Avaliação de ventilação industrial em tanque caracterizado como espaço confinado através de fluidodinâmica computacional.

Abstract

In a globalized and competitive scenario, the performance of industrial production is what makes an organization have a solid and sustainable growth. The integrity of equipment and installation is directly related to this fact, since unscheduled shutdowns, manufacturing of poor quality products and environmental pollution have a negative impact on the production process. Linked to this, it becomes evident the need for scheduled maintenance stops, which aim to reestablish and / or enhance the productive capacity, quality and safe operation of the industrial unit. In this scenario, the use of confined spaces - an environment that was not designed for continuous human occupation, has limited / restricted means of access and a dangerous atmosphere can occur - has a high degree of risk. Thus, the growing demand to improve working conditions in these environments justifies the development of this work, which aims to assess exhaust ventilation in a deinvented tank and propose safety measures so that health and safety standards are guaranteed during activities in this space . The work will be based on the study of the equipment, collection of technical information, fluid dynamics simulation and recommendation of industrial health and safety measures. At the end of this work, the natural ventilation patterns were evaluated and identified that additional care is necessary, despite meeting the scenario of “Poor mixture or release of negligible contaminant” established by the Technical Guide Regulatory Standard 33. As for mechanical exhaust ventilation, it was identified that the ideal location for the installation of the extractor is in the top of Visiting Mouth - BV -, facing the risks involved in comparison with the lateral BV. It was also evaluated the requirements regarding air flow inside the equipment and areas of recirculation or deficient fluid movement, it was identified that the flow permeates all the limits of the equipment, that there are no recirculation areas or low fluid movement, it was also identified that the mass rate in the scenarios defined by the referred Technical Guide is higher than that established so that at least 01 person performs activities classified as “heavy work”. Regarding the presence of contaminant, it was found that 01 minute exhaust ventilation at 1625 m³ / h is insufficient to remove the contaminant carbon monoxide at an initial concentration of 10,000 ppm in order to reach the limits established by Regulatory Standard 15, as the atmosphere would still present a risk to human health. Finally, safety measures were recommended to maintain the health and safety of employees in activities carried out in confined spaces.