The key to delivering great ventilation services is to not only focus on the functionality and efficiency of the system but to also consider the challenges unique to each company.
Through working with Cross Manufacturing, we illustrated how we can tailor solutions to resolve ventilation issues whilst taking the wider community into consideration.
In this post, we share how we delivered a ventilation service to Cross Manufacturing’s factory that efficiently resolved their excess heat build-up problem, whilst honouring their duty of care to the local residents.
Who are Cross Manufacturing and what do they offer?
Cross Manufacturing is a world-leading manufacturer of precision-engineered, high-temperature metallic seals and retaining rings for aircraft engines, gas and steam turbines, vehicle turbochargers and more.
The company’s heritage dates back to 1938 when it was established by combining the activities of earlier companies and the manufacturing processes developed by the founder, Roland Cross.
Cross Manufacturing’s ventilation challenges
The company operates machines and processes 24/7. As a result, heat is generated. Whilst the main factory was equipped with an Air Handling Unit (AHU) that blows hot or cold air into the factory, controlling the temperature, the factory’s annexe suffered a lack of air movement.
The fact that the annexe was used as a heat treatment area compounded the problem further as it housed 8 ovens.
The roof fans that were used to extract the warm air from the annexe, to provide a comfortable environment for the factory workers could cause disruption to neighbours in the form of noise pollution especially at night time.
Colt’s plan of action
We determined that in order to resolve this problem, our solution needed to:
- Eliminate the excess heat build-up and lack of air movement in the annexe to provide a comfortable working environment for the factory workers.
- Be efficient whilst minimising noise, as the factory has operated from their current location long before the surrounding areas became a residential estate.
Whilst Cross Manufacturing had never received noise complaints from local residents, they wanted to ensure that the local community would not be negatively impacted by the installation of new ventilation solutions.
Helicopter thinking provides peaceful nights: Colt’s solution
Once we were clear on Cross Manufacturing’s objectives, we got to work by delivering our ventilation services.
Acoustic calculations
Firstly, our engineers used Google Earth to get a good picture of the factory’s surrounding residential area (shown below). This challenge was quite unique to Cross Manufacturing as factories are commonly located on industrial estates.
We then carried out some approximate noise calculations, as below, based on noise levels at the boundary fence and also the nearest house:
Our solution included (but was not limited to):
- Colt’s ErP compliant Tornado powered extract ventilator, which is designed to deal with localised air quality and overheating problems. It was a great solution for Cross Manufacturing as it operates with a high-efficiency, low noise variable speed EC motor.
- Colt’s Seefire natural louvred ventilator that is both suitable for natural ventilation as well as smoke control.
The Result
As well as providing energy-efficient ventilation, EC fans can allow the system to speed up, or more importantly slow down, to balance the extract rate to the conditions within the building.
This results in energy being saved and noise being minimised.
Careful selection of product and, importantly, careful consideration of their placement on the building, with neighbours in mind reduces the potential risk of disturbance and so avoids complaints.
When we went back to visit the site after the work had been completed, we were glad to hear that there have not been any noise complaints from residents located around Cross Manufacturing’s factories.
Recently, Cross Manufacturing has been in touch requesting a quote for more of our ventilation services, as they have been able to expand their number of ovens.
Overall, we are really happy with how this project went! It was nice to see how our services not only helped a well-established business whilst considering the neighbours living nearby. Find out more.
If you are interested in our ventilation services, contact us today.