edited by W. ROBERT BARNARD
Evergreen State College Olymp~a.Washungton 98501
Some Trends in Planning Chemical Laboratories, Part V Miscellaneous Trends in Building Materials
M. G . Mellon ~ h e r e ' h a v ebeen many changes and developments in materials used in various ways in chemical laboratories. Examples in concrete are the 76-ft long pre-cast exterior slabs a t the University of South Carolina, the 7 ft X 14 f t pre-cast unit slabs (eaih with a window opening) for the exterior walls a t the building for Chemical Abstracts Service, the pre-stressed T-beams a t the University of Virginia, and the slip-form construction of the research tower a t the University of Cincinnati. In steel, graphite-painted plates form the exterior walls at Duquesne University. Such items concern the interior planner chiefly when their use necessitates adjusting spaces and equipment to them. Of more concern are a few materials used in the interior. Tops for Laboratory De,sks and Tables. Whenever corrosive chemicals are used in a laboratory, there are likely to be problems in maintaining the tops of desks and tables in good condition. The ideal top seems still undiscovered. Chemists and equipment manufacturers have tried many materials. A few of these include soapstone, impregnated sandstone, pressed asbestos in cement (such as Transite), wood, and ceramic tile. Any of these will serve if used carefully. However, after 40 years of extensive experience with students, the author prefers soapstone (freeof calcite streaks). Even this material needs some care, especially to avoid having concentrated sulfuric acid (cleaning solution) or concentrated solutions of caustic stand on it. An interesting material is Pyroceram,' a glass product produced by Corning Glass Works. It should he very resistant, except for attack by hydrofluoric acid and possibly by fused mixtures used to solubilize silicate rocks. The near white color reduces the Iwel ut light needed. As it cannot hr cut or drilled after heat tn!dtnlent. one mttst he certntn that the specifkd i k e s fit the locations inrended. 'l'he Uniwriity of Ncl~ra%ka has an extensive installation. Drain Lines and Sinks. A chemical waste svstem must provide maintenance-free performance for 30 years and be able to handle advancine technoloev. -. It should he designed after careful consideration of the following in-service realities: in-service temperatures and thermal variations; expansion and contraction resulting from thermal variations; heat retention: corrosive attack: flammability; changes in layout; environmental considerations. For several decadks high silicon iron (such as Duriron) has been generally recommended for chemical drain lines. It is very satisfactor;. Now special glass (such as Pyrex) is being widely used for pipes and cup sinks. If the Teflon contact joints last, it should serve well. The outside diameter is less than iron and the joints are easily 194 1 Journal of Chemical Education
Figure 1. Polypropylene drain lines and sinks are used on the benches in the general chemistry laboratories at Texas AIM University. The plastic materials Were furnished by the R. G. Sloane Co.. Sun Valley. California.Desks and benches made by The American Desk Co., Taylor Div.. Taylor. Texas. made. Being probably more fragile than iron, some installations may need mechanical protection. Various kinds of plastic piping, e.g., polypropylene, are being used some. Unless one is sure of their durability in specific situations, use in difficult to access places should be avoided. Soapstone sinks have been popular. There should be no calcite streaks. The joints are possible sources of leaks. The sinks conform closely to specifications. Sinks of chemical stoneware are very resistant and withstand most roueh " usage. - Lareer sizes (30 in. X 42 in.. for example) may he warped some in firing. Forty years of experience with such sinks, having built-in lute traps, has been excellent. Avoidance of individual U-traps and their attendant vents saves much expense in materials and labor. Many recent installations employ plastic sinks (such as Durcon). Long experience is needed to demonstrate their general worth. They conform closely to specifications (Fig. 1). Protection of Metal Plumbing Fixtures. Laboratory equipment companies are likely to provide plumbing fixtures with nickel or chromium plating. Although originally attraclive, these platingi mqv qulcklv deterinrnte in the preience of corrosiw gases, such as hydrogen (hloride. Ilsed at the hark of hoods, the fixtures arc most subject tu attack. Unless one turns to the expensive noble metals, metallic platings are to he avoided in corrosive situations. Red brass fixtures mav be used and simnlv . "allow the not verv" ohiec" tionable discoloration to develop. Another ~ossibilitv, vet Droven satisfactorv- bv.. vears of . . not . . service, is the use of certain epoxy coatings. One product is under test a t Purdue. Maintenance
Academic chemical laboratories are well known for their
