Modernization of Norwich Laboratories G. W. BENGERT The Norwich Pharmacal Co., Norwich, N. Y.
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hard, fume-resisting surface which is easy to clean and because of its light-reflective properties makes the laboratory much brighter than those laboratories using the usual white flat paint. The supporting columns have been made a part of the laboratory bench by designing equipment to fit around them. Individual bays have been made on both sides of the room, a portion of the space between columns serving as a center main aisle. The bays are U-shaped and contain a center work bench built about a column, two side work benches also built about columns, and two steel desks along the wall, or bottom portion of the U. Here the similarity to most laboratories ends and the novel features of this new laboratory start. Each bay has been separated from the next by plate glass which extends from the top of the side laboratory benches to within a few inches of the ceiling. Such plateglass dividers increase the amount of light received in the bay, give an effect of spaciousness, and allow privacy for conversation without completely shutting off each unit; yet each worker has the necessary isolation for efficient work. By not
HE new laboratories of the Norwich Pharmacal Co., which were opened in March of this year and are the finishingtouch to a complete plant-modernization program, are not only a marked improvement over the former laboratories of this company but present many features and innovations new to laboratory construction. The space now occupied by the laboratories was formerly the pill-coating department and is located on the third floor of a conventional brick factory building having an interior of exposed wooden beams and flooring and a double row of supporting pillars about 15 feet apart and 17 feet from the brick side walls. Yet in this typical factory setting there has evolved a modern, clean, well lighted laboratory. The first step in the modernization was to cover the side walls and supporting pillars with green marlite, a synthetic plastic board with a high reflective surface. The ceiling has been made flush by covering the beams with a cream-colored marlite. A modern ring reflector lighting system has been installed and sprinkling jets have been brought out a t necessary places, The use of this synthetic plastic board gives a
AFTER MODERNIZATION FIGURE 1. PILOTPLANT
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AR’ALYTICAL EDITION
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FIGURE 2. MODERKIZED LABORATORIES T o p . Looking towards front through plate-glass partitions, steel desk a t right. Center. General laboratory, plate-glass dividers a t left center, individual fume hoods, ,no reagent shelves. Bottom. Bacteriological leboratory. Long tube on ceiling is sterilizing lamp.
extending the plate glass t o the ceiling one air-conditioning outlet may serve a number of work spaces. Peg boards, glassware cabinets, etc., have been eliminated and all glass apparatus has its proper storage space in the specially designed steel benches. There are no drainboards or storage spaces on top of the work bench for dirty glassware. Each chemist stores his dirty utensils in a specially designed stainless steel tray which fits into one of the end drawers of the work bench. The drawer has been constructed so that
the face may be swung downward and the tray slipped out. All dirty apparatus is collected a t intervals and transported to a washing room. When clean, the apparatus is returned to the bench from which i t came. Reagent shelves, chemical storage shelves, etc., have also been eliminated. Reagents have been placed in specially designed wooden trays which are also stored in a bottom drawer of the work bench. For routine analytical procedures, reagents for each type of analysis are stored in separate
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trays and a t the beginning of each work day, or a t the beginning of each analysis, the proper tray is lifted out and put on the work space. As each analysis is completed the tray containing the reagents is put back into its proper space, The equipment was designed for each type of individual project. Although storage drawers and closets are conventional there are several unique features, such as waste receptacles which have been designed to fit underneath the sinks. Slits have been cut in the bench door in front of the receptacle and a small chute or neck leads to the waste pan, assuring proper disposal. Another feature is the constanttemperature closet housing the shaking mechanism which has been installed in the bottom end of the bench devoted to routine analytical procedures. Frogs used in biological tests have a specially designed storage tray in the pilot plant section of the laboratory. Temperatures in this tray are kept close to freezing in order to maintain these animals in their dormant state. Adjacent to the animal tray are two special units, one refrigerated in which preparations for sale in the colder sections of the world are tested, and one electrically heated for testing products shipped to tropical regions. The pilot plant is equipped with laboratory-size production equipment such as filter presses, pill-coating machines, dryers, Ea11 mills, fractionating apparatus, kettles, etc., and can duplicate any unit process used in manufacturing operations. Each chemist has a fume hood adjacent to his desk. Each fume hood has a permanent, recessed, stainless steel water bath with an alberene stone top, and service facilities for hot and cold water, air, vacuum, gas, and steam. Each hood has an individual exhaust fan and an outside control for the gas line. The bottom portion of the rear partition and the top or exhaust p3rt of the fume hoods are adjustable, thereby allowing a regulation of the draft space. For heavy gases the rear aperture could be made smaller, ensuring an increased velocity of incoming air. A11 benches, desks, and cabinets are of aluminum-painted steel. Cabinets have adjustable shelves and each stone table top has several small cone-shaped drains lined with stainless steel for use on condenser water lines, and two small steam baths served with low-pressure live steam. These baths are used to warm flasks of inflammable chemicals and solvents, thereby making unnecessary the use of oil and sand baths except where high temperatures are needed. A titration service area is located against the side wall of the bay devoted to routine analysis and with one exception partitions and superstructures have been eliminated. This exception is the bacteriological laboratory, which had to be separated from the main area, as the air is carefully filtered and sterilized. A sterilizing lamp can be seen in the picture of the bacteriological laboratory. As a matter of convenience the center main aisle serves t o separate the two activities of the laboratory, one side being devoted to control and analysis of raw and finished materials, the other to research, pilot plant, and bacteriological work. Expensive and infrequently used apparatus has been placed on the center aisle end of the benches. I n this manner equipment may be used without disturbing other workers and without requiring a special instrument room. A library and reading room are located a t the end of the laboratory area. A central main washing room and a chemical storage space serve the chemical as well as the company’s animal laboratories.
Acknowledgment FIGURE 3. LABORATORIES BEFORE MODERNIZATION Pilot,plant in center, bacteriological laboratory at bottom
The assistance of Francis Chilson, consulting engineer, in the modernization of the Norwich plant is gratefully acknowledged.
