ABSTRACT
For the first time in Europe, the installation of centrifugal fans for renewal of sanitary air makes its debut in an underground construction site, seeing the use of new heavy-duty machines.
When very high ventilation system performances are required, centrifugal fan steal the show to the more traditional solutions obtained by means of single and multiple stage axial fans. This is the case of the BTC Mules 2-3 worksite where the new ventilation system is required to cope with sanitary ventilation of the underground construction site with a total flow rate of 420 m3/s and 6,000 Pa of total pressure and with total electric power of about 3.2 MW.
The system is required to guarantee air renewal for pollutants dilution produced by almost 10,000 kW of total power expected during underground operations and to guarantee the salubriousness of the air for the workers involved (200 people), along ca. 40 km of tunnels.
