Blower System Design Literature/Resources

[sta07750]

I'm a Chemical Eng by trade (and a fairly new one at that) but I've been asked to do some work on a blower system. It currently operates at 2500SCFM, SP is about 30" wCg. They want to double the capacity of the system but I don't know what will work from a design standpoint (run parallel blowers, replace existing one with one with double the capacity, put a second identical blower on the opposite end of the header so the blowers pull air in opposite directions, etc) because I've never really dived into HVAC. Does anyone have any good resources that I can get my hands on that does a decent job explaining blower systems? Thanks.

 

[trashcanman]

Two Resources:
1. ASHRAE HANDBOOK OF HVAC APPLICATIONS - INDUSTRIAL VENTILATION.
2. INDUSTRIAL VENTILATION by American Council of Government Industrial Hygienists.

A lot depends on what you are exhausting/supplying. Hazardous fumes, comfort ventilation, material handling, etc.?
A lot is involved - type of blower, static pressure, material, control, dampers, blower rpm.
This is not really for someone without experience. I for example would not want to try to design a chemical process as it is not my field.
I would suggest asking for help from someone well versed in the field.

 

[sta07750]

It's pulling air into a manifold that runs the length of the room then pushes it through a filter and back into the room the system is drawing from. Things like blower type and materials have already been determined by the previous system that is already in place. And controls aren't an issue as we want this to run full out all the time. No control involved, either it's on or it's off or if one of the blowers were to fail then we would limp along with lower flow. My main questions really deal with what is considered good engineering practices. Can I run two blowers in parallel? If I calculate that the necessary SP on the blower inlet is 58" wCg and we want 5000 CFM, do I run two blowers at 58" and 2500 CFM or two blowers at 29" and 2500 CFM? Could I put two blowers rated for 29" and 2500 CFM on opposite ends of the manifold and 'pull' air in opposite directions through the same manifold? We don't really care too much about balanced flow, we just want more filtering. I've got someone that I can get some direction from but I don't want to be completely unknowledgable about everything. I appreciate the help thus far.

 

[CalvinMortley]

thanks for resources!