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Previous by Date: Subject: Procuring Acetonitrile Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:38:17 -0500 Author: "Sheffield, Lizzette" |
Next by Date: Subject: FW: [DCHAS-L] Has anybody ever had this happen before? Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:50:26 -0700 Author: "Debbie M. Decker" |
Use a theatrical fog machine. Less messy and doesn't give the fire dept to o much heartburn. We had a building where the lab exhaust was ducted through the open ceiling return air plenum, serving perimeter offices. It was a nightmare! Finall y, funding appeared and the return air system was ducted. In California, the air resources board is setting about banning SF6 use in the state as it is a potent greenhouse gas. We're working to negotiate the use of nitrous oxide as a substitute for fume hood testing. Unfortunately , it too is a greenhouse gas (though not as bad) and has toxicity concerns. There aren't a lot of options. I like the banana oil idea though that wo uld be qualitative rather than quantitative. -----Original Message----- From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of La zarski, Peter M. Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 6:09 AM To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Has anybody ever had this happen before? Dave, I'd suggest checking exhaust of hood monthly, maybe quarterly, with a smoke candle. When you do, be certain to alert both your facilities and security groups. You don't want them thinking the building has been set on fire and calling the fire dept (I speak from experience). You can get the candle at safety supply houses. They come in different sizes & burn for varying lengths of time. The information contained in this e-mail message and any attachments may be confidential. It is intended only for the use of the individual or entities named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail at the originating address. Peter Lazarski Nationalgrid USA Chemical Laboratory, Bldg. 1 7437 Henry Clay Blvd. Liverpool, NY 13088 Phone: (315) 460-2114 Fax: (315) 460-8578 Email: peter.lazarski**At_Symbol_Here**us.ngrid.com -----Original Message----- From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of David Roberts Sent: Monday, March 16, 2009 9:42 PM To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: [DCHAS-L] Has anybody ever had this happen before? Hello all, We recently did a major renovation of our science facilities (5-6 years ago maybe now - it's all a blur and something I'd like to forget). In any event, our new facilities are wonderful (given the size of our school) and we are very pleased with things. But (you knew a but was coming), we had an odd situation recently that I will try to explain. The chemistry floor is the top floor, occupying about 1/2 of the 3rd floor in our building. Our building was built in phases, as we lived in it during the construction phase. All of the chemistry air is vented out of the building, no recirculation at all (which is wasteful from a heating/cooling perspective but necessary for obvious reasons). Prior to this event, we forgot that the air paths run side by side, in an attempt to steal heat (in the winter) from room air and give it to incoming air as the exhaust air is leaving (energy saving - works the opposite in the summer). Anyway, a few weeks back we were running an organic lab and the floor stunk really bad, and it seemed to be worse on the south end of the building, and really it seemed to be coming in the incoming air vents. We didn't think this was possible, so we attributed it to bad student technique taking their samples all over the place. Come to find out, one of the air handlers (things were still working mind you, we have several of these I believe) had come off it's shaft, a bolt or two broke, and it torqued inside the cage, causing a buckle in the panel that separates the exhaust air from the incoming air. As a result, the air streams were mixing, and we were in fact breathing in exhausted hood air. Note that this is not a situation where our exhaust vents are located near our intake vents (I have heard lots of issues on that one; we don't have that case at all nor can that happen in our situation - which was what made this a puzzling thing to find as things seemed to be working) We have since done a temp. fix on this waiting for parts, smelly toxic labs have stopped in the south end of our building, and we are in the process of fixing it. We were diligent and things were discovered quickly, so there was little exposure, but we did have an annoying day or two. In any event, now for the question. Has this ever happened to anybody? Does anybody know of a test that one can run to be sure something like this (as rare as it may be) isn't going on prior to doing a lab that really smells and can cause issues? It seems to me that this probably has happened elsewhere, as the design is not that absurd, though I truly don't know. A simple smoke test or a test using ammonia and/or vinegar would seem to me to be enough to know if something is wrong or not. Any ideas on how we can test this before the canary dies? Thanks Dave *************************************************************************** ***** This e-mail and any files transmitted with it, are confidential to National Grid and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to wh om they are addressed. If you have received this e-mail in error, please r eply to this message and let the sender know.
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