Industrial air movement and fan integration specialists Axair Fans has published a comprehensive free-to-download specifier white paper, ‘The Ultimate Guide to Fan Selection in Fume Extraction Systems’, designed to help readers master the process of fan selection in complicated fume extraction systems.
With laboratory set-up, operational maintenance and the intricacies of daily running, ensuring worker safety, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency in labs is paramount. To a new contractor, specification consultant or in young building services roles, this can be a daunting task as you don’t initially specialise in a particular niche. Containment of chemical substances is one of the key activities in laboratories and process systems, and at the core of these systems, when maintaining the required pressure and airflow to extract fumes effectively, the responsibility rests with the industrial fan. This makes correct fan selection one of the most important system specifications.
Free to download from the Axair Fans website by scanning the QR code shown or visiting the link, the comprehensive ‘Ultimate Guide to Fan Selection in Fume Extraction Systems’, written by the experts in fume fans and air movement for chemical applications, is a roadmap to mastering the process of fan selection in complicated fume extraction systems, ensuring a healthier, safer, and more productive workspace.
Navigating the array of fan options can be overwhelming, especially when faced with the challenging task of managing hazardous fumes and airborne contaminants. That’s where Axair’s guide comes in. With over 30 years of fan selection expertise, the company has condensed the complexities of fan selection into an accessible and easy-to-understand document that equips readers with the knowledge needed to make informed decisions. Covering a wide range of topics, from supplier choice, understanding the questions being asked to ensure system compliance, and understanding airflow requirements and system compatibility to deciphering the nuances of corrosion resistance and material durability, understanding what polypropylene is, and if it is a more practical material than stainless steel or GRP, the practical toolkit can guide readers through the selection process.
Where static discharge can be a concern in certain environments such as chemical laboratories, the paper explores the role of carbon-loaded ATEX fans that effectively dissipate accumulated static discharge, and helps readers understand ATEX zones, categories, and temperature classes, while also giving a deeper understanding of the relationship between fan specifications, ductwork design, and safe fume extraction. The guide also explains the importance of EN14986, known as ‘The design of fans working in potentially explosive atmospheres’, and how products must be constructed in compliance with directives to ensure fan components do not act as a source of ignition, alongside looking at permissible pairings, clearance of rotating parts and what Ex h means in ATEX labelling.
By the time readers have gone through the pages in the guide, they will be in a stronger position to write specifications to pass to future stakeholders, to talk to suppliers confidently or to troubleshoot poor system performance, armed with the information needed for fast and efficient decisions.
