ventilation hood help

[talooie]

I just bought this fume hood on ebay that is described as the following:

Stainless Steel Benchtop Fume Hood w/Fluorescent Light. Fume hood measures 27" long x 13" wide x 24" high. Exhaust measures 6-1/2" from top to bottom x 18-1/2" around x 6" across. Plexiglass covers half of the front and measures 27" x 12". Also has a light fixture inside. There is no motor. Equipped for an external blower. The light is 2ft. and ranges from side to side.

I am planning on removing the plexiglass and adding some height to the hood. My question is--Could someone recommend a blower that would be good for this hood? Thanks!

[Dale M.]

I think first we need to clarify the dimension . Don't you mean 24 inches high, 27 inches wide, and 13 inches deep...

Ok for full opening (with out Plexiglas piece) the 24x27 is going to calculate out to about 4 sqft of "face opening". The would require a blower of about 400cfm to have a adequate "face velocity" of air. IF you keep Plexiglas shield in place your face opening is roughly 2 sqft so it will require a blower that can produce about 200cfm face velocity.

The rule I am using to calculate is for a class "B" fume hood that states 100cfm of air for each (1) square foot of face opening.

http://www.tamhsc.edu/departments/administration/safety/chemical/fumehoods.php
http://www.energyusernews.com/CDA/Article_Information/Fundamentals_Item/0,2637,22007,00.html

IF fume hood will sit on work table and you can work comfortably with it without raising it up it will be better. IF you raise it up you increase face opening. If you increase face opening, you have to increase fan/blower capacity (cfm) to allow for larger opening.

Dale

[talooie]

Thanks Dale. I'm not sure how tight it will feel working in that space if I don't raise it up somehow. I will adjust the CFM accordingly once I get a better idea. Do anyone know of a blower that would fit well into the 6" aperture for the exhaust?

[beadbroad]

Love my elicent -- search ebay, they're there. I got the 8" one that moves 600+ cfm; if the 6" one is insufficient you I would think you could get fittings to adapt to a larger fan.

[talooie]

Thanks I'll look into them.

[Blueflameart]

I would try Grainger ... look for a good squirrel cage that would fit in the exhaust line.

[paintingwithglass]

Love my elicent -- search ebay, they're there. I got the 8" one that moves 600+ cfm; if the 6" one is insufficient you I would think you could get fittings to adapt to a larger fan.

Beadbroad:

Would you tell us more about the elicent? Would you please share pics? How quiet is it? I would love to know your opinion. Thank you. ( I have already seen the fan on ebay, etc.)

[Blueflameart]

http://search.ebay.com//search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=elicent