Solution

Ventilation, Cleanroom and Fume Control CFD

CFD of airflow, contaminant removal and containment for basements, cleanrooms, laboratories and fume hoods, used to fix the layout before it is built.

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Ventilation, Cleanroom and Fume Control CFD — featured
Overview

What this solution covers

Whether a space stays safe and clean depends on how the air actually moves through it, and air-change calculations cannot show that. Shirsh Technosolutions models the airflow in ANSYS Fluent for car parks and basements, pharmaceutical cleanrooms, laboratories and fume hoods.

The model shows where supply air goes, where it stalls and where contaminants collect. Designers can then move diffusers, exhaust points, sensors or baffles on screen and check the result before any ductwork goes in.

The problem

Pain points we address

Stagnant zones where exhaust gases or contaminants build up

Cleanroom airflow not holding at critical points around equipment and operators

Fume hoods and enclosures that may spill back towards the user

CO and gas sensors placed by guesswork

Costly rework after installation when the airflow falls short

Our answer

What we solve

Airflow and contaminant dispersion in enclosed car parks and basements

Cleanroom and laminar airflow patterns around equipment and operators

Fume hood and enclosure containment, and the flow split between openings

Placement of sensors, diffusers, exhaust grilles and jet fans

Comparison of alternative layouts before construction

Methodology

How we approach it

  1. 1

    Build the space from drawings, with obstructions, openings, equipment and sources

  2. 2

    Mesh with poly-hexcore cells and wall prism layers, refined near inlets and outlets

  3. 3

    Solve steady RANS with a suitable turbulence model, adding species transport for contaminants

  4. 4

    Set supply, exhaust and openings to match the design or measured airflow

  5. 5

    Review velocity, streamlines and concentration at occupant and work heights

  6. 6

    Test layout changes and report the arrangement that meets the requirement

What you get

Deliverables

CFD report with velocity, streamline and concentration plots

Flow balance across supply, exhaust and openings

Recommended layout changes and sensor locations

Comparison of design options

Impact

Expected outcomes

Dead zones and short-circuiting found at the design stage

Sensor and grille positions based on the actual flow pattern

Evidence to support design approval and validation documents

Less rework at site after commissioning

Why us

Why Shirsh

We combine CFD with a working knowledge of how HVAC systems are designed and commissioned. Our models include the obstructions, openings and sources that really drive the flow, and our reports turn the results into layout changes an HVAC contractor can act on.

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Related insights

Article

Electrolyser Halls: What Air Changes Can and Cannot Do for Hydrogen

A room-average check can show a small hydrogen leak diluted to a few percent of the LFL, while a larger hole in the range IEC 60079-10-1 works with fills the same room past the LFL in under four minutes. We set out what the 2020 edition asks for and run the check on a generic electrolyser room.

Read
Article

BESS Container HVAC: Why One Rack Runs Hot and What CFD Shows

A BESS container HVAC unit controls on its return air, and that reading can stay the same while the racks inside breathe very different air. We ran four OpenFOAM cases on a generic ten-rack container to show which rack ran hottest, why 30% more airflow barely changed the pattern, and how swapping the supply and return closed most of the gap.

Read
Article

Car Park Ventilation: Why CO Sensors Miss the Moving Dead Zones

A car park can meet its air change rate and still have corners where exhaust gas lingers, because the rate says nothing about the route the air takes. We ran four OpenFOAM cases on a generic basement to show where the dead zones sit with extract fans alone, what four jet fans change, how one fan out of service moves the problem, and what six ordinary aisle sensors actually see.

Read
Article

BESS Container Gas Venting: What CFD Adds to NFPA 69 Ventilation

A dilution ratio says a ventilated BESS container stays at 10 percent of the lower flammable limit. A small OpenFOAM study of a 20 ft container shows hydrogen layering under the roof, a fifth of the air above the NFPA 69 limit in the usual fan layout, and how moving the same fan changes the picture.

Read
Article

Grade A Under a LAF: Where Smoke Studies and CFD Each Fool You

An air speed check at the working position can look better with a hopper over the vials than with the table empty, while the vials get no first air at all. A small OpenFOAM study of a Grade A zone under a laminar airflow unit shows how a hopper or an operator's arm turns the flow over the critical zone, and what a smoke study and a CFD model can each tell you.

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Article

NFPA 855 (2026): Why Deflagration Venting Alone No Longer Covers BESS

The 2026 edition of NFPA 855 no longer lets deflagration vent panels carry a BESS explosion control design on their own. We summarise what the published reviews say changed and run a quick check on a 20 ft container to show why the average gas concentration is not the whole story.

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Article

Annex 1 Clean-Up Period: Where a 20-Minute Pass Can Mislead

EU GMP Annex 1 sets a clean-up guidance of less than 20 minutes, but the result only holds where it is measured. A two-zone check on a generic Grade B room shows the main zone clearing in under 10 minutes while a poorly swept pocket takes 30.

Read

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