Understanding Clean Air Workstations & Laminar Air Flow Hoods

In any kind of laboratory environment, precision will always be of the utmost importance. Pure research labs demand absolutely precise experimental set-ups. Medical labs allow virtually no room for error when it comes to things like isolating microbes or purifying the environment from contaminants. Industrial labs require the testing of materials under very specific conditions, and so on. For such delicate tasks in each environment, high-precision equipment is indispensable.

Of course, we also know that benches and workstations are the bread-and-butter of every laboratory. They are the central thing that makes it hum along. But for certain high-precision tasks, an ordinary workbench just won’t cut it.

That’s where laminar air flow hoods and clean air workstations come in.

These are special workstations that are enclosed by special cabinets. Each made partially of metal and partially of transparent material like glass or acrylic. One side of the enclosure, however, is generally either left totally open or at least provides workers with the option to create an opening. Thus, in a laminar flow bench, everything is done within the confines of an enclosure.

The true importance of this fact, however, only comes out once you realize what the central component of the enclosure is: a high-precision air filter like a HEPA or an ULPA filter. Thus, a laminar flow bench is meant to create a work environment whose air is utterly cleansed of all, or very nearly all, particulates and contaminants. It creates an ideal space for work with extremely sensitive materials.

But this description only scratches the surface of what these devices can really do and what they are meant for. For more than four decades, RDM Industrial Products has manufactured factory-direct and industrial-quality lab equipment of all sorts. Laminar flow hoods are among are among our proudest offerings. Here, we’re going to tell you more about what laminar flow hoods are. We’ll share what they do, and how they work. As well as the most important types that exist and why your lab truly needs them.

What Do Laminar Flow Hoods & Clean Air Workstations Do?

Before we delve into the specifics. Like the kinds of laminar flow hoods RDM can manufacture and the particular things they can do for you. Let us provide a general overview to help set the stage.

As mentioned, laminar flow benches are encased and use high-powered air filters to remove particulates from the surrounding air. But the filters don’t just take in, clean and release back air in a haphazard way. They do it very specifically, generating what’s know as a laminar flow. This means that air currents which are absorbed by the air filter and those which are released by it all flow parallel to one another so as not to disturb each other.

Without this kind of action, the filter would never be able to reliably purify air. If a filtered air current were to disturb an as yet unfiltered air current, contaminants from the latter would likely find their way into the former, thus nullifying the filter’s work. Laminar flow also creates a very serene air flow environment in the workbench enclosure that it free from major disturbances.

Thus, clean air workstations are ideal places to work with very sensitive materials which cannot tolerate contamination or disturbance.

Types of Laminar Flow Hoods

Laminar flow HEPA workstations fall into two broad categories based on the direction in which they send air flowing:

• Vertical Laminar Flow Hoods:

  Vertical laminar flow hoods take in air flow the top of the unit and then release it back down after filtering it. Thus, air flows vertically and downward. These models tend to be relatively compact and easy to install and use. In fact, the filters and enclosures from such units can be attached to many different kinds of lab workbenches.

• Horizontal Laminar Flow Hoods:

  Horizontal laminar flow hoods take in air from the back of their enclosure and send it flowing out horizontally toward the front. That is, toward where the researchers happens to be working. To make this process work as intended requires air flows in these units to much even more delicate than those in vertical laminar flow hoods. Thus, horizontal models have greater physical depth, sensitivity and complexity to their designs. The most high-end air filters also usually work best on horizontal models.

Other Important Features of Clean Air Workstations

Beyond this, RDM’s laminar flow workstations have many other features that help make them into extraordinary assets to your laboratory. We also give you the power to customize certain features to your liking. Here are some of these important additional features:

• Filters:

  You already know that air filters are the centre piece of each and every laminar flow hood. But all filters are not the same. Each hood comes equipped with an air filter that can at least meet HEPA standards. These HEPA — or, High-Efficiency Particulate Air — filters are able to filter out 99.99% of all particles from the surrounding air. Particles which are 0.3 microns in diameter or larger. If this does not meet your standards, you can outfit your work station with an ULPA — or, Ultra-Low Particulate Air — filter. These filters remove 99.999% of all particles from the surrounding air which are 0.12 microns in diameter or larger.

• Work Surfaces and Side Panels:

  If you plan to work with lasers, we can make the work station’s side panels out of black acrylic for you. We can also add in a front draft guide to help better control air flow and even make it static-resistant. As for the workstation surface, we can laminate it with plastic or coat it with other materials for you if you so desire.

• Noise Levels:

  Units produce only about 50 decibels of noise. This is about as loud as the hum of a standard refrigerator or a conversation going on at some distance from you.

• Lighting:

  All units come with industrial-quality LED lighting fixtures inside the workbench enclosure.

You can find a list of other important features of clean air workstations , as well as a detailed filter classification scheme,  here.

Conclusion

Laminar flow HEPA workstations aren’t just vacuously complicated and fancy pieces of equipment that lab managers can use to show off. Not only are they essential to do doing extremely delicate work, but they have allowed us to make enormous strides in lab safety whenever certain kinds dangerous substances become involved.

But as with any other important tool, laminar air flow hoods and clean air workstations contain a significant amount of variation between them. Before selecting one for your lab, we strongly recommend acquainting yourself with their uses and features in greater detail, which you can do by going  here. RDM has great latitude in its ability to customize laminar air flow hoods for you. So once you’ve settled on what you want, your unit(s) will be proudly manufactured in the USA and will come directly from the factory.

We look forward to helping you bring your lab up to the next level.