Bio-Rad S3™ Cell Sorter - Manual (Page 24)

Service and Certification
Certification Procedure
General Information
The enclosure is a ventilated cabinet for user and environmental protection. All inflow air is
exhausted through a HEPA filter without recirculation.
Testing is performed to demonstrate that the unit meets recommended standards for ventilated
enclosures used to house automated laboratory equipment.
Tests include:
■ n
Measuring the average inflow velocity
■ n
Integrity leak test of exhaust HEPA filter
■ n
Visual smoke containment
This procedure is specifically written for the testing of the Bio-Rad S3 HEPA-filtered enclosure.
Record results using the form below.
Materials and Equipment Needed
■ n
Calibrated particle-detecting aerosol photometer
■ n
Calibrated thermoanemometer
■ n
PAO aerosol generator
■ n
Container of titanium tetrachloride (TiCl
4
) or similar smoke source
Procedure
Inflow Velocity Measurement
1. Start up the S3 biosafety system to enable the exhaust fan for the HEPA-filtered enclosure.
2. Open the hinged 11 x 15 inches (nominal dimensions) sample access flap workface and
divide the opening into grids of equal size (minimally, 2 inch wide by 4 inch high). All other
hinged flaps must be in the closed position.
3. Traverse the sample access open area and record the velocities at the center point of each
grid spacing. The thermoanemometer must be held rigidly so as not to interfere with airflow
patterns.
Note: Orient anemometer for maximum reading at each point, as airflow may not
be perfectly perpendicular to opening.
4. Calculate the average airflow across the sample access flap.
5. Acceptance: The calculated average inflow velocity must be a minimum of 135 FPM (feet
per minute). Perform fan speed adjustments to obtain proper air velocity average as needed.
6. Measure and record the dimensions of the sample access opening and compute the
workface area.
7. To the workface area, add the area of the perimeter slots (0.15 ft 2 ) to get the total
intake area.
8. Calculate the exhaust volume by multiplying the total intake area with the average velocity
of the traverse. (This step is necessary if calculating upstream aerosol concentration for
section 4.2).
Exhaust HEPA Filter Integrity Leak Test
1. Use a calibrated photometer and aerosol generator for this test.
2. Be sure that the exhaust fan for the enclosure is activated and running.
14 | S3 Biosafety System