generally unkempt interior appearance. Messy and dirty nogenic chemicals, and high-speed centrifuges hoods. reaeent shelves overcrowded with bottles covered with Lecture and Classrooms dust and a-film of ammonium chloride, research lahoratories Like a porch on the usual type of house, lecture rooms, in aeneral disarrav, and attics littered with discarded and .. esoeciallv those having ca~acitiesof 250-500 students. involve unused items are common. It must be an uninviting sight to architectural proble&. Important considerations follow: (a) a ~ r o s ~ e c t i student ve who is neat and orderlv in his work. free of free-standing columns; (h) easy accessibility for stuT Oh a w I hings othmvis~:requires first arihinistrative indents from the outside and lecturer from the inside; (c) main terest and concern and then iinancisl suDDort for tan~turial .. traffic flow into the hack of the room rather than Dast the and other services. lecture table; (d) not underneath a laboratory liableto have Engineering service is the main concern here. Modern leaks from drain lines; (e) adjacent to a preparation room for lahoratories have extensive mechanical and electrical instalexperimental lectures; (f) provided with modern projection lations which require periodic attention and repair to keep and television facilities. them operative. It is inexcusable to install an expensive system Many lecture rooms represent attempts to meet these reof hoods, flues, and fans and then not clean them for 40 years. quirements. Actually they range from a fourth floor location I n the meantime uninformed professors complain that the (without an elevator) to a seoarate standine structure. The hoods are no good. latter type is exemplified a t the ~ n i v e r s g yof California Valves in steam. water, and other similar lines are nrone to (Berkeley). Especially interesting there is the revolving, cirgive trouble. Water and steam lines leak. Gas, oxygen, nitrogen cular platform. Each of the three 120° segments of the platand air lines mav stick, es~eciallvif infreauentlv used. form has a chalkboard and a lecture table with utility outlets Switt.hvs nnd uarning systems in elrcrric lines may not funceasily connectable to main lines. The preparation room, back tion ~ r o ~ e ror l y31 all. Must electric motors nnd (rthrr moving of the revolving platform, is arranged so that two of the segmachines need periodic lubrication and inspection for worn ments may be prepared for subsequent lectures while the third bearinps. is in use. All i f these things should have care. Preferably, in a large St. Andrews College (North Carolina) has another interlaboratory, there should be a maintenance division, with adesting example of a separate lecture room. (Fig. 2). At the equate personnel, equipment and systematic preventative University of California (Los Angeles) equally ready accessimaintenance programs backed by a reasonable parts invenbility is achieved by having three lecture rooms in line between tory. In smaller lahoratories probably reliance must he on the the chemistry and physics buildings. Direct entrances to each maintenance department of the institution, an arrangement are from a covered walk between the two buildings. unlikelv to be eenerallv satisfactorv. No eeneral trend toward The s h a ~ of e lecture rooms varies from sauare to a ratio of impro\.cmrnt ill this d i r w t ~ ms w m i e\.ident. A p p ~ r ~ m t l y about 3 5 f i r width to length. A good exampleof a square room huch researrh hudaets have littleconnectirmwith thecond~. is the one a t St. Andrews. The seating there is on five sides of tion of the laboratories in which the work is done. a non-symmetrical octagon, the general arrangement being Provisions for Safetv. For manv vears industrial lahorareminiscent of that in the Roval Institution in London. and tories were m&h more k e r t to, and better equipped for, safety of that in Eero Saarinen's hexagonal church in ~ o l u m h u s , than those in academic institutions. Dnrina recent decades. Indiana. however, academic chemists have greatly improved their sit: Occasionally one still finds a lecture room with the lecture uation. They know that explosions occur, fires start, poisonous table and chalkboard on the long side of a rectangular room. gases escape, dangerous chemicals are spilled, and glass is Students near the front and a t the side cannot see the hoard broken. well. Provision of means to avoid injuries and to prevent fires is a mark of well-designed lahoratories. This is only partly an architectural problem. A series of articles appearing in the Journal of Chemical Education from January 1964 through January 1970 deals with many details relating to safety. Edited by N. V. Steere, they have been combined in a twovolume set entitled "Safetv in the Chemical Laboratorv." A "Handbook of ~aboratory'Safety"is by the same author. Desien features to check include convenientlv Dlaced sprinkling and Halon" systems in chemical s t o r e a i d dis~ e n s i n arooms, smoke and fire detector svstems, and ort table hre extinguishers in the laboratories. ~ o o d are s available with volatile solvent storage in the base cabinet. Emeraencv . . kits, eye wash, nnd fin! t~lnnketsshw~ldhr in prominent places. Hall telephrmrs should he convenient and emergency numhrrs conspicuously posted. Safety showers should have drains and he set out of major traffic pathways. Local building codes cover items such as fire hose cabinets in the corridors. At the Evergreen State College an accessible clean-up room in each lab area has cartons of sand. sodium bicarbonate. neutral absorhant, mercury decontaminant, mop, and broom. Except for small areas (such as 100 ft2), all lahoratories subject to possible hazards should have easy means of escape. Preferablv