Task Sheet 1B Combined General and Fume Hood Exhaust and Duct Velocities Page 7
Table 1. Industry Accepted Duct Velocities
NATURE OF CONTAMINANTS EXAMPLES VELOCITY
RANGE
fpm
(1)
1 Non-condensable vapors, gases All forms 500 – 2,000
2 Fumes/Smoke and sub-micron Zinc and aluminum Oxide
500(1) – 2,000
particles(2) fumes
3 Condensable vapors and sticky
All forms 1000 – 2,000
particles(3)
4 Cotton lint, wood flour
Very fine light dust(3)(4) 2,000 – 2,500
Litho-powder
5 Dry dust and powders (3)(4) Cotton dust 2,500 – 3,000
6 Shavings Sawdust, grinding ~ 17.7- 20 m/s
Average industrial dust(3)(4) 3,500 – 4,000
dust
7 Heavy dusts(3)(4) Metal turnings, lead 4,000 – 4,500
8 Buffing lint (sticky) Lead
Heavy moist dust(3)(4) 4,500 and more
dust w/ small chips
Notes:
(1) A lower limit of 500 fpm provides the ability to accurately measure flow in the duct using commonly applied
techniques including Pitot tube traverse. Lower duct velocities are routinely observed in VAV exhaust system
branch ducts serving VAV Fume Hoods and do not affect the containment ability of the hood.
(2) Fumes (generated from heated solids) and smoke are typically composed of submicron sized particles.
Deposition rates of submicron particles in ductwork are typically low as discussed in the text.
(3) Provisions for drains, cleanout and/or wash down must be provided if significant quantities can condense or
deposit in the duct system.
(4) Contaminants of this nature are not usually experienced in a laboratory and should be controlled prior to
entering the ductwork system. Particles larger than several microns should be controlled at point of emission.
A Paper by RWDI/ECT for the University of Washington
Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) Guidance
General duct velocities
Type of contaminant Examples Duct velocity
Vapour, Gases 5–10 m/s
Smoke, fume Welding 10 m/s
Fine dry dust Wood dust, lint 12.5m/s
Dry dusts and powders Fine rubber dust, cotton dust, light shavings 15 m/s
Average industrial dust Grinding dust, wood shavings, asbestos, silica, 20 m/s
clay, brick cutting
Heavy dusts Sawdust, lead, metal turnings, damp materials 25 m/s
Instrumentation
There are a number of types of instruments that may be used to measure air flow to determine the
system performance; the simplest being a ribbon-type device that is moved by the air flow to indicate
flow to the more complicated electronic device (a pressure transducer), which can activate alarms
if the flow drops below a predetermined range. Fume cupboards, for example, should have visual
indicators with alarms as per EN 14175-2 FUME CUPBOARDS, Safety and Performance Requirements.
Airflow indicator
Manometer types:
Electronic – pressure transducer
Mechanical – pressure-sensitive diaphragm
Glass U-tube with liquid
Alarms can fail without warning and need back-up testing which should be detailed in the user
manual. Also, faulty alarms can get muted because of the annoyance, resulting in no alarm.
Depending on the complexity of the system, the ducting may have ports for in-line flow measurement
by Pitot tube.
Chapter 7 39
