Ventilation Requirement for Water Treatment Plants 1

[m2e]

Hi,

I'm designing the HVAC for a water treatment plant. Since the client is considering to employ heat recovery I thought I should do a more precise ventilation design. I'm trying to find the ventilation requirement from local codes and ASHRAE, but there isn't anything suitable for this type of buildings.

Does anybody know where to find or do you know the ventilation requirement for water treatment plants (air change method and whether it should be positively or negatively pressurized), in specific to the following rooms:

1. Main treatment room (where the chlorination or other chemical reaction take place)
2. Main treatment room (if there's only filtering, no chemical)
3. Chemical storage room (Chlorine, caustic, etc)
4. Chemical metering pump room
5. Pipe gallery
6. MCC room

Thanks very much.

 

[trashcanman]

From 2006 IMC, the closest I see is a parking garage @ 1.5 cfm/s.f. or autopsy @ 2 cfm/s.f. (outside air). All the rooms should be negative to contain chemical fumes.

 

[stookeyfpe]

Your chemical storage rooms should be designed for 1 CFM/square foot in accordance with the International Fire Code. If your dealing with anhydrous Cl2, your ventilation needs to terminate to a post-release treatement system, be connected to a standby power circuit, and comply with Section 510 of the IMC.

 

[trashcanman]

Stookey is quite right. USE NFPA (slap forehead). Check to see if the chemical fumes are flammable or explosive. That might require explosion proof electrical gear. Also check if the fumes are corrosive and specify equipment/ductwork accordingly.

 

[m2e]

The NFPA part is ok because there's a code to govern it, but for non-fire-related part is where guideline and code is lacking. Do you just make them all 8 ACH, or 2 ACH, how do you tell?

 

[cheute79]

don't forget to make the MCC room positive pressure. This especially applies to corrosives and flammables in surrounding areas. The MCC ought to be positive to pretty much everything.