Obeikan Glass Factory Case Study
Location:
Saudi Arabia.
Business:
The Obeikan Glass factory is a private company operating within the materials sector in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, focusing on Metal and Glass Containers.
About the project
The Obeikan Investment Group’s 8,600m² light industrial facility is located approximately 350 kilometre north of Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. The glass making facility generates significant amounts of process heat and vapour requiring constant ventilation.
With the existing ventilation system not performing as required, CSR Bradford Ventilation local distributor, Egphil Solar, provided a natural ventilation solution using Hurricane H900 ventilators that not only provided cost savings over the life of the building but also improved worker comfort and safety on the factory floor.
Challenge:
The local climate in Yanbu is classified as desert with minimal rainfall throughout the year and temperatures regularly exceeding 40°C during the summer months. Typical wind speeds in the region vary between 0 m/s and 5 m/s for most of the time. Creating safe environments that protect workers and sensitive equipment, whilst keeping energy use to a minimum presents a major challenge for the business in these conditions.
For the project, the team compared the H900 ventilator with electric axial fans that are typically used in these types of installations. The design was based on achieving five air changes per hour in the work area to ensure acceptable air quality and workplace temperatures for staff.
In addition, working at heights in the hot and dusty local climate presents a safety risk for maintenance staff and once installed, the H900 ventilators require almost no maintenance.
The outcomes for the project:
To ensure the performance of the system, testing of temperature and humidity on the factory floor was undertaken before and after installation. The testing confirmed that installation of the H900 ventilators reduced the internal space humidity by 7% and average daily temperatures were reduced by 2°C.
In addition, by utilising a night purge operation, thermal mass in the concrete floor is used to aid in reducing temperatures during the day. Cool desert air and clear skies remove heat from the building at night, allowing the thermal mass to act as a heat sink during the day.
For more information, download the full case study here: Obeikan Glass Factory Case Study