Fume Hood Testers.com - Fume Hood Testing Services
As of 1/1/24 we have retired from doing fume hood testing. Site is still active for reference.
Professionally developed, properly done
- In the 1990's we provided high performance fume hoods to our clients. As high performance hoods were new to many people, fume hood testing was a proper requirement to ensure performance as expected. When we looked into available testing services we found a limited offering and what we found was questionable as to how testing was done. Fume hood testing is specified to include smoke, face velocity and tracer gas testing. Of the three it is well documented the meaningful testing is tracer gas testing. By ANSI and ASHRAE standards this is done with a mannequin in front of the hood and a gas analyzer is used at the mannequin's mouth area to simulate real world situations. We found companies that did this, but we found the gas analyzer being used was a gas detector (not analyzer) and worse it drew air samples simulating a mannequin hold its breath! As a professional engineer based business this did not seem proper. So,,,,
- We took the existing standards, and custom developed the equipment needed to effectively and properly test fume hoods. In doing this we developed a multi point fume hood face velocity tester that also measures concurrent cross and down drafts at the hood and more importantly developed a tracer gas test set that uses a gas analyzer that samples close to the rate a real human breathes at. Furthermore we developed a system that produces a paper trace of the gas testing plus an electronic readout and capture also. This produces a more legally valid record as electronic records may be altered but a simultaneous chart recorder trace cannot be altered.
- Along the way, we stopped providing fume hoods as a part of our business allowing us to be a truly independent, professional engineer based, fume hood testing provider.
- As a technical engineering based entity when we provide testing services we look for more than whether a hood simply passes or fails based upon a specified performance level. We also look deeper as to what environmental parameters are affecting fume hood performance. In brief we look under the covers in an attempt to help lab personnel experience a safer environment. Many "experts" in lab design miss seemingly obvious items that if done more properly, would enhance lab safety. One example is exhaust ductwork. Often labs are designed with exhaust duct design following more forgiving air conditioning supply duct details. Supply ducts, where a fan is forcing air through it are much more robust than exhaust ductwork where a fan is only sucking air. Much more attention to detail is required to properly design and install a stable exhaust system. As an example, here is a drawing we have made to assist designers of lab hvac systems.
- Meet our team leader,
Meet Manny, our brave, tireless tester!
