Esco Expands Fume Hood Research Laboratory

Hits:2661   Date: 9/8/2008

Esco is investing aggressively in its fume hood product line, including the recent launch of the new Frontier Acela(TM) High Performance Fume Hood series, based on technology exclusively licensed from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA.

Esco has also expanded its fume hood research laboratory with the assistance of Tintschl Engineering AG, a specialist consulting firm from Germany. Additional instrumentation has been acquired to enable Esco to perform all portions of the European Standard EN 14175 test in-house. A key element of the European Standard EN 14175, which is not present in the American Standard ASHRAE 110 standard, is the robustness test, which simulates airflow disturbance in front of the hood.

The 1.5m/5' Frontier Acela(TM) High Performance Fume Hood has already passed the EN 14175 containment and robustness tests with flying colors, down to a face velocity of 0.3m/s or 60fpm, at the European Standard 500mm operating height. This has been independently certified by Tintschl Engineering AG, Germany. Tests on all other Frontier Acela(TM) models are pending and expected to be complete in the near future.

Esco is also one of the few companies to routinely sample and subject production fume hoods to a battery of containment and safety tests. All custom fume hoods with modified dimensions are also tested in our laboratory to ensure containment before delivery.