there should be two doors so located that. if one is blocked; the other may he reached. If one opens into area usually locked, the door may have a crash panel for emergency use. At one institution each research laboratory has two such doors opening into the central service shaft. In some cases a ladder may have to serve, "Locked" windows should have Figure 2.General layout of lecture hall and labrxataries at St.Andrews College. special keys available in close by breakaway boxes. Laurenburg. North Carolina. A. G. Odell Jr. 8 Assoc.. of Chartme. N.C.. designed Special hazards include X-rays and radioactive isotopes, W e Science building. The general consultant was Stanton Leggett, of Engelhard. lasers, high-frequency and high-energy noise sources, carciEngelhardt and Leggelt. Purdy Station. N.Y. Volume 55, Number 4 March 1978 1 195
Checklist for Chemistry Classrooms Room Size (Seating Capacity)
Less than SO
50-150
General
rectangular
rectangular
rectangular or modified wedge
Layout
seats facing shorter wail
seats facing shorter wall
seats facing shorter wall
parallel rows
parallel rows side aisles optional center aisle (narrow1
parallel or semi-parallel rows wide side aisle9 narrower center aisle (one or morel
sloping or stepped flwrs 10, larger r w m
s loping or stepped floors
Feature
side aisles
Access
more than 150
+
+
high ceiling
high ceiling
fmnt and rear cart access to
rear for main traffic
rear for main traffic
earl access to lecture
emergency exists as needed
lecture areas
areas
can access to lecture area side exits optional as traffic pattern requires
Windows
none or A-V drapes
none or A-V drapes
none or A-V h a p , controlled from lecture area
Lighting
Fluorescent or (better) incandescent in rows switched parallel to front of room
directimai incandescent system onto writing lor note taking and onto blackboard
same as 50-150 seat room
switches near door and at lecture area
additional fluorescent system tor use during full illumination
lecture area spotlights optional
Switches near door and at lecture area. Ventilation
Seating
standerd
standard optional downdrafl hood on lecture bench
standard downdraft h w d on lecture bench
movable chairs
fixed chairs
same as 50-150 seat room or.
fixed tablet arms
fixed or movable tablet arms
better, flip-partition continuous writing tables
underseat b w k storage
under-seat book storage
with under-table storage sheif and fixed swivel seats
some I&-hand tablet arms
some lsn-hand tablet arms numbered seats
numbered seats
coat racks
coat racks
coat racks
\ W h i t s ten doors, on three sidcc, the lecture rmm at Duke l ~ designrd for rapid intcrchangr Univrrsitv is p a r t i r t l l ~ r well . of classes. Trends in providing equipment and facilities for instructional aids has been, and will be, discussed elsewhere. For example, W. R. Barnard, J. J. Lagowski, and Rod O'Connor described adapting and planning lecture rooms to use various teaching aids. [See J. CHEM. EDUC.,45,63 (1968)l. As classrooms usuallv hold about 25-35 students. there is little need for them in r&.earch areas. Because of traffic surges between successive classes. most such rooms in teachine areas should be located reasonibly close to an entrance b f the buildine. See the table for a checklist of features desirable in varions sized classrooms. Conference and Seminar Rooms. Most new laboratories with extensive research space have one or more rooms designed for conference or seminars. In a large department one of these should adjoin the office of the administrator. One such room on each floor of 30,000 ft2 is not excessive in a research buildine. ~ocaLionsvary with the plan of the building. Sizes usually are in the range 10-15ft. wide and 20-30ft long (200-450 ft2). In a few cases the larger sizes are arranged as a joint officeconference suite. Examoles are a t Cornell Universitv and the University of Florida. Library. A collection of chemical publications, selected for 196 / Journal of Chemical Education
the objectives of a given institution, is considered a necessity. Such collections include many thousands of volumes in large universities. If possible, chemists want the library within the chemistry building, in a central position, and not subject to water damage from a laboratory overhead. The architect must know this in order to provide adequate support for the heavy load of books. Increasingly departmental libraries are under administrative scrutiny. Central libraries are more efficient to operate and they prevent extensive duplication of expensive publications. Condensation of holdings at one institution recently decreased the number of subscriptions from twelve to five for Chemical Abstracts. Yet in a research-oriented institution this indispensable periodical should be easily available in any area wherein chemistry is important. A trend toward centralization may bring consolidation of related departmental libraries into a larger unit, such as the Science Library of Oxford University. Chemistry, physics, geosciences, biological sciences, and mathematics might form a science library, or the various engineering groups and mathematics an engineering library. The exponential growth in number and content of chemical publications necessitates careful planning of a library for inevitable expansion. Storage of many periodicals and patents in microform saves much space, although there is then in-
