Performance of novel overhead crane fume-collecting hood for pollutant removal

In industrial buildings, the presence of overhead cranes severely affects roof exhaust ventilation systems when capturing and discharging fumes, resulting in severe deterioration of the indoor plant environment. In this study, an overhead crane-based ventilation auxiliary device, called overhead crane fume-collecting hood (CFCH), is proposed to guide pollutants blocked by the overhead crane back to the roof exhaust hood. The airflow characteristics and pollutant distribution under the three modes of no overhead crane, overhead crane, and overhead crane + CFCH were compared using numerical simulations. Subsequently, the effects of the CFCH length ( a ), width ( b ), and height ( h ) on the pollutant capture performance were determined through orthogonal experiments and computational fluid dynamics. Finally, the pollutant capture efficiency (PCE) of the optimal CFCH was investigated considering different exhaust airflow rates. The results showed that the pollutants captured by the CFCH can be classified into directly and secondary captured pollutants, with the directly captured pollutants dominating. In addition, with the introduction of different sizes of CFCH around the overhead crane girders, the PCE significantly improved by 49.9%–74.6%. The length, width, and height of the CFCH on the PCE were statistically significant, and the priority of the three factors was as follows: h > b > a . The PCE decreased with increasing a , initially increased and then decreased with increasing b , and increased with h . Subsequently, when the optimal CFCH was used, the excessive exhaust air rate had no evident PCE improvement. This provides a new concept for the control of pollutants in industrial buildings and provides a theoretical basis for the design of CFCHs.