Page 93 - Occupational Health & Safety, September 2019

sure OSHA compliance and safe working environments. It would require little to no user intervention and would operate in the background humming along and adjusting to spikes in chromi- um dust and fumes as they arise. With most ventilation systems, simply increasing ventilation speed and operating that condition all the time consumes far more energy.
Typically, with large industrial blowers higher RPM operation (and thus faster ventilation air speeds) increases power draw ex- ponentially, so optimizing ventilation speed operation will ensure PEL compliance as well as efficient energy usage. In large industrial facilities, blowers can consume immense amounts of energy and thus increase operational overhead, so efficiency is critical to pro- longing system life as well as reducing utility costs.
Moreover, an automated ventilation system such as this would document each sensor data point and associated ventilation speed control signals to provide validation that OSHA compli- ance is continuously maintained. In the event of an OSHA visit to determine compliance, this system would show proof of ex- posure below the PEL. Facility managers could set the thresholds at which the ventilation speed will increase to ensure an even safer environment than OSHA requires or to adjust in the future should OSHA mandated exposure limits change. Future-proofing high-cost systems such as industrial ventilation is important to reducing operating costs over time.
Other Dusts of Concern
In addition to hexavalent chromium, many industrial processes such as thermal spray and plating produce cadmium, nickel, and many toxic gases. These other materials can be accounted for by integrating specialized sensors into the ventilation control system as suggested with chromium. Many of these toxic materials are in- visible, odorless or both, so it is important to rely on technology to aid us in the prevention of health issues for our personnel.
Alex Mazzotta is a mechanical engineer at Figure Engineering, based in Lorton, Virginia. Figure Engineering works with the Air Force on several contracts to improve maintenance, repair, and overhaul pro- cesses from safety to process control. He is apart of a small team that has engineered solutions from concept to fielded system. If you would like to learn more about Figure Engineering and their solutions for industrial safety challenges, please visit www.FigureEngineering. com or contact him at 571-250-8964 x12 or alex@figureinc.us.
REFERENCES
1. https://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_General_Facts/hexavalent_ chromium.pdf
2. https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/2018-12/fy11_sh-22248-11_ Hexavalent_Chromium.ppt
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