The Future of Hazardous Material Storage in the Laboratory
Nowadays laboratory work demands the use of many different hazardous substances in the workplace. Adapted to the properties of the respective hazardous substances, laboratories purchase different types of safety cabinets. This results in cabinets that are often only partly filled. This is not only space-consuming and inefficient, but also expensive! The new Asecos MULTIRISK cabinet, the world's first hazardous materials cabinet for the unrestricted and sustainable safe-storage of a variety of many hazardous materials in one cabinet – and can be equipped differently and flexibly.
"In principle, the user must decide within the framework of a risk assessment whether they are allowed to store certain substances together."
The existing safety cabinets have so far been an obstacle to efficient storage. Different types of safety cabinets are currently used, adapted to the properties of the hazardous substances in use: a fire-resistant cabinet for flammable liquids, a special acid/alkali cabinet for corrosive substances and a separately lockable storage cabinet for toxic substances. The problem: safety cabinets specially equipped for the storage of flammable liquids do not offer any corrosion protection for the storage of acids or alkalis. On the other hand, flammable liquids cannot be stored in an acid/alkali cabinet because these cabinets do not offer the required fire protection according to EN 14470-1. With the new type 90 tested V-CLASSIC-90 MULTIRISK cabinet from Asecos, space-saving storage of flammable liquids, acids and alkalis, and poisons is now possible with maximum fire protection. A completely new cabinet design and an integrated, efficient ventilation system make this possible.
It All Depends on the Construction
With cabinet dimensions of 60x86x197cm (WxDxH), the MULTIRISK integrates perfectly into the established laboratory furniture grid and still offers a high storage capacity. Either 14 x 1-Litre laboratory glass bottles, or 4 x 2.5-Litre and 3 x 1-Litre laboratory glass bottles can be stored on each storage level. The entire safety cabinet is made of fire-resistant materials and complies with the European standard DIN EN 14470-1. In the event of a fire, it closes automatically via integrated safety devices and offers staff and rescue teams protection from the stored hazardous substances for at least 90 minutes. The interior of the cabinet is largely metal-free and corrosion-resistant. Another advantage of the MULTIRISK cabinet: acids and alkalis are also stored in a fire-protected manner. A poison box is integrated for acutely toxic or very toxic substances.
Safe and Sustainable
The ventilation concept of the MULTIRISK cabinet exceeds the requirements of EN 14470-1. A 30-fold air exchange per hour (which corresponds to approx. 20m³ of air exhausted from the cabinet per hour) not only safely prevents the formation of explosive atmospheres in the cabinet, but also corrosion of the interior fittings. The exhaust air duct mounted centrally on the rear wall enables safe and uniform extraction from each storage level. This is particularly important because the cabinet user can decide independently, at any time, on which cabinet side or storage level he wants to store the different hazardous substances. To ensure that sufficient air exchange is permanently provided and that neither too much nor too little air is extracted, the MULTIRISK cabinet is equipped with a safety assistance system. This makes it possible to directly detect an excessively high exhaust air volume and thus an excessively high energy input.
Make One Out of Three
The formation of hazardous or even explosive gas/air mixtures must be permanently prevented, safety cabinets are connected 24/7 to an exhaust air system. However, this is associated with high energy consumption and is therefore very cost-intensive, especially if three different special cabinets are purchased for the possibly small quantities of hazardous substances used, each of which must also be vented according to regulations. By purchasing a MULTIRISK cabinet instead of three different special cabinets, not only can energy costs for technical ventilation be reduced, but valuable laboratory space can be reallocated for other purposes. If hazardous substances are stored safely directly at the workplace, this also saves time and personnel costs.
