Biological Safety Cabinets are used for the containment of potentially harmful pathogens or chemicals during, for instance, blood tests, in order to prevent infection spreading through laboratories.
The Case Study
Mr Angus Hodgkiss MPhys FDIRDI was invited by Mr Simon Young of AES Environment in Cramlington, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK to test and trial the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 on Class II Biological Safety Cabinets.
Both Class I and Class II Biological Safety Cabinets (BSCs), unlike Isolators, have a front opening. This means it is essential to ensure the seals on this opening are sufficiently airtight. Class II Biological Safety Cabinets usually operate at negative pressure, with extractor fans in the top of the cabinet to direct airflow into a HEPA filter.
During normal use, these fans will create sufficient airflow to keep users safe. However, these cabinets often require regular fumigation to prevent cross-contamination or for decontamination before any routine maintenance. During fumigation, these cabinets are not pressurised and so must be well sealed so as to ensure that the fumigant is properly contained and that the cabinet is completely decontaminated.
Testing
Testing of the Class II Biological Safety Cabinet was very successful.
Our Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 Precision Generators are ideal for this application as they are small enough to fit easily inside BSCs and have adjustable power to suit a variety of large and small spaces.
- Each area of the cabinet was tested (front, back, sides, top)
- The Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 identified significant leakage through the side panel of the cabinet, as well as through the top and both sides of the window frame
- For the sides of the window frame, leakage was sealed on both sides with silicon
- Retesting the same areas immediately showed substantial improvement in the quality of the seal
Our instrumentation is designed for ease of use and for use at all stages of a structures life-cycle. This case study illustrates the utility of the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 for detection and assessment with ease.
Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520
Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 locates and quantifies even the smallest of leaks and can automatically analyse and consolidate this data, to present these results as indications of a room’s airtightness. This allows for quick testing with extreme precision for applications .
The Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 uses world-leading ultrasonic technology to identify leak sites with a microscopic level of accuracy and then applies complex computer science to measure and quantify the leak site using the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520’s algorithm. In addition to calculating the building, or in this case BSC’s overall air permeability.
This instrumentation allows you confidence in the airtight integrity of your BSCs by providing quantitative data that is significantly more accuracy than visual assessments
With the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520, not only can you precisely and reliably pinpoint the exact location of any leak sites (far more accurately than with the naked eye, as is often done currently), but you can also measure each leak individually and identify exactly where to focus your repairs. The test can be conducted in a matter of minutes, with minimal disruption to the normal operation of the room and absolutely no requirement to vacate the room.
Using the 8-megapixel camera on the rear of the device, users can take a photograph of the area they are testing and mark the location of any leaks identified with just a tap of a finger. Users can conduct either a “Quick Test”, simply scanning a structure for leaks and marking them on an image for future reference, or a “Full Test”. For a full test, after identifying and locating all the leak sites in the structure, careful measurements of the strength of the signal are used to calculate the cross-sectional area of each leak site, with algorithms independently verified by the National Physical Laboratory.
The calculated leak areas are then used to predict the airflow rate through each leak and, in turn, the total leakage rate for the room in either air permeability or air changes per hour. All of this data can then be exported to the provided USB stick, either in a CSV file, for integration with your existing systems, or in an automatically generated report. These reports can be filtered by date, site, room, and structure and include a breakdown of each room and structure individually.
