Rotovaps and vacuum pumps outside of C1D2

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Im sorry if this question is stupid. I don’t usually ask to be spoon fed, but I have yet to get any good answers from the local Fire marshal or one of the local Engineering firms. If you think that this is too much to ask, I can delete the post.

  1. What safety measures need to be taken to safely rotovap pentane?

Does it need to be explosion proof and in a fume hood? Does my vacuum pump also need to be explosion proof?

How do other labs use a non-explosion proof rotovap, vacuum pump, and chiller outside of a C1D1 booth and not get shut down by the local fire marshal?

Thanks

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I’m no expert but NFPA 1 38.6.3 does not call call out an electrical hazard class for Flammable and Combustible Liquid Extraction (pentane) as it does in 38.6.2 for LPG. It technically doesn’t even need to be done in a hood if the ventilation system is in compliance with NFPA 91. This was enough to convince my inspector.

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Your rotovap should absolutely be explosion proof, however most vacuum pumps are not explosion proof but are rated to handle flammable vapors. They use these by having the pump in a non control area with plumbing going into the control room. Just keep in mind the outlet of the pump needs to be routed out of the building or back into that control room ideally into an exhaust vent as it will have a chance of vapors making it through.

Same applies to a chiller that runs your rotovap, most likely you wont find those in explosion proof but the chiller lines will be ran into the control room.

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One of the only vacuum pumps rated for pentane safely is vacuubrand vario.

Otherwise no vacuum pumps come explosion proof. They are all industry rated instead. Welch and similar cheaper models prob aren’t the best idea to use. Pentane will be fine with vacuubrand vario.

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The inspector here made me get a hood for ethanol in rotovaps, even though he was citing LPG codes. So it really depends on your inspector.

I tried to explain to him how ethanol is not LPG and he proceeded to explain how fire works to me and that the code applies to any flammable liquids.

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I guess I’m lucky we have a lot of distilleries around us. They have a better understanding of ethanol processing as a result.

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There’s a distillery 3 blocks up the road. Michigan is just pretty corrupt with it’s state/city/business dealings from my understanding. DM if you wanna know what the red tape was.

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The state of Michigan has never met a form of government corruption it’s government didn’t like.:man_shrugging:

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I had no idea you were up in MI killer job, busting into new territory!

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Indeed! We started full speed operation in August of last year.

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Ok, that makes sense for the pump and chiller.

Are there any benchtop explosion proof rotovaps that I can fit in a fume hood?

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You can start here: explosion proof 5L roto - Bing

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Take a look at this picture then think to yourself… What does a fume hood do best?

Does anything in that picture look explosion proof?
Have you ever seen a fume hood with explosion proof plugs? They usually have a standard outlet or 4 on the front outside of the hood.

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image3840×2160 914 KB

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Does anyone in Michigan have their non-lpg (etoh, pentane, etc) solvent handling/process equipment (reactors, rotos, etc) setup outside a hood?

I’m looking to setup a reactor and a roto in our lab without using a hood.

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You’re gonna need to talk to your local building inspector. They make the final call on that, in my case we were forced to put in a hood.

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Yeah they don’t know shit about it and defer to BFS, who also doesn’t know shit…

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You’re gonna want to try this then.

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You can get free access to all NFPA codes by navigating to the code and there should be a link for free access.

https://nfpa.org/Codes-and-Standards/All-Codes-and-Standards/Codes-and-Standards

NFPA 1 Chapter 38 is exclusively for cannabis

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Please let me know Bout red tape

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