Grease buildup can have grave consequences and cause very serious problems. The accumulated grease may be a cause of fire and staff diseases, lower the efficiency of ventilation equipment and do harm to the roof of restaurant. In this short article, the risks resulting from grease buildup will be briefly discussed. Grease is a main cause of fires in commercial kitchens.
The National Data Fire Center of U.S.A says that the reaction between the flame from the cooking process and the grease in the kitchen hood contribute to 64% of fires that occurred in restaurants. Fire can spread to the exhaust duct, from which the fire will further spread to the roof. Once grease accumulations occur on the roof, the fire will cause grave damages. The picture at the end of the article shows such fire caused by grease buildup.
Such kinds of fires can cause severe and extensive damages, because:
Health problems can also be caused by grease buildup to staff working at the restaurant. In the ducts, grease will lead to the growth of mold, fungus, bacteria, virus and microbs. After these negative things appear in one place and they will be contagious. The whole building will be fast spread over. Cockroaches and rats will visit such unclean areas and they will bring various allergies, intoxication and some other infectious diseases. Also, serious epidemic of flu may be caused because of this.
The grease buildup in the ducts will cause the efficiency of the exhaust ventilation to be lowered. If the inner surface of the exhaust duct see accumulated grease, it will cause the inner diameter of the duct to be smaller. In consequence, the fan load will increase and it may get overheated. The life cycle of the fan will be greatly reduced. As a result, the air volume rate reduces and the ventilation system has its efficiency lowered too.
