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Fume Cupboards

Our priority is keeping you safe. Clean Air’s robust, energy-efficient fume cupboards for industrial use exceed BS EN14175 recommended containment levels.

Register Your Interest In Our Fume Cupboards

Our friendly, professional team is waiting to help you with all your enquiries.

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Clean Air Fume Cupboards

We have ranges of fume cabinets designed to meet the needs of varied industries. If the exact product is not available for your application, we can design a tailored solution to precisely match your needs.

Fume Cupboards UK

Our priority is keeping you safe. Our robust, technologically advanced fume cupboards for industrial use are designed, manufactured and type-tested to meet the requirements of BS EN14175. They provide excellent containment levels.

With over 25 years of experience in the fume cupboard sector, Clean Air’s expertise and professionalism is translated into every unit which leaves our facility.

Our ranges cover every application. Our professional 3D design teams can tailor your fume cupboard to your exact specification – and are happy to work with you to innovate and upgrade designs.

Check out our High Heat Load fume cupboard – it’s a great example of how Clean Air’s design team worked with a global client to devise solutions to an industry challenge.

Fume Cupboard Suppliers

We supply and manufacture fume cupboards in the UK for both education and industrial use. Whether you need a new fume cupboard for your school, college or university or you’re looking to fit out your new industrial laboratory, we have fume extraction solutions for all areas.

School Fume Cupboards

University Fume Cupboards

Industrial Fume Cupboards

Environmentally Responsible

Clean Air is the UK’s industry-leading fume cupboard supplier for sustainability; we’re working hard to become carbon neutral. Ask us about our successes and how we can support your sustainable supply chain initiatives.

Our low-volume and VAV (Variable Air Volume) units are energy efficient. They can contribute to BREEAM conformance for new builds. Talk to us about how we can deliver the required containment level and energy efficiency.

Among innumerable others, Sygnature Discovery, anchor tenant at Nottingham’s BioCity hub, and the Materials Innovation Factory in Liverpool have Clean Air VAV fume cupboards. They have achieved a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’.

Fume Cupboards for Every Industry

We have ranges of fume cabinets designed to meet the needs of varied industries. If the exact product is not available for your application, we can design a tailored solution to precisely match your needs.

Fume cupboards for research

We have designed, manufactured, installed and commissioned fume cabinets for research for many of the most prestigious facilities in the UK.

Fume cupboards for universities

Universities large and not so large across the UK have chosen Clean Air fume cupboards. Our units are perfect for teaching and innovation.

Fume cupboards for life sciences

Our fume cabinets for pharma and bio-sciences are tough, hardworking units. They have been chosen by companies in science parks around the country.

Ductwork & Fume Scrubbers

Clean Air’s extensive knowledge of ductwork and fume scrubbers and installation techniques ensures you always have the best extract system for your fume cupboard. Call us today to discuss your project!

Ductwork

Plastic ductwork and extract systems for safe, compliant fume extraction. All designed to complement Clean Air’s high quality fume cupboards

Fume Scrubbers

Clean Air designs, manufactures and installs fume scrubbers to handle and neutralise corrosive fumes, moist gases and dust laden air flows

What Our Clients Think…

We value the opinion of our clients and appreciate hearing how we can improve to make our products and service better in the future. That’s why we take all of our reviews and testimonials seriously.

Andy Byrne | The Rakem GroupGroup Technical & Quality Manager

Recent service to our fume cupboard at The Rakem Group carried out promptly and efficiently, fixed a couple of problems and all at a great price. Highly Recommended.

Liverpool Science Park

We have used Clean Air since 2014 and have always been delighted with the level of service, the response time, and the all-round helpfulness of their team. Their sales department are also excellent and have a wealth of knowledge and expertise. We would 100% recommend Clean Air.

DCE Commercial Engineers

Over the past 5 years, our company has dealt with Clean Air Ltd many times and have always found them to be extremely helpful and professional. Due to the high standard of their units that we observe on our LEV COSHH inspections, we have confidence in recommending their products to our clients. They are very knowledgeable and have always been happy to offer advice when needed. We would highly recommend them to others.

Testing & Maintenance

Your safety is our highest priority. We’ve been protecting people around the globe for over 20 years.

Whether you need your bespoke fume cupboard type-tested to provide assurance it’s delivering the level of protection you require, or you want to arrange for our expert engineers to service and maintain your equipment, Clean Air will always offer you a professional, reliable, cost-effective and friendly service.

Fume Cupboard Type Testing Facility

Clean Air’s fume cupboard testing is designed to exceed the criteria specified in BS EN 14175 . With a cutting-edge, in-house type-testing rig our testing regime offers added assurance that our fume cupboards perform to the recommended standard.

Servicing & Maintenance

Fume Cupboard Servicing & Maintenance The safety of operators, pupils and staff is our highest priority. We have a range of flexible fume cupboard servicing and maintenance options to protect your personnel, operators, technicians, students and teachers.

