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30th - 31st October 2024
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Clean Air Ltd was proud to be part of the Sygnature life sciences project that saw us provide 140 fume cupboards and seven ventilated enclosures for new state-of-the-art laboratories at Alderley Park in Cheshire.
High-Performance Radius Profile fume cupboards are the perfect partner for Sygnature Discovery’s scientists and researchers. Between 2016 and 2020 Clean Air supplied 109 fume cupboards and six ventilated enclosures for the innovative global life sciences organisation’s headquarters at Nottingham BioCity.
In 2022, when the organisation was equipping its latest state-of-the-art laboratories at Alderley Park in Cheshire, the success of the original Clean Air fume cupboards in Nottingham meant they were once again on the specification. Another 31 High-Performance Radius Profile fume cupboards and one ventilated enclosure have been installed at the Cheshire facility.
Sygnature Discovery provides innovative, multi-disciplinary drug discovery teams to support client projects across various therapeutic areas.
Among other specialities, Sygnature Discovery’s integrated teams have developed significant expertise in drug discovery in kidney, liver, and lung fibrosis; assessing various inflammation and immunological biomarkers, processes, and endpoints; and anti-infectives.
The Clean Air projects for Sygnature Discovery were delivered through Cleanroom & Containment Facilities Ltd (CCF).
Cleanroom & Containment Facilities Ltd delivers cleanrooms, containment facilities, aseptic suites and controlled environments for aerospace, biotechnology and defence through to food, healthcare and pharmaceuticals.
The safety and protection of Sygnature Discovery’s teams is the organisation’s highest priority. At its Nottingham BioCity HQ and Alderley Park the company has opted for the High-Performance Radius Profile fume cupboard due to its excellent levels of containment and its ease of use.
This fume cupboard not only provides a comfortable working experience. It has been design engineered for smooth airflow and efficient purging of fumes, and independent testing has confirmed the highest level of containment currently claimed by any fume cupboard manufacturer.
This reliable, efficient fume hood has a Robustness of Containment Protection Factor (PFR) of >4,500,000 for all widths at 0.5 m/s face velocity. Containment is a key aspect when measuring the safety of a fume cupboard, and the Robustness of Containment result allows for the comparison and benchmarking of a fume cupboard’s performance.
Clean Air’s experienced designers work with our clients to overcome any process challenges and devise safe and effective solutions.
The flexible design of the High-Performance Radius Profile fume cupboard can be easily customised to individual applications. It is ideal for large quantities of mechanical and electrical services. Bespoke features such as pass-through ports, services and materials can be included to accommodate any process requirements perfectly.
Most of the fume cupboards, both in Nottingham and Alderley Park, are 2400mm wide. They have a twin side-by-side sash arrangement, allowing the two sashes on each fume cupboard to be opened independently. This offers several benefits for our client’s operation – it protects research and experiments, allows two operators to work together in one fume cupboard, and gives easy access to large pieces of equipment.
These fume cupboards have also been customised with cast epoxy working levels. Cast epoxy is ideal for applications which require combined advanced resistance to mechanical, chemical, and/or thermal conditions.
Sustainability is important to Sygnature Discovery. The organisation has opted for energy-efficient Variable Air Volume (VAV) fume cupboards at both of its UK sites. A VAV system reduces carbon emissions, cuts energy costs, and can provide a more pleasant laboratory working environment.
The Discovery Building in Nottingham BioCity, which features VAV technology on the fume cupboards in its laboratories, achieved a BREEAM rating of Excellent.
A fume cupboard extracts the heated or cooled air from a laboratory and discharges it outside. This conditioned air must be replaced, and the energy required to cool or heat the air is responsible for the carbon emissions and increased costs.
The energy-saving technology in a VAV fume cupboard reduces the volume of air it pulls through from the lab. With VAV controls, as the fume cupboard sash is moved, the position of a damper is adjusted. This controls the face velocity and reduces the air that needs to be replaced.
There are seven ventilated enclosures across Signature’s two sites, also known as robotics enclosures. They feature horizontal sliding sashes to all four sides for full, flexible access to all areas of the working chamber.
Clean Air supplied polypropylene ventilated under-bench fume cupboard storage cabinets for this latest project. Polypropylene is corrosion-resistant and, therefore, ideal for storing solid acids and other chemicals.
The storage cabinets are connected to the extract system above the fume cupboard VAV dampers. This safeguard ensures the cabinet extract pressure will not be affected when the fume cupboard sashes are closed.
Clean Air’s experienced site engineers installed and commissioned the fume cupboards and ventilated enclosures throughout Sygnature Discovery’s laboratories at Nottingham BioCity and Alderley Science Park.
Our expert Service & Maintenance teams also undertake the servicing of the units. Each fume cupboard is tested annually to meet BS EN14175, keeping them at optimum performance and ensuring compliance with COSHH 2002.
CCF provides a complete turnkey package including architectural construction and fit-out process integration and M&E technical building services. With this number of sub-contracts to manage, dealing with the Clean Air team is always great. They’re helpful, flexible, and professional. Our client, Synature Discovery, is consistently happy with Clean Air’s fume cupboards and their service, and when our client is happy, so are we.
Nick Henley, Contracts Director, CCF