UC Irvine Finkeldei Lab Renovation
This project includes the renovation of laboratory and student office space on three levels of Rowland Hall. Sarah Finkeldei, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, explores the interface between materials chemistry and nuclear chemistry to fabricate advanced nuclear fuel candidates, as well as potential nuclear waste forms. The lab equipment included furnaces, glove boxes, a scanning electron microscope, and both conventional fume hoods as well as radioisotope hoods. The challenge of this project was that the existing building laboratory exhaust system couldn’t handle the added static pressure that the filters in the radioisotope exhaust stream would impose. As a result, a new and entirely separate exhaust system had to be designed and installed for her eight radioisotope hoods. To properly design the exhaust stack, the team engaged a wind consultant to estimate the proper dispersal of this new source of fumes.