Hello Kate,

For a definitive answer, you may need to check fire and local codes,  as you will be required to have ample ingress/egress for emergencies ( I believe typically this is 36=1B$B!I=1B(B to 42=1B$B!I=1B(Bclearance in the aisle). A fume hood is a place for a potential fire or explosion so you do not want to limit the ability to clear people from a room in the event of a volatile reaction in a hood.

I can tell you that fume hood manufacturers are concerned for crosscurrents.  If the hood is positioned in a tight space, people walking past the hood may create crosscurrents which could disrupt airflow and result in loss of containment.  Most modern hoods are equipped with airfoils and baffle systems which reduce the risk of containment loss from crosscurrents such as this.

Also, there is no simple answer to this question because there are many variables.  The fume hood is part of the entire building ventilation system so room air turbulence from room ventilation systems factor in as much as the hood exhaust, hood design, and usage factors (such as apparatus, heat being generated, and activity in the hood) play into containment considerations.

Kurt

Hi everyone:

One of the labs here is requesting the installation of a new piece of equipment. To do this, the bench top needs to be extended slightly to support the footprint of the instrument. However, the lab itself is somewhat narrow and the placement of this instrument is directly across from a chemical fume hood.

Now my question, what is the minimum aisle space needed in front of a fume hood? Everything I come across states =1B$B!H!D=1B(Bensure that there is sufficient aisle space in front of the fume hood.=1B$B!I=1B(B But what is =1B$B!H=1B(Bsufficient=1B$B!I=1B(B (how many feet, inches, etc)? If anyone can shed some light on this or provide an actual guideline or regulation, I would greatly appreciate it. I don=1B$B!G=1B(Bt want the facilities group to go through this installation and then find out we are in violation of something.

Thanks in advance!

~Kate