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Fume hoods

2000

I work in an electroplating shop in Italy and I need to know if there are some regulations that define or prescribe limits for the air velocity of the aspirating fume hoods of tanks, as meters / second, related to the surface of the tank (square meters o volume of the tank).

I can measure the air velocity with an anemometer but I don't know if the values I obtained are Ok or not.

Franca Assone

Francesca Assone
electroplating shop - Torino, Italy

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2000

I wouldn't know about Italian regulations, but the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists has established standards and published handbooks that will help you. I believe that "Industrial Ventilation" is the comprehensive handbook you are looking for.

ANSI booklet ANSI-Z9.1-1991 "Practices for Ventilation and Operation of Open-surface Tanks" is a briefer and handier source for the info--once you have your hands on it! However, as is becoming increasingly common as these organizations farm out their order fulfillment to gigantic global firms, actually getting a copy is proving next to impossible

I spent half an hour on-line trying to get you an address you could order from before I gave up. I lost track of how many times I had to fill in my contact info, and agree that it was okay for them to spam me, before each site said they didn't have it, and sent me on to yet another clearing house. After 2 or 3 loops back to ANSI I decided that my old copy is good enough for me and you'll have to fend for yourself.

If anybody successfully navigates the whole maze and can tell us an actual page address where to order ANSI-Z9.1, I'd appreciate it.

If you're reading this, ANSI, visit www.astm.org and see how it ought to be done (and you owe me $.75 for the Tylenol I now need).

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

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2000

Hi Francesca,

What Ted said is l00% correct.Get the INDUSTRIAL VENTILATION manual. Not cheap. Address of 'The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists is 6500 Glenway Avenue, Bldg. D-7 in Cincinnati, Ohio 452ll USA.'

There's no other book like it! It is a tome of knowledge. It has a wide hodge-podge of information, of hood drawings, of calculations, etc.etc.etc.

Probably the regulations in Italy will not be as onerous as in the States, nevertheless that book will be invaluable.

It is not perfect. Some designs and assertions are out-dated but there's nothing better in the (English speaking) world, not in Canada nor in the UK.

At the back there's sure to be 'translations' for metric countries!

Cheers !

Freeman Newton [deceased]
(It is our sad duty to advise that Freeman passed away
April 21, 2012. R.I.P. old friend).