University of California, Irvine



READ AND REVIEW ANY APPLICABLE MANUFACTURER/VENDOR SAFETY INFORMATION BEFORE DEVELOPING STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE AND PERFORMING WORK.

PI Name: Sergey Nizkorodov Date Modified: November 29, 2011

Name of Work Unit: Aerosol Photochemistry Group

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for

Gramatech Pneumonic Sealer with Temperature Control

|#1 |Scope of Work/Activity: Describe the experiment purpose/scope. |

| |Identify all apparatus that will be used, and associated requirements. |

| |List special equipment (X-ray generators, lasers, furnaces, etc.) that will be used for the project. |

| |Identify measurement and test equipment, apparatus operating conditions, |

| |Include process flow diagrams, pressures, and required maintenance procedures as appropriate. |

| | |

| |The system consists of: |

| |Sealer |

| |Foot control pedal |

| |Air line |

|#2 |Specific Safety and Environmental Hazards: State the specific hazard and consequences if procedure not followed to person, environment, or |

| |property. |

| |Although there are pressure controls that prevent accidental burns under normal operating conditions, one may get a body part clamped in the sealer|

| |and subsequently burned badly if sealer is operated when temperature control program is being edited. |

|#3 |Describe in detail how the hazards will be controlled. |

| | |

| |a. Identify the Engineering Controls (e.g. interlocks, shielding), Standard Operating Procedures, or Personal Protective Equipment (e.g. |

| |respirators, gloves;) that will be employed to reduce hazards to acceptable levels. |

| |Active engineering controls include: |

| |Pressure gauge – the sealer will not clamp unless a certain pressure is achieved as controlled from foot pedal. |

| | |

| |b. Address emergency shutdown procedures. |

| |If the sealer jaw is accidentally locked – turn off the sealer immediately with the red switch on the left hand side. |

|#4 |Designated Area: Indicate the designated area for performing this process in the laboratory. |

| |Table next to the first hood. |

| | |

|#5 |Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): State the personal protective equipment selected and required. Examples: safety spectacles, work gloves, |

| |respiratory protection, steel toe shoes. |

| |N/A |

|#6 |Important Steps to Follow: List the specific sequence staff should follow to avoid hazard. |

| |Refer to the directions provided at the end of this document. There is no manual. |

|#7 |Emergency First Aid Procedures: |

| |Describe immediate medical treatment required in case of personnel exposure. |

| |-Complete online incident report form at ehs.uci.edu |

| |In case of burns: |

| |Seek medical attention promptly. |

|#8 |Training & Competency Requirements: Describe necessary training and demonstration of competency for performing the hazardous operation. |

| |Everyone operating the sealer must: |

| |Read this SOP |

|#9 |Identify waste stream and disposition of unused stock of chemicals |

| |List concentrations and amounts of hazardous wastes or emissions and control measures. |

| |Additional guidelines regarding hazardous waste at : |

| |N/A. |

|#10 |Decontamination and spill clean-up procedures |

| |N/A. |

As the Principal Investigator, it is your responsibility to ensure that all individuals listed in this protocol is taught correct procedures for the safe handling of hazardous materials involved in this study. It is also your responsibility to assure that your personnel attend Lab Core Safety Training and other applicable safety training courses.

Both PI and all persons associated with the protocol must sign the following acknowledgement:

I have read, asked questions, and understand the hazards of and safe working procedures for the activity/materials described herein.

PI Signature: DATE

Other Personnel:

Name/ Signature DATE

Name/Signature DATE

Name/Signature DATE

Standard Operating Procedure for Gramatech Pneumonic Sealer with Temperature Control

Last updated on November 29, 2011

PPE required

1) Gloves, lab coat, lab glasses, closed shoes

Turning ON the Sealer:

1) Open the air line. The sealer is connected to an air line to provide pressure for the jaws. Open the air line by turning the round knob under the Parker FTIR Purge Gas Generator a quarter turn to the left. The jaws of the sealer should now open.

2) Switch the sealer to ON. On the left side of the sealer, there is an ON/OFF switch that will light up when the sealer is turned ON. Wait 20 minutes for the sealer to warm up.

