INERT SOLUTIONS FOR NUCLEAR & HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENTS

Automatic safety responses ensure proven protection in hazardous environments.

Negative pressure glove box systems offer the highest levels of security for the handling and processing of nuclear and other hazardous materials. Inert offers glove box systems featuring automatic safety responses and are designed to the demanding standards of the nuclear industry. Inert delivers the ultimate in operator safety.

Proven Protection for Leak Safety and Pressure Relief

Glove boxes designed for the nuclear industry protect operators against accidental contact with hazardous materials and contamination of sensitive substances. When operating in negative pressure the glove box safety valve remains fully closed under normal use. In the event of an incident, the safety valve automatically fully opens, operating as an on-off valve versus a regulating valve. The safety valve is a proven technology with decades-long track record of safe operation in many international nuclear research centers including the European Joint Research Centre (JRC), IAEA Safeguards Analytical Laboratories and nuclear reprocessing plants such as Orano La Hague (France) and JNFL Rokkasho (Japan) to name a few.

The high reliability and safety provided by these negative pressure glove boxes makes them well suited for industrial, pharmaceutical, and medical applications. Use of both safety and regulating valves have been proven to operate efficiently to contain particles in nanotechnologies manufacturing as well reducing particle emissions in processes that require the use of fine powders.

The advantages of regulating and safety valves are multiple:

• They are directly synchronized with the negative glove box pressure which make them highly effective related to containment in case of incident.
• Negative pressure is maintained continuously with no need of manual adjustment.
• A minimum flow rate between of 0.5-1m/sec is maintained throughout an accidental opening, preventing environmental contamination risks.
• The safety valve function is purely mechanical with no need for an electrical connection.

More advantages:

• The air change rate of the glove box is adjustable at the time of commissioning and installation.
• A visual indicator is supplied on regulating valves to monitor the flow and the degree of filter clogging.
• Each valve is individually tested and subject to a tightness test complying class 2 ISO 10648-2 standards.
• Use of regulating valves eliminates large quantities of flow in comparison to constant ventilated enclosures.
• Safety valves are fully compatible with closed-loop inert glove boxes.
• A negative pressure of 10mbar (-1000Pa) at the exhaust duct/line is all that is needed to make the system work.
• Choice of 10 different safety flow rates to choose from; 50m3/h up to 500m3/h.

Inert Corp. highly recommend these safety components for ensuring the safe containment of hot cell processes when using nuclear and hazardous materials.

Regulating and safety valves may be delivered with new glove boxes as well as installed on existing ones.