Procedure

Technical Report

Overview

Increasingly, capture devices with extract arm (known by a variety of names, for example "elephant trunks", "snorkels", "flexible exhausts", etcetera) have been installed in laboratories mainly for the purpose of evacuating contaminants at source. They are used in low-hazard situations such as reduction of heat emitted by lab devices or capture of emissions, for example from HPLC equipment or in similar applications. The capture performance of AEAs is largely dependent of the (spatial) relationship between the source of the gas, fume, vapour or dust requiring capture and the inlet hood (capture device) of an AEA. Capture devices with extract arms are for that reason only useful for example for very small pollution sources or when the pollution source is too large to reasonably be enclosed and has distinct points where the pollution might occur like a HPLC. There are today no available universal, readily-applied and normalised test methodologies for AEA's, although smoke is useful in visualising flows. For this reason care shall be taken in the selection, installation, and, critically, in-use arrangement of AEAs. This Technical Report CEN/TR 16589 gives guidance regarding the selection, specification, installation and use of capture devices with articulated extract arm (abbreviated: AEAs) in laboratories. The informative material provided includes the general concept of AEAs, the variety of sub-types available, system installation issues, performance metrics and operational factors such as use, maintenance and training. This Technical Report has been prepared by WG 4 "Fume hoods" at CEN/TC 332 "Laboratory equipment". The responsible German mirror committee is Working Committee "Laborabzüge und Lufttechnik" ("Fume hoods and ventilation") (NA 055-02-01 AA) at the Laboratory Devices and Installations Standards Committee.

Document: references other documents

Responsible national committee

NA 055-02-01 AA - Fume cupbaords and ventilation  

Responsible european committee

CEN/TC 332/WG 4 - Fume cupboards and associated ventilation