Controlling Air Quality

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HarvestWine

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We bought a UBrew/UVint shop about 6 months ago. It was a pre-existing business in a location that has been in operation for almost 40 years. We are dealing with issues with the building and layout of the space. Changes are going to take time and money, and we hope to eventually move once the business is turning more of a profit.

However, I have a concern over air quality in the current space. I'm assuming that the SO2 gas being released from the 150+ wines is exasperating my asthma symptoms. Does anyone have any experience they can lend? Besides keeping the temperature constant, we don't know what we can do about the air exchange in the building. What do others do? Has anyone else had similar issues or concerns?
 
I am assuming you mean CO2 being produced from 150 six gallon batches going all at the same time? If not please correct me. How big of a room are you doing 150 batches of wine at a time? You could have a serious O2 depletion going on if the room is small enough and you don't have adequate exchange of air. If you think you are having problems breathing I would see about getting somebody (industrial hygienist) out to make some air measurements in order to see if you have a safe working environment in which to work in. You may need to up the outside air exchange.
 
We bought a UBrew/UVint shop about 6 months ago. It was a pre-existing business in a location that has been in operation for almost 40 years. We are dealing with issues with the building and layout of the space. Changes are going to take time and money, and we hope to eventually move once the business is turning more of a profit.

However, I have a concern over air quality in the current space. I'm assuming that the SO2 gas being released from the 150+ wines is exasperating my asthma symptoms. Does anyone have any experience they can lend? Besides keeping the temperature constant, we don't know what we can do about the air exchange in the building. What do others do? Has anyone else had similar issues or concerns?

I'm own a commercial construction company and have some experience here. Similar CO2 problems occur in places like high school gyms and sports arenas, but the CO2 comes from people. Not a cheap solution, but in those facilities, CO2 sensors activate exhaust fans to remove the gas, the heating and cooling system is interlocked and capable of providing heated or cooled fresh / makeup air to replace that which is being exhausted. You may be able to find a smaller scale system capable of the same activity.

I don't know how much CO2 fermentation emits compared with a human, but I'm guessing, people emit more. A decent HVAC engineer should be able to help you size a small exhaust fan and makeup a/c. If you're system is a small commercial system and is relatively new, it probably has a damper that allows you to introduce more fresh air, which it in turn cools or heats along with the recirculated air. Calculations may determine that you can go that route. Indoor air quality is a required analysis in most jurisdictions, you should definitely look into the issue with a professional.
 

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