Bespoke fume cupboard installation
About the Fume Cabinet Install
A large company, in the south west of England, who specialise in the manufacturing of thermo-acoustic and acoustic insulation products for various purposes in the industrial, automotive and comfort sectors, were relocating and expanding their testing laboratory in to a new factory build. As they were aware that their fume extraction was not performing effectively, they decided to look for innovative ways to control their current fume extraction and R & B Industrial were delighted to be part of this exciting project. Designing and manufacturing a bespoke fume extraction system to the exacting requirements.
Some of the equipment within the laboratory was being retained and re-installed and some equipment was upgraded or new. We were able to re-use two of the original booths that housed ovens and modify another in-house to serve a large oven that the company had sourced. The original fume cupboard was also modified so it could be added to the centralised fan and SmartAir® system.
There was a requirement for a hood above a table, predominantly for heat removal and most interestingly the need for 2 large totally bespoke fire test chambers. These chambers were designed, built and manufactured in-house at R & B industrial before being installed on site and met the customers exacting requirements- one of which was to be able to set light to a full size mattress and ensure all smoke was controlled.
It is worth noting that in a test laboratory of this nature fumes arising from heat / flame testing of the products are not the only requirement for extraction. A variety of chemicals are extensively used to ‘test’ the stability and worthiness of the products for example brake fluid and various oils.
Due to the lab being an entirely new build, it was important that all contractors worked together to get the build completed to schedule. The extraction system was designed entirely from plans and installed as the building works were taking place. Due to the old lab being decommissioned workload was backing up and technicians were keen to set to work in their new location on time.
So how did it work in this particular environment?
The SmartAIR® extraction system is an integral part of the lab and provides extraction from several points. Due to the flexibility of the SmartAir® system it is well suited to the laboratory environment. All the usual benefits of SmartAir® apply for example, when equipment is not in use, in this case, for example an oven, the smart damper closes and the fan ramps down thus saving energy.
In a laboratory environment there are other benefits; temperature change due to the extractions system is kept to a minimum meaning, this is important in keeping a constant temperature for repeatability of experiments. Reduced noise is also a notable benefit of Smart Air in this setting as the fan is only working as hard as it needs to and no harder and any extraction points not in use are automatically closed. There is the ability to have a ‘boost’ mode. This was particularly useful in this instance as prior to opening fire test chambers, boost can be selected to clear thick smoke quickly and efficiently.
The SmartAir® system lends itself perfectly to a laboratory environment and this install was no exception. R & B industrial were able to meet the customers exacting requirements and provide a product that will serve them long into the future with the ability to expand the system if required. The purpose built fire test chambers were an exciting highlight of the finished install and are working perfectly. We are very proud of our design team as this was a totally in-house project. Our engineers and design team went above and beyond to meet the strict timescales of this project.
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