Chemistry LAb

Chemical fume hoods, when used properly, are one of the most reliable engineering controls in the laboratory. They protect workers by: Containing vapors, dusts, gases, and fumes generated within the hood, and removing them as air flows into the hood and then out via the laboratory exhaust system.

SOP For Maintenance

1. Keep the interior of the fume hood clean and tidy. Clean up any spills immediately.
2. Keep storage in the fume hood to a minimum. The hood should not be used as a storage area for chemicals nor should it be overloaded with unnecessary equipment and materials. The presence of these materials can seriously affect the airflow in the fume hood.
3. Do not use the fume hood as a waste disposal mechanism (e.g., for evaporation of chemicals). Refer to the Hazardous Wastes Procedures for instructions on waste disposal.
4. Never put your head inside a hood while operations are in progress and potential contaminants are being generated.
5. Use extreme caution with ignition sources inside a fume hood. Electrical receptacles or other spark sources shall not be placed inside the hood when flammable liquids or gases are present.
6. All equipment and materials should be placed at a minimum of six inches back from the face of the hood in order that these items not obstruct the movement of air into the hood.

1. To separate two miscible substances
2. To analyze the hydrodynamic properties of macromolecules
3. Removing fat from milk to produce skimmed milk
4. Separation of urine components and blood components in forensic and research laboratories
5. Aids in the separation of proteins using purification techniques such as salting out, e.g., ammonium sulfate precipitation.

SOP For Maintenance

1. Ensure that the instrument is clean and free from dust.
2. Ensure that all the knobs are in normal position.
3. Use non-breakable materials such as PP, PE, and the like; avoid glass tube.
4. Balance centrifuge tubes equally in order to maintain the proper balance. Ensure that the centrifuge tubes are balanced by mass not by volume, always weight your tubes with the caps.
5. If the centrifuge starts to wobble, shake, or make an odd noise turn the centrifuge off immediately.
6. Avoid spillage in the form of droplets.
7. Ensure that the lid of Centrifuge should not be opened during run.
8. Always use a centrifuge on a level and firm surface, never use a centrifuge on an uneven or slanted surface.
9. When centrifuging hazardous chemicals, use the centrifuge in a fume hood or glovebox. If the centrifuge cannot be used in a fume hood, the centrifuge tubes should have airtight caps and only be filled/opened in the fume hood.
10. Good maintenance and regular checks of the centrifuge, rotors, and equipment is necessary for ensuring safety and preventing system failure.

1. To measure the density of solid, liquid and viscous samples with accuracy and precision.
2. For weighing the solutions for sample preparation used in different kind of analysis and synthesis.

Sop For Maintenance

1. Before switching on the balance, make sure that the two circles of level indicator coincide. If not, adjust it with the help of leveling foot of the balance.
2. After switching on, ensure that the balance is stable and reading is zero before weighing.
3. Clean the balance and its surrounding after use by wiping it with ethanol.
4. Log book of balance should be updated (entry has to be done after use).
5. In case of balance is not working properly, put the sticker – “Under Maintenance” prominently on the balance.

1. To analyze whether the given substance is fluorescence active or not.
2. To analyze the presence of metal ions in a given solution.
3. The effect of pH and solvent composition in a substance is analyzed using fluorescence spectrophotometer which further leads to structural elucidation.
4. Used to determine the water quality by identifying the presence of pollutants.
5. Fluorescence spectroscopy is used in, among others, biochemical, medical, and chemical research fields for analyzing organic compounds

Sop For Maintenance

1. Before operation ensure that the instrument is clean and calibrated.
2. Before placing the cuvettes in the sample holder clean the outer surface of cuvettes with tissue paper.
3. Do not open sample compartment during initialization and operate the instrument after proper initialization.
4. Always keep all covers closed during measurement. If a cover is opened or removed during measurement, the safety function activates automatically and stops measurement. In this case, recover the instrument according to the displayed message.
5. After analysis is complete, do not leave the sample in the sample chamber.
6. Do not hold the cuvettes from its transparent optical surface.
7. When instrument is not in use switch off the instrument from mains.
8. Avoid any spillage of solution nearer to the instrument or if it happened the clean the area immediately.
9. Clean the cuvettes after every analysis, wash the cuvettes several time with purified water and then rinse with methanol or acetone and wipe with tissue paper, dry and store in the box.
10. Clean the Outer surface of instrument with isopropyl alcohol and then dry with lint free cloth.

The magnetic stirrers are also known as magnetic stir plates and quite commonly used for experiments in chemistry and biology. They are very useful when you need to mix component, either solids or liquids and get a homogeneous liquid mixture. Some of the common samples include bacterial growth media as well as buffer solutions. The main function of a stirrer is to agitate the liquid for speeding up the reactions or improving mixtures. A magnetic stirrer is often used with hot plates.

SOP for Maintenance

1. Instrument housing should be properly grounded to avoid accidents.
2. When unused for long periods, should cut off the power, store a dry and ventilated place.
3. The instrument should be kept clean and dry, prohibit the solution flows into the machine, to avoid damage to the machine, cut off the power when not working.
4. During mixing, when find stirrer is beating or non-stirring, reduce speed or disconnect the power to check whether the flat bottom of the beaker, location is positive.
5. Stirring heating time not too long, intermittent use can extend the life, not heated without stirring.
6. The medium-speed operation can continuously work for 8 hours, high-speed operation can continuously work for four hours, to prevent severe vibration during operation.

1. Cleaning the glass ware, lab instruments ensuring that no contaminants are left on glasswares and instrument surface from the previous process.
2. Dissolve and disperse samples.
3. Sono chemistry i.e., degassing the solution.
4. Degassing HPLC Samples.

SOP for Maintenance

1. Fill the Water bath with water up to height of minimum 7cm from bottom of tank. Whenever the Ultrasonic Water Bath is required with specific temperature then heater to be kept “ON”.
2. Ensure that there is no leakage of water from water bath.
3. Do not put any heavy objects on the bottom of the tank as it can damage the transducers. Always use tray supplied with ultrasonic bath.
4. Ensure that liquid does not splash on the controls and switches.
5. Ensure system is off and disconnect the power cable from the main socket before cleaning. Clean the water bath and replace the water on daily basis or as and when the water gets turbid.