Bio-Rad S3™ Cell Sorter - Manual (Page 15)

Instruction Manual | 5
The S3 ™ biosafety system is a Class I system designed to protect the user and the environment
from aerosols generated during the sorting process. The system was designed to functionally
exceed the requirements of the NIH Standards for Class I biosafety and exceed the functional
requirements under ISAC guidelines for cell sorting.
IMPORTANT! The S3 biosafety system must remain on at all times when the S3 or
S3e cell sorter is inside the system. In accordance with the recommendation in the
S3 and S3e cell sorter manual, the cell sorter should be left with system power on
and in idle mode when not in use.
Should the biosafety system be turned off when the cell sorter power is on inside,
there could be risk of overheating and it may possibly become a fire hazard.
Airflow Management
The S3 biosafety system uses negative air pressure to continually draw air from outside the system
through the gaps beneath the side panels. The air is pulled in and up through the HEPA filter.
Note: The air is purified 99.9997% at 0.3 µm efficiency according to the HEPA filter specifications.
100% of the system air is exchanged at a rate of 6–8 times per minute. The airflow around the
instrument is 140 linear FPM, which exceeds current requirements for Class I biosafety systems.
In addition to the filtering of the air surrounding the S3 or S3e cell sorter, the sort chamber of the
cell sorter is connected directly through the rear port of the instrument to the biosafety system to
be filtered (Figure 5). Air is pulled
actively through this tube to
evacuate the sort chamber
of aerosols that may be created.
All cleaned air is exhausted
into the room or through
a connection to the house
ventilation system (Figure 6).
Operation
2
Fig. 5. S3 cell sorter aerosol evacuation port.