Cleaning and Disinfection of the Ventilation System

40% of dirt and bacteria enter the premises through the ventilation system unless it is cleaned in a timely manner. Against this background, we decided to conduct an analysis: do people know that the system needs to be cleaned and disinfected.

After the analysis, we came to the conclusion that most people turn to us with the need to buy ventilation (90% of all orders), and there is practically no cleaning for the ventilation of appeals (10% of orders). Such statistics do not really please us, because the level of contamination of ventilation becomes a public problem, and the public does not even know about this problem.

Installing a ventilation system in the room does not mean that the issue is permanently solved, and you can forget about poor air quality. How often do you think about cleaning this system? Do you know that from ventilation to the room can come a huge amount of dust, bacteria and damp if it is not cleaned? How often should I clean the ventilation? It is better for you to learn about all the consequences of inaction, and about cleaning rules before your own ventilation will harm you. Remember, ignorance does not absolve from responsibility.

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How often should I clean the ventilation system?

The norms of air exchange and microclimate parameters, which regulate the comfort temperature, humidity, and airspeed, are prescribed in state building (DBN) and sanitary (SNiP) rules. According to these norms, the quality of ventilation must be checked once a year systematically, and the ventilation system is cleaned and disinfected. At the same time, in DBN В.2.5-20 it is clearly stated that cleaning should occur at least once a year. Also in SNiPe, it is stated that it is necessary to observe the maintenance of equipment with the frequency, which is prescribed in the operating instructions of each device.

In any case, air ducts and air ducts must ensure the passage of the normative amount of air, and the entire volume of air in the room must be changed to a new one every hour. If the ducts are heavily soiled, this becomes unrealistic, since the dirt layer reduces the amount of air that can pass through the system.

Why do I need to clean the ventilation?

Over time, a layer of dust, mud deposits, external debris, grease or industrial contamination are deposited in a thicker layer in the ventilation ducts. This leads to the development and spread of pathogens, bacteria, insects or mites, which is absolutely unacceptable, especially in living quarters. In mechanical ventilation systems, contaminated channels can spread viruses and microbes to all rooms, which immediately affect the ability to work and well-being of many people. It is especially worth noting that the dustiness of the ventilation ducts of systems immediately increases the possibility of occurrence and spread of a fire, in spite of the installed special fire-retarding valves.

Cleaning ventilation: why it is needed

The simplest problem of ventilation in the apartment – the neighbor rebuilt the partitions, “immured” the ventilation duct. A part of the exhaust duct collapsed, a brick or something else fell into the exhaust pipe and blocked the ventilation. Completely lost traction after the reconstruction of the house. In such cases, ventilation experts check the traction parameters, eliminate damages, install, if necessary, supply or exhaust devices of the required capacity.

In all systems of supply and exhaust ventilation, especially in those installed in technological workshops or in medical, educational, children’s institutions, strictly regulated service is required. Each responsible ventilation system, depending on its type according to the sanitary norms, must be periodically serviced and cleaned. All works are carried out according to the established regulations (order) and with a frequency of every 4 months, half a year, or monthly depending on the load, degree of pollution, operating modes and operating conditions of the forced ventilation system.

Approximately, systems with natural ventilation should be serviced every three years, with mechanical ventilation – at least once a year, and with hazardous operating conditions – even once a month.

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Types of pollution

Ventilation can be polluted for various reasons, which determines the way in which it is necessary to clean this or that system, which means to use. Here is a list of the main types of pollution:

Usual dust and dirt from the street / other rooms, which settles in the duct or on the filter;
Mold and fungus, water deposits – are formed when moving in a duct of moist air, or when moisture condenses inside the duct due to temperature changes;
Rust and its deposits – arise from moisture, and can eventually lead the air ducts / equipment to failure, or the formation of cracks;
The buildup of fat, which strongly clogs the air duct, filters, check valves, and system performance drops. This often happens in the kitchen in an apartment building, or in a restaurant, but it requires regular cleaning, even a little more often than once a year. Especially clean the grease traps – this is done once a month, or even more often;
Deposits of chemicals and reagents in a system that is installed in laboratories, chemistry classrooms, research facilities. It is important to regularly neutralize all harmful components, otherwise finding a person in such a room will be extremely dangerous;
Medical facilities and buildings are important to maintain regularly, in particular, the ventilation system needs to be cleaned and disinfected every half a year, or once a year. After all, in such buildings, a large number of bacteria live, so the hood should always function with sufficient power, and if it is contaminated, it is difficult to achieve. In addition, the sterility factor is not observed, if dust and dust constantly fly from the ventilation, and the bacteria stagnate in the wards;
Pollution after a flood or fire. This is a separate type of pollution, which occurs suddenly and irregularly, but requires not deferred cleaning. Since in the fire all the clots of smoke and its deposits will accumulate in the duct, then you will actually breathe fire and chemicals, which is not good at all. When a flood passes through an air duct, there is a huge amount of moist air, at which condensation occurs in abundant form. This will lead to a fungus inside the system, and later to the fungus in the house, and you will not even understand where it came from, because the flood was a long time ago.

