Choosing a laminar flow hood is not always an obvious thing to do. It is crucial because differences in characteristics can have serious consequences for your samples.

Vertical or Vertical Laminar Flow Hood are developed with a common goal: to protect your samples by creating a work environment free of particles and contamination. Please note, these laboratory hoods are not intended to protect the operator.

In this article, we offer to guide you in your choice, offering you clear explanations highlighting the difference between a laboratory hood with vertical or horizontal laminar flow.

There are different types of Cleanroom Hepa Filter but for a laminar flow hood you must use a HEPA H14 filter: this filter lets pass a maximum of 5 particles of 0.1 micron per litre of air.

• A turbine: It is a powerful fan which allows to suck in the outside air and “blow it” through the HEPA filter.


• -A pre-filter can also be used to prevent the HEPA filter from clogging   too quickly.

What is flowhood?

Horizontal Flow Hood are designed to create a particle-free work surface by passing air through a high efficiency filtration system and out the work surface into a one-way air stream.

Typically, laminar flow hoods are closed on the sides and maintain a constant air pressure to ensure that contaminants do not come into contact with the working samples.

There are several types of laminar flow hoods, each designed for specific applications.

All laminar flow hoods respect an air passage speed at the front of the equipment of approximately 0.45 m / s. This meets the standards in force.

Vertical or hirozontal laminar flow?

A vertical or horizontal laminar flow are two effective methods of protection against particles.

About the horizontal laminar flow:

The horizontal flow makes it possible to really evacuate the particles without turbulence effects at the level of the work surface. It advances the Particle Count of the position.

This promotes non-contamination of your samples present in your work area.

The bottom of the hood is particularly well treated by the direction of the unidirectional air flow, this allows to evacuate the particles to the outside.  After following the all protocol, Cleanroom Testing And Certification work is conducting.

About vertical laminar flow:

The vertical flow provides the desired air quality over the entire surface of your enclosure.

It allows particles to be removed; however turbulence may appear at the work surface.

The desired efficiency with the vertical flow is for the entire volume in its width, depth and height.

Conclusion:

The choice of your laminar flow hood also depends on the positioning and characteristics of your samples with the proper Cleanroom Certification. For example, a glass plate or any other thin sample placed directly on the work surface will require a horizontal air flow in order to treat the particles closest to the work surface. On the contrary, a sample observed on a microscope or any other sample raised from the work surface will require a vertical air flow in order to optimize the evacuation of particles from the point of use.

However, we do recommend this laminar flow technology if the particles are harmful because the operator is not protected.