Nowadays, laboratories are found in a wide variety of industries. They are used in research, production or quality assurance. A wide variety of substances are processed and processes are carried out. The (suitable) laboratory equipment plays an important and universal role here.
In addition to storage areas, tables and the media supply, the fume hood is a central component of the laboratory. It enables the user to carry out experiements under safe conditions. Not only liquid and solid substances are processed here, but also increasingly powdery substances such as nano dusts or nanoparticles. Since they are highly reactive, they open up new possibilities in applications. At the same time, however, they are so small that they are respirable like a gas and can thus cause immediate or long-term damage. Because the particles "float" in the air due to their small size and are almost weightless, they can remain in the air for a long time and disperse. And because they behave like a gas, an all-purpose fume hood offers the user the maximum protection here as well. But as is so often the case, there is a "BUT" here as well....
Danger with electrostatic charge
Electrostatic charge is a familiar effect from everyday life. It occurs when a potential difference builds up between two materials due to friction. On a large scale, this happens when two layers of air rub against each other - a considerable potential difference is created, which eventually discharges: in the form of lightning in a thunderstorm. But humans can also become charged with up to 35,000 volts through friction on dry summer days. The discharge is felt the next time a conductive surface is touched by a slight electric shock. Since only a very small current flows here, this electric shock has no health consequences for us.
In the same way, even the smallest particles can become charged through friction on the vessel, in the air or through transportation. If they cannot release or balance the charge, the potential difference manifests itself through electrostatic attraction. This results in adhesion to surfaces. The effect of electrostatic attraction is exploited in industrial applications, for example, in powder coating. Here, the workpiece and the powder to be applied are charged in opposite directions, whereby the powder adheres optimally to the workpiece until the firing process. Due to the attractive forces, the powder also adheres to vertical surfaces and less powder is lost during application.
While in these applications the electrostatic attraction is deliberately induced, in the laboratory it can lead to undesirable effects during weighing work for example. If highly reactive particles are electrostatically charged, the particle-air mixture no longer behaves like a gas. Rather, one can observe how electrostatically charged powder is drawn down from the spatula to oppositely charged surfaces. In addition to the loss of parts of the substance, there is also unwanted and dangerous contamination of surfaces, which can endanger the user and hinder or even make it impossible to conduct efficient experiments.
Ionic technology protects against charged dusts
To actively counteract the problem of electrostatic attraction, the Secuflow Ionic was developed. It is based on Secuflow technology, which actively blows air into the interior of the fume hood at the side posts and the lower inlet profile of the fume hood. This serves to remove volatile substances or gases from the tabletop and walls, thus protecting the user in an energy-efficient manner. Together with the integrated ionizing bar, the incoming air is ionized and blown into the fume hood interior.
Along the way, it automatically discharges the electrostatically charged particles, surfaces, equipment and containers so that electrostatic charges are dissipated and no deposits are formed. This enables clean, less contamination and more accurate work in the fume hood. In day-to-day work, this is reflected in more precise weighing and lower material consumption. At the same time, work safety at the fume hood can be further increased.
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