Research laboratories, design considerations

Laboratory Design Considerations. As a result of this effort, detailed safety design considerations can be developed to preclude the release of lethal concentrations of vapor CSM into the workplace. This will minimize the potential for death or serious injury to our research scientists. A summary of these requirements is shown in Appendix A. 

Control laboratories in the canned food industry are usually divorced from the research organization to a lesser degree than is the case in the chemical and allied industries. For this reason, a closer relationship exists between the problems of the control laboratory and the research laboratory. Although from a research standpoint this condition is often considered undesirable, it has considerable merit in the case of the canned food industry, in which production may be seasonal and often of rather short duration. The collection of control data in many instances may also serve for research purposes—for example, in the case of soil analyses, which may be correlated with agricultural research designed to improve crop yields. Because the variables which affect the quality of canned foods must usually be investigated rather extensively, and often over a period of more than one year, the application of statistical methods to data collected for control purposes can conceivably make a substantial contribution to a research program. 

Research laboratories are very unique facilities which require a great deal of preparation and coordination to produce a proper design. Much like the research that will be performed in the facility, each laboratory has specific needs and requirements. The primary considerations in the design of a research laboratory include the ventilation system, types of research and associated equipment, and safety and health of the work environment. Each of these primary consideration are of equal importance to the development of a successful design. 

The multiple functions of peptides in foods (antioxidants, antimicrobial agents, surfactants) and their role in the development of characteristic flavors (sweetness, bitterness), as well as the information they can provide about the genuineness of foods, make peptide analysis a necessity. Producers as well as government laboratories have considerable interest in the study of peptides, both for research purposes and for the control of raw materials and manufactured foods. For this reason, substantial attention is now being focused on the development of analytical techniques designed to separate, characterize, and quantify peptides. 

Architecture. Manned space stations are designed to be used as semipermanent habitats and laboratories. Therefore, they are roomier and have more advanced life-support systems and are technologically more complex than other space vehicles. The ISS exemplifies this design consideration It is 240 feet long and 356 feet wide, with more than 12,000 square feet of room in which to live and work. It is also modular, with solar arrays, pressurized living and research modules, connector nodes, storage modules, and other pieces all connected around a central truss system. Each piece of the ISS is launched into space (either aboard a shuttle craft or rocket) and locked into place. The last component of the ISS was scheduled to be added in 2011. 

Abstract Whereas much attention has been paid to the environmental aspects of the life cycle of fuel cell fuel production, emphasis is placed on fuel cell hardware and materials recovery, including component reuse, remanufacturing, materials recycling and energy recovery for fuel cell maintenance and retirement processes. Fuel cell hardware recycling is described and issues related to the recycling infrastructure and the compatibihty of fuel cell hardware and materials are discussed. The role of materials selection and recovery in the fuel cell hfe cycle is described. Future trends for fuel cells centered on voluntary and mandatory recovery and the movement of life cycle considerations from computational research laboratories to design complete the discussion. 

Of course, not every task lends itself to SOPs. Many jobs, especially in laboratories and workshops, will be singular, or may need to be done only occasionally. In these cases, there should be a mechanism for reviewing the proposed system of work before the job starts. One such mechanism is the permit to work. This is, essentially, a checklist of hazards, together with a system of authorization, to show that each hazard has been given proper consideration, and that appropriate counter-measures have been taken. An example of a permit is shown in Figure 1. Although this example was designed mainly for use in factories, it is used successfully by research laboratories, and forms a model which could be adapted easily for museum use. 

In recent years, a considerable amount of research and development on biodegradable polymer resins and the biocomposites has been performed in many research laboratories all over the world. At present, the major applications of biocomposites are in the automobile and construction sectors. With the development of high performance biocomposites, their applications will be extended to many more areas. Designing desirable biocomposite materials through optimal surface treatment or modification of natural fibers is a necessity from the engineering viewpoint. 

The radiation and temperature dependent mechanical properties of viscoelastic materials (modulus and loss) are of great interest throughout the plastics, polymer, and rubber from initial design to routine production. There are a number of laboratory research instruments are available to determine these properties. All these hardness tests conducted on polymeric materials involve the penetration of the sample under consideration by loaded spheres or other geometric shapes [1]. Most of these tests are to some extent arbitrary because the penetration of an indenter into viscoelastic material increases with time. For example, standard durometer test (the "Shore A") is widely used to measure the static "hardness" or resistance to indentation. However, it does not measure basic material properties, and its results depend on the specimen geometry (it is difficult to make available the identity of the initial position of the devices on cylinder or spherical surfaces while measuring) and test conditions, and some arbitrary time must be selected to compare different materials. 

The RC1 is an automated laboratory batch/semi-batch reactor for calorimetric studies which has proven precision. The calorimetric principle used and the physical design of the system are sound. The application of the RC1 extends from process safety assessments including calorimetric measurements, to chemical research, to process development, and to optimization. The ability of the RC1 to generate accurate and reproducible data under simulated plant scale operating conditions may result in considerably reduced testing time and fewer small scale pilot plant runs. 

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