Fume Hood Laboratory Design and Traffic Patterns
/Consider common traffic patterns when designing your fume hood laboratory
During the fume hood lab design process, potential traffic patterns in your lab must be a major consideration. The traffic patterns in your lab will have a direct impact on where you place your equipment.
The fume hood’s main job is to pull dust, debris, toxins, fumes, and gases out of the room and through the ductwork, so that users can work safely. In order to operate properly, the fume hood relies on a consistent face velocity and exhaust volume. Even the slightest shift in air patterns, like those caused by a person walking by or a door opening or shutting, can affect the performance and safety of your fume hoods. Not only does air movement affect the air entering the hood, it also interferes with the air introduced via the supply outlet, which affects the movement of air at the face of the hood.
Reduce the Effects of Laboratory Traffic
There’s no way you can eliminate traffic in your laboratory. But, the way you design your labs, and the thoughtful consideration you put into fume hood placement, can minimize the effects of traffic.
To minimize the effects of traffic on performance and safety, follow these fume hood laboratory design tips:
- Place fume hoods at the end of the room. Fume hoods placed at the end of the room are exposed to less that traffic that fume hoods placed at the front of or in the middle of a room.
- Keep fume hoods away from windows and doors. Every time a window or door is opened or closed, air patterns in the room are affected.
- Note traffic patterns, and locate fume hoods out of the way of these patterns. Do not locate fume hoods in areas that people must pass through, or in areas where people are required to move from one location to another to do their work.
Contact Labscape today to speak with our experts to assist you in all your laboratory needs.
