Proposed Procedure to Design an Optimum Ventilation System for Chemical Laboratory

Abstract

The safe environmental condition of biological and chemical laboratories at universities in Sudan is a real and tangible problem that needs to be properly addressed due to the increased number of universities which grew up to 25 State-Level Universities. This could sum up to 200 students per academic year. One of the significant problems is the proper ventilation inside the laboratories. This paper aims to provide a proposal for design of an optimum ventilation system for: 1) Good and safe environment; 2) Comfortable workplace for laboratories occupants; 3) Ensure the health of the surrounding environment while minimizing the energy consumption. Five chemicals are selected for this study as the most consumed and the most hazardous (permissible exposure limits) inside the laboratories of the department of chemistry faculty of science, Al-Neelain university; formaldehyde, nitric acid, acetic acid, xylene and ethanol. Concentration level of materials in laboratory is calculated in correlation with air exchange rate, vapor pressure and area of laboratory. Results concluded to that up 15 ACH the concentration of formaldehyde and nitric acid is still high. Recommendations are given with the limitation of using the suggested mathematical model, regarding laboratory conditions, severity of the material hazardousness, number of people.