The client had a specific fume issue they wanted to solve at their mechanical shop in Red Deer, AB. The shop was 70,000 square feet (45’W x 65’L and 50’H), with 7 service bays, ready to perform repairs and maintenance on large excavators and loaders. Some of the equipment was up to 65 feet long and 20 feet high.
Repairs and maintenance conducted at the shop included gouging plates up to 4 inches thick, as well as some very heavy welding due to the size of equipment. These processes created an enormous amount of contaminate in the building, adversely affecting the indoor air quality on a daily basis by emitting thick clouds of smoke and fumes. The solution had to be versatile to adapt to the various sizes of equipment and be capable of dealing with the source of the problem.
The solution involved 14 swivel boom arms including 2 motorized hose reels per arm. The hose reels were operated by remote control to facilitate local source capture of the fumes and dust generated by the operation. The limited space available due to the crane operation required VETS to engineer a very compact swivel arm. The swivel arms were mounted 25 feet high and, with the help of the reel, could reach out up to 40 feet away from the swivel point. Originally the thought was to have these arms be easily positioned by hand, however as the length and weight of each arm increased, to have the best reach and capture the fumes produced, they became too heavy to safely move by hand. With some research, the VETS team sourced a way to simplify and fine-tune each arm so it could be independently adjusted by the operator by remote control for the hose reel precise positioning and could be position easily using a rope system.
The project also included installing an HVAC system that could supply outside fresh air and increase the building’s indoor air quality. The HVAC system was interlocked with the 14 swivel arms and zoned so that the air supply and exhaust of the 14 arms could modulate and adapt to the number of welders working, decreasing the energy to operate and reducing the heat requirement of the building.
The solution was completely designed, engineered, fabricated and installed by the team at VETS Sheet Metal.
