ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines some basic principles of industrial ventilation and should help the reader to identify poor and inefficient designs, which will assist in increasing the effectiveness of a ventilation system. While minor modifications to a system can be made without calculations, significant changes or new designs will require specialist knowledge. Industrial ventilation is one of the most effective ways to reduce toxic airborne exposures in the workplace by engineering, and also improves the comfort of workers. Poor design, poor installation and poor maintenance can be common in industrial ventilation systems, which may be exacerbated if modifications are made without a solid grasp of the impact. An understanding of the difference between sucking and blowing air is fundamental to industrial ventilation design. The degree of mixing of air in a room largely determines how well dilution ventilation works. Ventilation of confined spaces is usually a special case of dilution ventilation, particularly when there is only one entrance.
