LABORATORY FUME SCRUBBING
Fume cupboard scrubbers for laboratory acid fume
Compact packed-bed scrubbers for one to four fume cupboards, sized to fit integral to your fume hood or in a limited space plant room. Built for the HF, HCl and nitric acid fume that labs actually produce.
✓Serves one to four fume cupboards from one unit
✓Fan sized so your cupboards keep their face velocity
✓Fits an existing plant room or roof
Not ready to quote? Download the fume cupboard scrubber guide
Request a quote
Four fields to start. A process engineer will reply within 4 working hours to talk through your lab.
Response time typically <4 Hours
Small airflows, aggressive acids
Laboratory extract is low in volume but high in hazard. HF, HCl and nitric digestions put corrosive fume straight into the duct, and on many sites the stack sits close to air intakes, windows and neighbouring buildings. Whether you call it a laboratory scrubber or a lab scrubber, it has to clean that fume without upsetting the extract your cupboards rely on.
University and research labs
Many users, many methods and changing chemistry from one year to the next.
In the extract: HCl, nitric and HF fume from digestions and wet chemistry
What we fit: A compact packed-bed scrubber shared by compatible fume cupboards
Analytical and testing labs
Routine acid digestions for metals analysis and sample preparation, run every day.
In the extract: Nitric and HCl fume, with HF for silicate samples
What we fit: Caustic packed bed with automatic dosing and alarms
Materials and semiconductor R&D
Specialist methods where one acid dominates or a stream must be kept apart.
In the extract: HF, perchloric or mixed acid streams
What we fit: A dedicated scrubber per stream, or a wash-down system for perchloric
Laboratory acids our fume cupboard scrubbers treat
| Acid | Typical lab use | How we scrub it |
|---|---|---|
| Hydrochloric (HCl) | Digestions, cleaning, general wet chemistry | Caustic or water packed bed |
| Hydrofluoric (HF) | Silicate digestions, etching, materials research | Caustic packed bed in polypropylene or PVDF, nothing glass in the wetted path |
| Nitric acid | Digestions, metals analysis, ICP sample preparation | Caustic packed bed; oxidising stage only where NOx is significant |
| Sulphuric acid | Digestions and heated work | Mist eliminator with the packed bed |
| Perchloric acid | Specialist digestions | Dedicated wash-down fume cupboard and extract, never shared |
Not on the list? Send us the methods and chemicals used in the fume cupboards and we will tell you whether a scrubber is the right answer.
Built around the lab you already have
Fits your plant room
Compact packed-bed units for one to four fume cupboards, sized to fit an existing plant room or roof rather than a new building.
Keeps your face velocity
We size the extract fan for the scrubber pressure drop, so your fume cupboards keep the face velocity they were tested to.
Built and wet-tested in house
Polypropylene or PVDF, fabricated by our own team and run wet in our factory before dispatch, with dosing and alarms to your BMS.
From fume cupboard to clean discharge
The train we supply most often behind one to four fume cupboards. Each unit is sized to your cupboards and your ductwork.
Materials: polypropylene vessels and packing as standard, PVDF where HF or temperature needs it.
Controls: pH dosing to setpoint, liquor flow and level interlocks, alarms to your BMS.
Honest scope: perchloric acid never shares a scrubber. It needs a dedicated wash-down fume cupboard and extract.
Fits your building and your maintenance plan
A scrubber changes the extract system your fume cupboards depend on. We design it as part of that system, not as a box bolted on at the end.
Fume cupboards are tested to BS EN 14175, and their extract counts as local exhaust ventilation, which COSHH requires to be thoroughly examined at least every 14 months. We give you the data for both: fan duty, pressure drop and commissioning readings.
- A unit sized for the plant room or roof you have
- Fan duty that keeps tested face velocities
- Dosing and alarms through your BMS
- A clear service routine and reagent use on the datasheet
Fume cupboard scrubber specifications
Indicative ranges for our fume cupboard scrubbers. Your figures are calculated against your duty and issued on a datasheet before anything is built.
Related: packed tower scrubbers, acid fume scrubbers and how a wet scrubber works.
| Duty range | 200 – 3,000 m³/h (typically one to four cupboards) |
|---|---|
| Configuration | Vertical counter-current packed tower, integral sump |
| Body materials | Polypropylene as standard; PVDF or GRP where the duty needs it |
| Packing | Random polypropylene, 25–50 mm, depth set by duty |
| Scrubbing liquor | Water, dilute sodium hydroxide, or dilute acid for alkaline gases |
| Removal efficiency | 95%+ single stage on soluble acid gases; 99%+ two-stage |
| Pressure drop | Typically 300 – 800 Pa across the wetted bed |
| Mist elimination | Chevron or mesh pad, removable for cleaning |
| Instrumentation | pH, sump level, liquor flow proving, differential pressure |
| Interfaces | Volt-free alarm contacts and Modbus RTU/TCP to BMS |
From enquiry to a commissioned fume cupboard scrubber
Tell us about the lab
Four fields, plus the number of fume cupboards and the methods they run, if you have them.
Engineer reply in 4 hours
A process engineer, not a salesperson, comes back within 4 working hours and arranges a site survey if useful.
Sizing and quotation
Datasheet, general arrangement and price, in 10 working days.
Build, test, commission
Fabricated and wet-tested in the UK, installed and commissioned around your lab timetable.
Questions labs ask us
Will a scrubber reduce our face velocity?
Not if the fan is sized for it. The scrubber adds pressure drop to the extract, so we size the fan for the whole system and check face velocities at commissioning.
Can one fume cupboard scrubber serve several cupboards?
Yes, one to four cupboards per unit where the acids are compatible. Streams that must stay apart get their own scrubber.
What about perchloric acid?
Perchloric work needs a dedicated wash-down fume cupboard and extract. It is never connected to a shared scrubber, because perchlorate deposits can be shock-sensitive.
Where does the scrubber go?
Usually in an existing plant room or on the roof, close to the fan. We survey the route and the space before we quote.
Do you supply outside the UK?
Yes, across the UK and Europe. Equipment is UKCA and CE marked.
Tell us what your fume cupboards are used for
Send the acids, the number of cupboards and where a scrubber could go. We will tell you what will work, and what will not, before anyone talks about price.
Request a quoteEngineer reply within 4 working hours · hello@caldera-technologies.com