Laminar Flow Clean Benches And The Differences Between Horizontal & Vertical

Laminar flow clean benches provide working environments that have its own filtered air supply. Used in a variety of laboratory, research, hospital and manufacturing applications, clean benches direct the airflow of HEPA filtered air over the work area to provide an ISO Class 5 (formerly Class 100) particulate free work area to perform product tasks.

The benefits of a laminar flow clean bench* are:

Clean benches provide a generous and well lit work surface for maximum product protection and user comfort. They come with either horizontal or vertical filtered laminar air flow. The horizontal clean bench pushes air through a HEPA filter and directs the filtered air horizontally over the work surface at a constant speed, toward the operator.

A vertical clean bench pushes air through a HEPA filter which is located at the top of enclosure. The air is directed downward onto the work surface at a constant speed.

Both configurations offer product protection…so why choose one over the other? Application. Horizontal clean benches generally have a taller and therefore a larger loading and working area. This allows for instruments, like microscopes to be placed inside. They are typically the preferred selection for plant tissue culture, media plate preparation, electronics inspection, medical device assembly and pharmacy drug preparation. Because they do not provide protection to the user, they should not be used in conjunction with biohazardous material, toxins or radionuclides. One of the key benefits is the absence of a sash, which is an advantage when placing instruments and equipment inside.

vertical clean bench, on the other hand, offers a pivoting glass sash as a safety measure. This sash offers personal protection and a physical barrier when working with chemicals. Vertical clean benches are common place in microbiology, forensic, biotech and many other industries, which utilizes them during procedures that require clean work area.

Source: Labconco Corporation

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