Fume Cupboard FAQ’S

We have ranges of fume cabinets designed to meet the needs of varied industries. If the exact product is not available for your application, we can design a tailored solution to precisely match your needs.

What is a fume cupboard?

A fume cupboard (sometimes called a fume cabinet or fume hood) is a type of protective enclosure used in laboratories. Its function is to protect operators and other personnel by providing containment. It is designed to limit the escape of airborne contaminants such as hazardous, toxic and/or flammable fumes, gases, vapours, and aerosols while protecting the product or experiment.
 
Typically, a fume cupboard has a metal body, a chemically resistant chamber, and an adjustable front opening (sash) made from safety glass. An exhaust fan pulls air and airborne contaminants through connected ductwork to an external discharge point where they can be safely dispersed at low concentration.
 
If external discharge is not viable, recirculation filtration fume cupboards are available. They provide operator and environmental protection from contaminating fumes and a limited quantity of particles through filtration systems within the fume cupboard.
 
In the UK, fume cupboards should be designed to meet BS EN 14175 and tested at least every 14 months to comply with COSHH Regulations.
 
Clean Air has the widest range of fume cupboard designs available in the market – speak to our friendly team about your requirements.

What does a fume cupboard do?

A fume cupboard (sometimes called a fume cabinet or fume hood) is a type of protective enclosure used in laboratories. Its function is to protect operators and other personnel by providing containment. It is designed to limit the escape of airborne contaminants while protecting the product or experiment. These contaminants can include hazardous, toxic and/or flammable fumes, gases, and vapours/aerosols.

Typically, it has a metal body, a chemically resistant chamber, and an adjustable front opening (sash). The sash is made from safety glass. An exhaust fan pulls air and airborne contaminants through connected ductwork to an external discharge point where they can be safely dispersed at low concentration.

If external discharge is not viable, recirculation filtration fume cupboards are available. These provide operator and environmental protection from contaminating fumes and a limited quantity of particles through filtration systems within the fume cupboard.

In the UK, fume cupboards should be designed to meet BS EN 14175. They should undergo testing at least every 14 months to comply with COSSH Regulations.

Clean Air is a fume cupboard specialist and has the widest choice of designs available in the market. Speak to our friendly team about our Education and Industrial ranges.

What are fume cupboards used for?

A fume cupboard (sometimes called a fume cabinet or fume hood) is a protective enclosure used in laboratories. Its function is to protect operators and other personnel by providing containment.
It limits the escape of airborne contaminants such as hazardous, toxic and flammable fumes, gases, vapours, and aerosols while protecting the product or experiment. A fan draws these contaminants into ducting to be vented externally or into a filter, thereby also protecting the operator.
Fume cupboards are used for teaching, experiments, industrial processes, research and development, and scale-up. They can be found in schools, universities and commercial settings.
Fume cupboards are an integral piece of lab safety equipment in many industries. In safety-critical applications, they offer assurance that operators can work without fear of harm.
Using fume cupboards, scientists can accelerate research and reduce its time to develop new products.
They can commercialise materials and processes by developing low-cost, scalable manufacturing methods, with proof of concept safely undertaken in fume cupboards. An example would be the commercialisation of graphene and new applications for this pioneering 2D material.
In secondary schools and 6th Form colleges, fume cupboards are used for experiments needed to teach the GCSE and ‘A’ Level chemistry curriculum.
These fume cupboards will often have glass on all four sides to facilitate demonstrations to students.
Universities cross over between the education and commercial sectors, as their fume cupboards are used not only for teaching purposes but often in collaboration with industry to prove theories and conduct research. This can include research into the discovery of new materials and processing, organic materials, inorganic materials, nanomedicines and nano characterisation, sustainability, and genomic sequencing.
They are in widespread use in the pharmaceutical industry for drug development. They are helping researchers to develop responses for diseases with unmet needs.
Police forensics is another application requiring containment to protect operators from chemical materials.
The chemical industry also needs fume cupboard containment for speciality chemicals and research into sustainable technologies.
Many of these applications will require customisation of the fume cupboards to support each specialised application. For example, specially designed radio-isotope fume cupboards feature a seamless stainless steel monolithic chamber. These bespoke models support studies to reduce costs and increase productivity in nuclear programmes.
Fume cupboards are the workhorse of the laboratory. However, regular maintenance is critical to ensure that personnel remain safe and protected when operating them.

Is a fume cupboard expensive to run?

