Research project · Occupational health & environmental engineering
Cleaner air.
Smarter ventilation.
Joint Optimisation of Dust Exposure Reduction and Ventilation Energy Efficiency in Recycling Facilities
How can recycling facilities reduce workers? dust exposure while improving the energy efficiency of their ventilation systems?
Purpose and research question
Worker protection in the circular economy.
This project will investigate ventilation strategies for reducing occupational dust exposure in recycling facilities. It will combine personal exposure measurements, ventilation performance assessment, airflow modelling, and energy analysis to identify practical improvements in dust control.
The pilot will focus on one recycling process and its dust-generating tasks, such as sorting, shredding, or material transfer, selected following a site and hazard assessment. The research connects occupational hygiene and environmental engineering with occupational safety and health law and the organisation of work.
Assessment framework
Exposure, airflow, energy, and protection.
| Dimension | Indicators to assess | Role in the research |
|---|---|---|
| Worker exposure | Personal inhalable and/or respirable dust measurements, task-related exposure patterns, and constituent-specific analysis where indicated by the hazard assessment. | Establish the exposure baseline and assess the effectiveness of proposed controls. |
| Ventilation performance | Airflow rates, capture performance, pressure losses, hood positioning, enclosure geometry, and filter condition. | Identify dust escape pathways and opportunities to improve capture at the source. |
| Energy performance | Measured electrical power, operating hours, electricity consumption, and energy use per unit of processed material. | Compare ventilation options at comparable production rates and dust-control performance. |
| Implementation and protection | Installation and maintenance costs, access for cleaning, work practices, applicable exposure limits, and process-specific safety requirements. | Define feasible designs and the organisational conditions needed to sustain their performance. |
Model principle: Energy optimisation will be subject to exposure-control and process-safety requirements. Lower electricity consumption alone will not make a ventilation design acceptable. Applicable limits and control requirements will be determined for the actual dust and process, and assessed through measurements.
Methods and data plan
From workplace measurements to validated designs.
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Define the process and measure the baseline
Map dust-generating tasks, worker locations, material characteristics, and the existing ventilation system. Personal sampling and suitable laboratory analysis will establish exposure levels. Airflow, pressure, electrical power, production throughput, and operating conditions will be recorded alongside exposure measurements.
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Model airflow and dust transport
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) will be used to investigate airflow and particle transport in selected work areas. Model assumptions and predictions will be checked against measured conditions, including airflow and dust observations. Uncertainty in dust generation and particle properties will be examined.
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Compare ventilation and energy scenarios
Scenarios may vary hood position, local enclosure, extraction flow, duct arrangement, and fan operating points. Multi-objective optimisation will compare exposure reduction, electricity demand, and implementation cost within the defined protection and feasibility constraints.
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Validate improvements and translate findings into practice
Subject to site access and technical approval, selected improvements will be assessed through repeat exposure, ventilation, and energy measurements. Comparisons will account for throughput, material differences, and task duration. Findings will inform a practical control and maintenance protocol and an assessment of employer prevention duties.
Data and access: Facility partnerships, sampling arrangements, and technical collaborations remain to be established. Field validation depends on access to suitable facilities and measurement equipment. Simulated scenarios will be identified separately from observed results; model predictions alone will not establish compliance with occupational exposure limits.
How computational tools will support the research
Artificial intelligence tools are planned for structured literature review, measurement-data organisation, analysis-code development, simulation workflow support, and reproducible documentation. Occupational hygiene and engineering specialists will verify sampling methods, physical assumptions, calculations, and interpretations. The scientific focus is dust control and ventilation energy performance in recycling workplaces.
Research Group Lead · Principal Investigator (PI)
Asst. Prof.
Yusuf Erdem Tunç
Karadeniz Technical University
Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences
Department of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations
Labour Law and Social Security Law
- Artificial intelligence policy and climate policy
- Labour law and social security law
- Labour economics and industrial relations
- Social policy and social security
Research leadership and team plan
Connecting technical controls with employer prevention duties.
As Research Group Lead and PI, Yusuf Erdem Tunç will coordinate the research design and the group's interdisciplinary work. His contribution will centre on occupational safety and health obligations, work organisation, worker participation, and the translation of technical findings into effective prevention and maintenance practices.
Collaboration is planned with occupational hygiene, environmental or mechanical engineering, CFD, and industrial energy-efficiency specialists. These specialists will lead the relevant measurement and engineering components.
Technical collaborators and field partnerships are being developed. No funding award, institutional project approval, or completed partnership is claimed on this page.
Planned outputs and timeline
Evidence for cleaner and more efficient recycling workplaces.
Planned outputs include an exposure and ventilation assessment, a documented simulation and optimisation workflow, an academic paper, and a practical guide to dust control, energy performance, and maintenance responsibilities. Field-validated recommendations will depend on the completion of pilot measurements. Data and code sharing will follow applicable permissions.
- Months 1?2
- Partner recruitment, process selection, and measurement planning.
- Months 3?5
- Baseline exposure, ventilation, and energy assessment.
- Months 6?10
- CFD modelling, optimisation, and pilot validation where feasible.
- Months 11?12
- Integrated analysis, academic paper, and practical guidance.
This is a proposed schedule measured from the start of the research; it does not indicate confirmed project dates or completed work.
Research collaboration
Build better dust control together.
We welcome discussions with recycling facilities, occupational hygienists, ventilation engineers, CFD researchers, and industrial energy-efficiency specialists interested in supporting pilot measurements and practical design evaluation.