Errors that people allow and what this leads to

The main mistake, as you already understood, is not to clean the ventilation system. It leads to the appearance of 40% of microbes and dirt, from the total amount of contamination in the room
The decision to conduct all the work independently. So, more often than not, a person cleans only the tip of the iceberg (the beginning of the duct, because it cannot get any further), or it only manages the equipment. It is necessary to perform a full cleaning since everything that remains inside the duct still enters the room
Irregular replacement/cleaning of air filters. Remember, the filters accumulate most of the contaminants and eventually become so clogged that either they stop passing enough air or the air streams break through the filter, and all the dirt accumulated for many years flies to you.
Cleaning from contamination without disinfection. If you remove only the main layer of dirt, then harmful bacteria and microbes remain in their place – in the duct and in the filters. It is important to carry out disinfection with special means to eliminate all microbes, allergens, chemical components, fat and other microelements that can cause a person a bad condition.
An appeal to an inexperienced employee of a climate company to reduce the cost of routine testing and cleaning. So, you will think that such a “specialist” still has sufficient knowledge to carry out the required work, but he will ask for a small payment. But, as practice shows, summoning an inexperienced installer is like cleaning yourself. When carrying out work, he will miss important places; Do not cleanse some depressions and holes in the system, in which most of the dirt and bacteria accumulate; can break something or create cracks; will use the cheapest means, or not quite suitable; can neglect disinfection and so on. It is better to pay a little bit, but ask for the implementation of such manipulations of an experienced engineer who has already perfected the necessary skills to mastery, and knows how to do everything correctly,

How to check for the need for cleaning

To determine the quality of natural ventilation specialists uses special devices – anemometers, which show the speed of air movement at the entrance to the exhaust ventilation duct. Measuring the cross-sectional area of the channel and taking into account the measured velocity, calculate how much air passes through the channel per unit of time, then compare the result with acceptable standards. The subtlety lies in the fact that not everything is as simple as it seems. Compliance with standards is checked to take into account the current atmospheric and climatic conditions.

It’s no secret that according to physical laws warm air rises and tends to mix with the colder one. This is the basis of the principle of natural ventilation in most of the houses already built. Through the doors, windows and all the leaks of the house’s construction, fresh air enters the premises, and the spent and warmed air is sent through the canals to the exhaust system up to the outside of the house. But the thrust directly depends on the outside temperature of the air, and in hot weather (up to +30 degrees and above), the opposite effect can occur, the heat from outside will tend to inside the house, and the air exchange is much more difficult. In summer natural ventilation works worse, especially on warm days.

We will not, therefore, talk about methods of diagnosing ventilation, when a sheet of paper is attached to the exhaust grate. If it is delayed in place by the pressurized exhaust air flow, it is considered that there are sufficient draft and sufficient ventilation. Such signs are approximate, even during the day they are different.

Another reason for poor-quality ventilation. It is worth paying attention to the ongoing intensive measures for the thermal insulation of houses and buildings. We put airtight windows and doors, insulated the walls, only forgot that fresh air is completely blocked access, and the hood does not work. Urgent measures are needed to ensure the necessary inflow and exhaustion in the home, office or apartment.

Everything is more complicated with mechanical ventilation systems. They are checked and compared real and calculated parameters that were provided for by the project. That is, such a system should provide the design airflow, air exchange rate, temperature, speed and air purity in accordance with the technical documentation for the system. Also check the condition of the air ducts, the purity of the grids, filters, valves and fan blades, heat exchangers, the state of electrical control, drives and drainage system.

It turns out that to conduct measurements and assess the quality of ventilation should only professionals. Only they can find out why the hood is hammered or not work, how effective is the ventilation in the apartment of the high-rise building, where the integrity of the channels is broken, how long the filters were not cleaned, why ventilation is noisy. Ventilation is a responsible business. To entrust the elimination of faults and perform the necessary service work is possible only for professionals.

How to clean the ventilation system – a description of the work in detail

Natural ventilation systems in homes or offices are serviced by simple devices – flexible brushes for cleaning channels or exhaust devices, into which dust from the ventilation shafts is drawn.

Mechanical ventilation systems are serviced and cleaned and disinfected by specialists of service teams. The whole system undergoes an external inspection; the operating parameters of the system are checked. After that, the tightness of the air duct system is checked; a sequence of cleaning of the individual process sections of the system is outlined. A powerful special technique is used: vacuum plants, brush machines, video surveillance systems, filter boxes and other devices.

Here you can identify the factors:

The individual parts of the system turn off after the hatches are connected brushing machines that pass inside and clean out clogged air ducts, on the other hand, operates vacuum machine, suction and collect all the dust and dirt in the filter box. Contaminated air passes through coarse and fine filters.
To remove fatty contaminants in the ventilation systems of restaurants, cafes or bars, alkaline solutions, foam generators or steam generators are used.
Air ducts of the large cross-section are cleaned with compressed air.
Control of the cleanliness of air ducts is carried out with the help of video cameras.
Do local washings from the walls for the presence of contaminants and determine the degree of air duct contamination. According to the analysis of flushing, the type of disinfectants is selected and spraying the disinfectant onto the internal walls of the ducts is carried out.
Cleaning and disinfection of parts of the air handling unit, fan blades, valve surfaces and sound attenuators is done manually.
After the works are checked, the ventilation system is operative and the results of the check are documented.

Conclusions

Ventilation in a house, apartment or office, at work or in an institution, if it is serviced in time, guarantees healthy living conditions for people. A timely scheduled check of ventilation in the houses will ensure clean air and the health of their inhabitants.

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Systematic monitoring, cleaning, and disinfection of the forced ventilation system are indispensable and necessary measures for trouble-free operation and long productive operation of the equipment. Only complying with the requirements for comprehensive maintenance of the ventilation system can ensure its 100% performance and efficiency.