Top Specification of Laboratory Microbiological Safety Cabinet

Pradeep Kumar 10 September 2019

A microbiological safety cabinet which is also known as a biosafety cabinet or biological safety cabinet is an enclosed, ventilated laboratory workspace for safely working with materials contaminated with pathogens requiring a defined biosafety level. There are several types of biosafety cabinets, differentiated by the degree of bio-containment required.

One of the primary purposes of biosafety cabinets is, to serve as a protector of the laboratory workers and the surrounding environment from pathogens.
As the air exits the biosafety cabinet, the exhausted air is HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air)-filtered, which is an efficiency standard of air filter, thus removing harmful bacteria and viruses.
Most of the biosafety cabinets serve a secondary purpose of maintaining the sterility of materials inside the product.

Some of the specifications of Biosafety Cabinets are

Inflow Velocity – It provides an inflow velocity of 105 feet/minute (0.53 m/s), which can vary based on the Class of Cabinets. Air velocity is expressed in feet/minute or fpm.

Down-flow Velocity – It provides a down-flow velocity of 60 feet/minute (0.30 m/s).

Noise Level – It controls the noise level below 65 dba which is quite low in comparison to its counterparts.

Filter – Again as discussed earlier, it has HEPA filter which provides 99.999 % efficiency, which is quite good when you want purified air.

Particle retention – It can retain particles up to 0.3 microns, which is very small. 1 micron is equal to 1 millionth of a meter and the human eye cannot see anything which is smaller than 40 microns in size.

Light – Fluorescent light is used to provide a clear view.

Light Intensity – The light intensity is quite good which measures around 90 -120 foot-candles (Lumen/sq. foot) which is approximately 968 – 1291 lux (SI Unit).

Controller – Microprocessor controller is provided with digital display for better and easy operation of the equipment.

Body Construction – Wood is used along with PCRC sheet which forms the outer casing and has lightweight with ceramic fiber wool insulation.

Table Construction – Stainless steel 304 is used for making the surfaces of the table.

Front Door – It supports a frameless auto sliding glass door.

Pressure Gauge – Magnehelic Gauge is used as an instrument to measure pressure. It helps in measuring positive and negative pressure and also the difference in pressures between two different locations.

Blower Assembly – It consists of 1/3 HorsePower, Single phase 1440 RPM motor with inflow air capacity of1000 Cubic Feet/Minute (CFM), with Pressure of 30 mm water gauge (WG).

Exhaust Assembly – It gives 300 Cubic Feet/Minute(CFM) outflow of the air through ducting by PVC pipe with rain guard of diameter 150 mm.

Provided specifications are for Class 2 type Cabinets. Biosafety Cabinets are available in Class 1, Class 2 (Type A1, A2, B1, B2), and Class 3 versions with different specifications. So it’s up to buy that what are his requirements from the cabinet and can purchase accordingly.

Which Purpose Microbiological Safety Cabinets Use?

They are very useful for a large range of scientific, research as well as development companies within both the commercial along with non-commercial sectors, such as medical, pharmaceutical, clinical research, pharmacy, education, defence, as well as general healthcare sectors. Besides the shield of the user as well as sample material, ergonomics of the work become more as well as more convenient.

They offer protection to the user from atomizer happening from the handling of potentially dangerous micro-organisms, with air discharge to the atmosphere being filtered.