A fume cupboard is expensive to run. This is because fume cupboards are highly energy-intensive. One unit can consume more energy than three homes per year.
This is not due to the fume cupboard’s own running costs, which are minimal. It is calculated on the energy required to replace the fresh, conditioned air continuously pulled through the fume cupboard and discharged outside.
Integrating Variable Air Volume (VAV) controls can reduce energy costs by approximately 70%. VAV reduces the volume of air pulled through the fume cupboard. When combined with an auto sash controller (which automatically closes the sash when not in use) the savings are even greater. VAV controls can be retro-fitted to most fume cupboard units.
A simple way to reduce a fume cupboard’s energy consumption is to turn the unit off when not in use, if possible.
For more information on how to reduce the running costs of a fume cupboard, talk to Clean Air’s friendly team.

What is a fume cupboard Docking Station? 

A docking station is a compact, lockable housing for mains supplies, providing a mobile fume cupboard with safe and secure access to services such as water, gas, drainage and power. Quick-release connections on the service hoses allow the fume cupboard to be relocated. 
 
The docking station can be locked when not in use and can be either panel mounted –mounted on a workstation or lab bench – or wall mounted.

Are there accessible fume cupboards to meet DDA requirements?

Height adjustable fume cupboards are a variant of the walk-in fume cupboard. The enhanced access design allows the chamber and working level to be adjusted to different heights, accommodating wheelchair users.
 
Clean Air can supply standard and custom designed height adjustable fume cupboards to incorporate any modifications required. – speak to our team.

How can a fume cupboard be energy efficient?

A fume cupboard can be energy efficient with the addition of a Variable Air Volume (VAV) system. A VAV system modulates the amount of air required by the fume cupboard’s sash opening height. Closing the sash reduces the volume of air required by approximately 70%.

What is a Low Volume fume cupboard?

A Low Volume fume cupboard is designed to operate and provide containment with face velocities as low as 0.3 m/s

What is a Constant Air Volume fume cupboard?

A Constant Air Volume fume cupboard extracts a consistent amount of air irrespective of sash position.

What is CFM in relation to fume cupboards?

CFM stands for cubic feet per minute. It can refer to the extract volume of a fume cupboard. For example, 1 m3/s = 2119 CFM

Can radioactive substances be used in a fume cupboard?

Radio-Isotope fume cupboards typically feature a seamless stainless steel monolithic chamber. The containment and shielding requirements for the unit should be assessed by the user to form part of an occupational risk prevention manual.

Can chemicals be stored in a fume cupboard?

A fume cupboard is not designed to store chemicals and chemicals should only be kept in a fume cupboard while they are in use. Fume cupboards rely on airflow to protect operators from harmful fumes, and items, including chemicals, stored in the unit can interfere with this airflow, reducing the efficiency of the unit.
Clean Air can supply and fit vented cabinets suitable for chemical storage, ask our friendly team.

What chemicals are safe to use in a fume cupboard?

If you are unsure which chemicals are safe to use in your fume cupboard, check the Operation & Maintenance manual. If it is not listed here, check with the manufacturer.
Several factors will affect chemical usage, including airflow and the materials used to manufacture the fume cupboard’s internal chamber walls and the sash. For example, the chemical can etch glass, so a material sash is recommended. If in doubt, check.

When should a fume cupboard be turned off?

A fume cupboard should be switched off when not in use if the control requirement allows.
 
When the fume cupboard is switched on it will continue to pull air through from the laboratory. This will use energy to run the fume cupboard and to replace the conditioned air within the lab.

What is a fume cupboard’s face velocity?

Face Velocity is the measurement of the speed at which air enters a fume cupboard through the sash opening. 

If the face velocity is too high, air turbulence will occur between the sash and the operator. If the face velocity is too low, the fume cupboard will not effectively remove toxic fumes, vapours, gases, aerosols and particulates/dust. 

BS EN 14175 recommends that a fume cupboard should have a face velocity of between 0.3 m/s and 0.5 m/s. Different uses and conditions will determine the optimal face velocity for a given application.

What is the minimum face velocity for normal operation of a fume cupboard?

Low Volume fume cupboards are designed to contain fumes effectively at face velocities as low as 0.3 m/s.

Fume Cupboard Installations

Our priority is keeping you safe. Clean Air fume cupboards and fume extract systems have been protecting people throughout the UK and around the globe for over 20 years. Find out why we’re the supplier of choice for so many leading universities and major organisations, science parks and schools. Quality counts, and our fume cupboard installation case studies demonstrate our unrivalled experience, our technical expertise and our friendly, personal service.

  • Energy Efficient Clean Air APEX-5 Fume Cupboards for the University of Manchester

    Energy Efficient Clean Air APEX-5 Fume Cupboards for the University of Manchester

  • Sygnature Life Sciences Fume Cupboard Project

    Sygnature Life Sciences Fume Cupboard Project

  • 24 Technologically Advanced Fume Cupboards for Concept Life Sciences

    24 Technologically Advanced Fume Cupboards for Concept Life Sciences

Register Your Intererst In Our Fume Cupboads

Our friendly, professional team is waiting to help you with all your enquiries about our fume cupboards ranges.

Clean Air Google Reviews