Saturday, August 18, 2012

The Details on Lab Hoods

By Chloe Gib


Lab hoods are devices used for ventilation purposes. A unit of this type may also be referred to as a chemical fume hood or simply fumehood. They are made to limit the amount of exposure one has to hazardous or noxious vapors, fumes or dusts in lab settings.

The two types: ducted and recirculating. The standard goal for both types is protection. The process may involve air being drawn in through the front side of the open cabinet of the unit and then expelled out of the building. It can also involve a filtering process in which the air is taken in and filtered to remove all potential dangers and then fed back into the same room when clean.

Biosafety cabinets, clean benches, snorkel exhausts and glove boxes are other similar systems that may be employed. These, too, regulate the air quality within a given space. Ventilation systems that are local may address any of the following: protection for user, protection for environment and protection for the experiment or product. They have also been used for spill control, explosion control and other safety procedures.

Fumehoods are designed specifically with the intention of protecting the users. Typically this is employed in a laboratory setting where both hazardous and noxious chemicals are likely to be exposed because of teaching, research, testing and development. They might also be applied for the practices where dusts, vapors and gases may be released, and in industrial environments.

The front area of the hood is left open to the room in which it is located. Air in this unit is most often contaminated. For this reason alone, it is essential that there is a proper flow of air from the space inside the hood. A major focus for protection is on overall operation and design, as these factors are what contribute to the effectiveness of the device ad regulate whether or not the toxic air and fumes are left in the room or device.

More recently, there has been concern on ventilation system designs that reduce the amount of energy used. Most fumehoods are connected to exhaust systems that expel the bad air outside of a building. But, this process typically involves high amounts of energy use to operate the fans that exhaust air, heat, filter, cool, and control air movement.

Lab hoods are units that are installed in many laboratories, industrial environments and other settings in which the regulation of air may be necessary. These devices are made to protect. Ducted and recirculation are the two main types, but there are various ventilation systems and devices that can be installed.




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