The sliding door of the fume hood is a glass door in front of the fume hood, which can be opened and closed and used as the sliding door of the workstation. It is an important safety component of sliding door exhaust cabinet, which can provide protection and control from dangerous chemicals and other materials. Proper use of sliding doors in the operation process of fume hood needs to know the function of sliding doors, the types of sliding doors required by the environment and the safety regulations that must be observed.
 

Function of exhaust cabinet window fan The fume hood is designed to limit people's contact with harmful smoke, steam or particles. They are essentially closed worktables with built-in exhaust system, and have three closed sides and open front ends for workers to operate. The fan of the exhaust cabinet generates positive airflow and sucks pollutants into the filtration system. There are two types of exhaust cabinets: ducted and ductless. In these two types, sliding doors play a vital role in personnel safety.

1) The air duct system of the air duct exhaust cabinet is fixed on the building. This is why they are fixed and have a fixed position in the laboratory.

2) The ductless fume hood runs through the carbon filter system, which recycles the filtered air into the building. They are ideal for buildings with difficult duct layout or need to be moved.

Although ductless fume hoods usually use only a small amount of chemicals, sliding doors are still very important. Because the sliding door of the fume hood acts as a shield. For example, if there is a fire, the door will surround the fire and prevent it from spreading. Sliding doors also help to control air entering the fume hood and push harmful vapors and smoke into the built-in exhaust system. Type of sliding door of exhaust cabinet When the sliding doors of the fume hood slide open and close, their moving directions may be different. There are usually three types of window frames:
 

1) Vertical, sliding up and down
2) Horizontal, can slide left and right.
3) Combination of vertical and horizontal

Vertical sliding doors are common in laboratories and manufacturing, because they provide the largest access to the interior of the fume hood. The horizontal sliding door provides access to the top of the fume hood, but it restricts users from using both ends of the fume hood at the same time.

Although the sliding door of the fume hood is made of glass, several different types of glass can be used. All products are designed to buffer against explosion or fire.

1. Tempered glass: When tempered glass breaks, it will break into small pieces with obtuse angles. It can withstand drastic changes in temperature up to 392℉. Compared with ordinary glass, tempered glass can withstand almost five times the impact strength. This makes tempered glass the popular choice for sliding doors of exhaust cabinets. Tests requiring high thermal resistance rate usually need to use tempered glass as the material of the sliding door of exhaust cabinet. For example, tempered glass may be a better material if heating equipment or drying furnaces are used routinely. Tempered glass can also provide better protection if the fume hood is in danger of fire.

2. Laminated glass: Laminated glass is made of two pieces of float glass. Between these two layers is a layer of polyvinyl butyral (PVB). When an explosion occurs, this sandwich method can make the broken glass pieces stick to the PVB layer inside, instead of falling to the ground or flying in the air. Sandwich glass will maximize the protection of explosion hazard test, because if there is an explosion in the fume hood, the glass will not be broken. However, it is important to note that tempered glass can also be laminated to provide a higher level of protection, while taking into account the advantages of these two options.

3. Polycarbonate fiber (carbon fiber): If hydrofluoric acid is used regularly in your laboratory, polycarbonate glass sliding doors may be needed. As hydrofluoric acid will damage ordinary glass over time, you may need to replace sliding doors more frequently. However, polycarbonate sliding doors are designed to protect glass from such acids and make the service life of sliding doors of exhaust cabinets longer. Typical applications using polycarbonate glass are experiments using hydrofluoric acid, such as research laboratories, geological laboratories and facilities that perform semiconductor work.

Safety of sliding door of exhaust cabinet When operating the exhaust hood, the sliding door plays an important role in ensuring the overall safety of users. However, if the safety agreement of the sliding door of the fume hood is not followed, the sliding door may not operate as expected. The following are some important safety procedures to be performed when using the sliding door of the exhaust hood:
 

1) Always ensure that the sliding door has been opened to the appropriate height and/or width indicated for use. This information is usually indicated by positioning the arrow on the sliding door.

2) Do not open the sliding door completely unless the materials need to be placed inside the equipment.

3) For the vertically rising sliding door, the user should keep the sliding door below the face. For sliding doors that move left and right, please keep the sliding door in front of you and extend to the side of the sliding door.

4) Do not put your head in the opening of the sliding door of the exhaust cabinet.

5) Keep materials away from the opening of sliding door.

6) Do not store chemicals in the fume hood. It is important to work out working procedures so that employees can know how to report any problems related to the fume hood to the supervisor.

If the fume hood doesn't work properly, employees should close the sliding door and stop using the fume hood. crucial parts Although it looks like a simple piece of glass, the sliding door of the fume hood is different. The fume hood itself plays an important role in preventing dangerous vapors, smoke and particles from escaping from the working area, while the sliding door can help the fume hood protect users from devastating damage in case of accidents.​