Fume Hood Certification
Fume Hood Certification
The standard fume hood certification includes face velocity testing to document and obtain an acceptable airflow and calculated total CFM volume, through the front opening of the hood with the sliding sash at a height that allows functional use. Visual airflow testing is also performed on every hood. The national standard used by Air Safe to certify the hood’s performance is the Laboratory Ventilation ANSI/AIHA Z9.5-2003
ASHRAE 110 Testing
Air Safe strongly recommends the ASHRAE-110 tracer gas performance test be performed on all fume hoods. Once the testing has been performed and the hood is operating at an acceptable level, the hood should not need to be tracer gas tested again unless environmental conditions change. Changes such as room modifications, HVAC system adjustments, equipment locations or procedural changes would warrant a retesting to confirm the changes do not impact the safety performance of the fume hood.
Trace gas testing is the one true way to asses if you fume hood has full containment. Many times it is not the hood that is causing the problem. Many times the room conditions affect the performance ability of the hood negatively. Do not assume that just because you have airflow going into the front of your hood that it must be containing everything generated with the hoods work area. ASHRAE-110 tracer gas test will let you know how well, or not so well your hood is doing concerning its ability to contain the potentially harmful compounds and gases.
Air Safe utilizes the MIRAN SapphIRe XL portable infrared air analyzers and Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) tracer gas to perform ASHRAE-110 testing. Owning multiple units allows us to perform this testing in a much more efficiently manner than many other companies. Our technicians have been trained on the usage of the equipment so you can be assured your final test data is accurate and fully documented.
We generate custom reports with detailed graphs denoting all environmental conditions during the testing. The final rating of your fume hood is accurately backed up with raw data.
