Mining Room intake fan and filters/logistics

[LamboHT]

I'm leasing a garage apartment about 350 sq ft which has windows on two adjoining walls.  The miners will be on a wire rack shelf with a "hot box" behind it and that will have a fan to pull that hot air to the outside through the attic.

I plan to have 40 miners and am looking at intake fans to bring in at least 10,000 cfm of fresh air.  So a few random questions...

1.  What type of fan ?  Do you take an "exhaust fan" that looks like it's a "box fan" ?  If so, do you just turn it around so that it functions as an intake or can you reverse the blade direction ?  It just seems awkward to have the motor exposed to the outside pointing towards the inside.

2.  Is there a way to match a filter with a fan ?  I'd like to get some basic filter in place but don't see a way to attach a filter and am not sure how that would fit together.

3.  How do you prevent rain water from being blown into the room ?  I imagine a 10,000 CFM fan blowing hard during a rainy day and the normally vertical falling raindrops get sucked into the fan and blown into the room.  Any suggestions on how to prevent this ?

Thanks.

[Steamtyme]

I can't speak to much to what fan to use, but if you are worried about the rain water and dust you can use a weather hood. It's just like a personalised roof for your air intake, and they can either come with a place for filters or you can easily fab something up to place filters on the hood.

As far as the fan is concerned I would look to see what you can easily find and what the costs are. If an exhaust fan is all you can find then o for it flip it around. If you put a weather hood over it the motor would be protected anyways. Also if you oversize your exhaust fan on the hot side, you could potentially just louver your cold air intake assuming you have enough wall space. You would want to have a lot of leeway with what you provide because the filters will cut down on the airflow coming in.

Just spitballing ideas at you good luck.

[T-Gee05]

1. Reversing the installation can be done to act as an intake fan. But if the motor will be exposed to weather.. You have to build some kind of weatherproof protection or housing to the motor. Better yet install it on the inside wall.

2. What we usually do is get a cassette type filter then fabricate an anlge bar railing for it. We just slide it in there.

3. To prevent water from going in.. We use plenum box so water will be trapped there.. Then punch a hole at the bottom for drain.