3) Check the pressures. Next to the ON/OFF switch there are 2 pressure gauges. The “Low Pressure” should read between 25-30 psi and the “High Pressure” should read 90-100 psi. When the sealer is operating, the low pressure will drop to 20 psi and then rise to 30 psi if your hand or something else is not in the way – this is a safety mechanism.

4) Locate the foot pedal. The foot pedal controls the jaws of the sealer. Make sure you know where it is and don’t step on it accidentally.

Setting the Temperature and Time Controls:

1) Learn about the temperature settings. There are 2 temperatures you need to set: the Low Temp and the High Temp. When you press on the foot pedal, the jaw will start to clamp down, but it will not LOCK until the temperature is ABOVE the Low Temp. Let go of the foot pedal when the jaw locks. The temperature will then climb to the High Temp, hold for a specified amount of time, and decrease until it reaches the Low Temp, when the jaws will automatically open.

2) Set the “Hold Time.” As explained in (1), the hold time is how long the sealer will maintain the High Temp. This setting is on the far right of the sealer with the word “HEAT” underneath it. You can set it to X(.)X(.)X. Note where the decimal point is (bottom right with the word “Range” underneath). You can use a screw driver to adjust the decimal point to be after the first or second digit. Right now it’s after the first digit and the setting is 1.50 seconds. If the decimal point is after the second digit, the hold time will be 15.0 seconds!

3) Set the temperature. The temperature setting is just left of the time setting and it will have the word “TEMPERATURE” underneath. In theory, the lower the Low Temp is set the longer the material will have to cool slowly and the better your seal will be. But you don’t have all day – so in practice, a Low Temp of ~ 100-150 deg.C below the High Temp works great. To set the temperature, follow these steps:

a. Press the button labeled “Alarms” (which is effectively an ENTER button, with an enter sign on it). The numbers will be BLINKING, this allows you to set the temperature. DO NOT PUSH DOWN ON THE FOOT PEDAL WHEN THE TEMPERATURE CONTROL NUMBERS ARE BLINKING – THE JAW WILL LOCK INDEFINITELY! When the numbers are blinking the sealer overrides pressure/temp safety mechanism and if you have your hand in there, it will be stuck and the heating element will start to heat (with previous setting) and burn you. If you accidentally do this – turn off the machine by pushing OFF/ON button. Hopefully, you have only your plastic material in there. Your material will be burnt and there will probably be plastic on the Kaplon film…Clean it off.

b. The first set of blinking numbers will be the High Temp setting, use arrows (Up and Right) to punch in the numbers you want (See #4 for recommendations of settings). Then press Alarms/Enter.

c. The second set of blinking numbers will be the Low Temp setting, use arrows to punch in the numbers you want. Then press Alarms/Enter.

d. Check to see that the numbers are no longer blinking – they should no longer be blinking if you set it correctly.

4) Setting Recommendations. The sealer is made to seal up to 20 mil of Teflon material and probably double that for other plastics. I find that it seals 8 mil Teflon better than 4 mil so I fold over the Teflon film. Settings are High-Temp/Low-Temp/Hold Time

a. 2-ply Teflon (4 mil) – (280-300)/150/1.5 sec

b. 4-ply Teflon (8 mil) – (330-350)/190/1.5 sec

c. 8-ply Teflon (16 mil) – (380-420)/230/1.5 sec

d. 2-ply Seal-a-Meal plastic – 190/90/1.5 sec

Standard Operation:

1) Line up the Edge of the Teflon to be sealed to the Metal Heating Elements. Avoid the very edges (2 inches or so) of the heating element, which don’t heat as well as the center.

2) Press the Foot Petal. Make sure your hand is not in the jaw, press down on the foot pedal until temperature is higher than Low Temp, when the jaw locks, then let go. Wait for temperature to rise and fall until the Low Temp is reached. Make sure you are there to grab your material when the jaw opens.

3) Check the seal. Is it transparent and wide? If yes, this is the perfect seal, pat yourself on the back and proceed to #4. Does it look burnt? If it does, turn the High Temp down a couple tens of degrees (you don’t need to redo the burnt part). Try to rip it apart, does it rip? If it does, seal the same area again with a higher High Temp.

4) Repeat by lining up the right edge of the seal with the left edge of the metal heating element.

Turning OFF the Sealer:

1) Switch the sealer to OFF.

2) Turn off the air line. The jaw will remain open for a few minutes then close by itself. It’s okay to walk away now.

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