-laden air:
drum filling
Air velocity required
at this point to
“capture” vapour-laden
air ~ 1.0 metres per
second (m/s)
Source: UK HSE
Example: Processed induced air
movement Video clip
Source: UK HSE
Capturing hood capture zone
Source: UK HSE
Rosin solder fume control by capturing hood
Source: UK HSE
Ductwork
Ductwork carries the extracted air and the contaminant from
the inlet to the air cleaning device.
– Velocity must be high enough to keep particulates airborne

(recommended duct or transport velocities)
– Should be sufficiently strong, adequately supported and

capable of withstanding normal wear and tear
– The number of changes of directions should be kept to a
minimum and should be made smoothly
– Access to ducting may be required.
Duct Velocity
Type of contaminant Duct velocity(m/s)
Gases (non-condensing) No minimum limit
Vapours, smoke, fume 10

Light/medium density dust 15
(e.g. sawdust, plastic dust)
Average industrial dusts (e.g. grinding dust, 20
wood shavings, asbestos, silica)
Heavy dusts, (e.g. lead, metal turnings and 25
dusts which are damp or that tend to
agglomerate)
Source: HSE
Air cleaners
• Gas and vapour removal
• Chemical absorption
• Combustion
• Condensation
• Air filters
– Mainly used in ventilation and air conditioning systems
– Handle high volumes of air with low resistance to air
flow
– High resistance, high efficiency (HEPA) filters used for
ultra-clean applications and hazardous dusts e.g.
asbestos
Air cleaners
Particulate and fume collectors – extract large
amounts of particulate at high inlet
concentrations
• Cyclones
– better at collecting larger (>10 micron)
particles
• Fabric filters
– collect particles down to approximately 1
micron (or less)
• Wet collectors
micron
• Electrostatic precipitators
micron (or less)
Air Cleaners - Filters

Air Cleaners - Cyclones

Air Movers - Fans
Centrifugal
Axial
Source: US EPA
Fans - Centrifugal
• Air enters fan – exits at right
angle
• Can work against high

resistance
• Usual type of fan for all but the

simplest of LEV systems
• Reverse impeller direction –

gives reduced air flow (in
correct direction)
Fans - Axial
• Air enters along line of axis
• Best for high volumes BUT

against very low resistance
• Not for use with flammable

vapours!
• Reverse direction = reverse

flow
Discharge to atmosphere
• Additional ductwork may be required after the fan to

ensure that any discharges do not re-enter the building via
inlets / windows
• Discharge stacks may need to be extended above roof level

and particular attention should be paid to the design of the
discharge terminal
Discharge to Atmosphere
Source: UK HSE
Maintenance, Examination and Testing
of LEV Systems
In order to function correctly it must be in good
working order.
• Legal requirements
• In UK COSHH Regulations require LEV systems to
be examined / tested at least every 14 months
• Weekly visual check
• Records to be kept for 5 years
• Regular Maintenance
• Thorough Examination and Testing.
Maintenance of LEV systems
Maintenance should include
– Regular inspections, including weekly visual check
• Ensure correct positioning of hoods
• Identify obvious faults
• Signs of malfunction or damage to hoods, ducts or air
cleaners
– Monitoring of performance indicators
• Air velocities, static pressures etc
– Routine replacement of components with limited
working life
– Prompt repair / replacement of damaged components
Thorough Examination and Testing of
Ventilation Systems
A periodic audit of the LEV system and its performance
– Thorough examination of all parts of the system
– Assessment of adequate control
• Using dust lamps, smoke tubes, air monitoring
– Measurement of plant performance
• Static pressures measurements
• Air velocities at inlets and in ducts
• Pressure drops across filters
• Power consumption
• Assessment of filter performance
Smoke Tubes/Tracers
• Useful where
contaminant is not
visible
• Contents may be
harmful / acidic
• Useful to determine
DIRECTION of air
flow!
Visibility of particle clouds
• What you see is not necessarily what’s there
• Fine “respirable” airborne particles are invisible

under normal lighting
Dust Lamp/Tyndall Beam
Tyndall illumination shows more
clearly airborne particles of all sizes
e.g. grain and wood dust
Grain dust
Source: UK HSE
Sanding without Tyndall lighting
Source: UK HSE
Sanding with Tyndall lighting
Source: UK HSE
Measurement of velocity
• Rotating vane anemometers

• Thermal anemometers
• Pitot tube and electronic manometer
– All above need regular calibration
Rotating vane anemometers
• Various sizes
– 25 mm and 100 mm most common
• Averages air flow over a period
• Used for large openings

– Where measurement area is large
relative to instrument size
• Avoid standing in front!

Thermal (hot-wire / thermistor
bead) anemometers
• Air flow cools hot wire / thermistor
– Fast response – difficult to average
• Not intrinsically safe

– Do not use in flammable atmospheres!
• Small sensor head – may be used in

ducts
– Care – easily damaged by particulates
• Hold at arms length with probe in plane

of opening
– May need to rotate probe - particularly at
edges of hood/duct
Face Velocity Measurements
• Air velocity at opening to hood or enclosure
– Indicates capacity to control contaminant
• Measured in the plane of the opening
• Single measurements or grid

measurements for large openings
Measurement – Booths /
fume cupboards
• Face velocities measured in the
‘plane’ of the opening
– Typically 0.5 – 0.7 m/s
• Divide face area into imaginary

equal area rectangles
– take velocity in the centre of each
– investigate readings more than +/-
20% from average

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Joint IOSH/BOHS Control Event

Local Exhaust Ventilation Demo

Source: Adrian Hirst

Receiving (Receive and remove)

Capturing (Capture and remove)

Contaminant released inside enclosure

Kept separate from worker

Compatibility with work?

Takes advantage of any directional velocity of contaminants

Can be affected by other air currents in area

Source: HSE (adapted from Hemeon’s Plant and Process Ventilation)

NB: Try sucking out a lighted match!

• Size, shape and position of source

• These all affect the required capture velocity,

Evaporation from liquids 0.25 – 0.5 m/s

Spraying in large booth, filling, low- 0.5 – 1.0 m/s

– Velocity must be high enough to keep particulates airborne

– Should be sufficiently strong, adequately supported and

Vapours, smoke, fume 10

Source: Adrian Hirst

Source: Adrian Hirst

• Can work against high

• Usual type of fan for all but the

• Reverse impeller direction –

• Best for high volumes BUT

• Not for use with flammable

• Reverse direction = reverse

• Additional ductwork may be required after the fan to

• Discharge stacks may need to be extended above roof level

• What you see is not necessarily what’s there

• Fine “respirable” airborne particles are invisible

• Rotating vane anemometers

• Averages air flow over a period

• Used for large openings

• Avoid standing in front!

• Not intrinsically safe

• Small sensor head – may be used in

• Hold at arms length with probe in plane

• Measured in the plane of the opening

• Single measurements or grid

• Divide face area into imaginary

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