Evaluating the effectiveness of push-pull ventilation system for controlling lead, zinc and sulfuric acid emitted from Zinc electrolysis vans of a zinc production industry

Air pollution is one of the hazardous factors on human health and the environment. In the zinc production industry, because of process nature and using electrolysis pools, the amount of production and diffusion of some of the harmful pollutants such as acidic vapors is exceedingly high. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of push-pull ventilation system implemented for controlling the emitted pollutants from an electrolysis unit of a zinc industry.
In this study the concentrations of emmited pollutants into the breathing zone of workers and work environment, before and after implementing of the ventilation systemin a zinc production industry was measured. Then, the efficiency of the system in pollution reduction was measured consequently. Finally, the operational parameters of ventilation were measured and compared with the values of the design.
Results showed that the concentrations of lead and zinc were less than the Iran’s occupational exposure limits in all samples but the density of sulfuric acid was more than permissible limit. the concentration of sulfuric acid before implementing the ventilation system in the inhaled, environmental and pollution sources air were 1.17 ± 0.90, 2.14 ± 0.63 and 5.59 ±1.49 mg per cubic meter, respectively. Also these values after implementing the ventilation system were 0.11 ± 0.032, 0.24 ± 0.15 and 0.97 ± 0.52 mg.
The results showed that the modified push-pull ventilation system that was in accordance with the limitations of the electrolysis unit, has proper efficiency for reducing such industrial pollutants.