Advanced Technologies for High Performance Laboratory Fume Hoods: Interim Field Demonstration Results

Craig Wray, P.Eng., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Because fume hoods exhaust large volumes of conditioned air to remove contaminants, they are often the most energy intensive technologies in laboratories. High-performance hoods can reduce the exhaust air volume and save substantial amounts of energy. By doing so, their estimated annual source technical potential is approximately 180 TBtu, which translates to about $1.5 billion annually. However, end-users are not currently adopting such technologies widely enough, because of uncertainty about returns on investment and concerns about increased maintenance effort and associated reduced reliability.

As a step to overcome these barriers, Berkeley Lab is carrying out a DOE-funded field demonstration project to test high-performance bench-top hoods as installed and operated at several U.S. chemical laboratories. One objective is to evaluate energy saving and economic benefit persistence relative to design intent and also relative to conventional hoods. Another objective is to assess relative differences, if any, regarding maintenance effort and associated reliability concerns.

The project focuses on three underutilized high performance hood technologies relative to two widely used conventional ones:

High performance hoods:

  • Low flow constant volume (60-80 fpm face velocity)
  • Low flow constant volume retrofit kits (60-80 fpm face velocity)
  • Variable air volume with automated sash closure or two state (high/low flow) control based on occupancy sensing

Conventional hoods:

  • High-flow constant volume (100 fpm or greater face velocity)
  • Variable air volume with manual sashes

This presentation summarizes the scoping study that we prepared to support the need for field demonstrations, describes our test methods, and provides interim results based on data that we collected during summer operation. When winter tests and final analyses are completed early next year, we expect that these results will showcase the energy savings provided by high performance fume hoods and will in turn help DOE develop a business case to promote more widespread use of such products.

Biography:

Craig Wray has nearly 30 years of experience as a consulting engineer and building scientist addressing energy, airflow, pollutant transport, and commissioning issues in buildings. At Berkeley Lab, his current efforts focus on air-handling system experiments, modeling these systems, developing related diagnostic methods, and assessing risks and benefits related to improvements. He has Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Manitoba, and is a registered professional engineer in Manitoba and British Columbia. He is currently Vice Chair of ASHRAE's Multidisciplinary Task Group 'Energy-Efficient Air-Handling Systems for Non-Residential Buildings', is a past Chair of the Technical Activities Committee, a former Head of the 'Load Calculations and Energy Requirements' Technical Section, and is active on several Technical Committees.

 

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