Laboratory drying rack is a

pegboard Perforated hardboard is tempered hardboard which is pre-drilled with evenly spaced holes. The holes are used to accept pegs or hooks to support various items, and perforated hardboards are therefore used for purposes such as tool boards in worksh ...

for hanging and draining

glassware upTypical drinkware. This list of glassware includes drinking vessels (drinkware), tableware used to set a table for eating a meal and generally glass items such as vases, and glasses used in the catering industry. It does not include laboratory ...

in a

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratories are found in a variety of settings such as schools ...

. It is available in different varieties and sizes. It can be used for different materials of glassware in the laboratory room such as

funnels A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its constructi ...

pipettes A pipette (sometimes spelled as pipet) is a type of laboratory tool commonly used in chemistry and biology to transport a measured volume of liquid, often as a media dispenser. Pipettes come in several designs for various purposes with differing ...

, mixing balls, slides, bottle stoppers, tubing and so on.Lab Drying Racks. (2016). ''M2 Scientifics.'' Retrieved from: https://www.m2scientifics.com/100-lab-drying-racks In addition to that, the pegs on the drying rack are easily removable and replaceable in order to maintain the cleaning of the lab racks to avoid contamination with other apparatus used on the same rack. Any common laboratory needs to have at least two or three drying racks per lab.Mallapaty G.(2001). Equipment Requirements for a PHC Centre Laboratory. ''The Public Health Care Laboratory.'' Retrieved from: http://www.phclab.com/images/phc.pdf

Types

Laboratory drying rack can be mainly categorized into three major types including

stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

laboratory drying racks,

epoxy Epoxy is the family of basic components or Curing (chemistry), cured end products of epoxy Resin, resins. Epoxy resins, also known as polyepoxides, are a class of reactive prepolymers and polymers which contain epoxide groups. The epoxide fun ...

laboratory drying racks, and acrylic laboratory drying racks.

Stainless steel

Stainless steel laboratory drying rack, which is also known as a 'Mod-Rack' pegboard, is the drying rack made of stainless steel that uses to drain laboratory accessories. The examples of stainless steel laboratory drying rack are flask holders, soap dispensers, paper towel dispensers, glove box holders, drain shelves. Stainless steel pegboard installation is very easy and quick to set up with basic hand equipment's, and it does not damage the wall as mounting brackets and hardware are being used.

Epoxy

Epoxy laboratory drying racks are the most common type of drying rack that are used among university labs and science classrooms in many high schools. Epoxy drying racks are mounted directly to a wall or other solid structures which can be set up with basic hand tools and power tools. They are easily installed by using wall anchors and other strong fasteners due to their small weight. Typical installation is to drill holes, one at each corner, and to use the mounting points in order to fix it to the wall.

Acrylic

Acrylic laboratory drying racks give a unique feature that other pegboards cannot do. The clear acrylic is transparent, which means that it allows the light to pass through as well as brightening the working area. Acrylic pegboards are mostly in the place where there are no lights, or to be done in dim areas. Like epoxy pegboards, acrylic laboratory pegboards are also installed with basic tools and power tools in the same way. However, acrylic pegboards are made up of plastic, so it can be easily scratched as compared to the epoxy and the stainless steel drying rack.

Usage

Laboratory drying rack can contain and dry up various types of laboratory glassware such as beaker,

Erlenmeyer flask An Erlenmeyer flask, also known as a conical flask (British English) or a titration flask, is a type of laboratory flask with a flat bottom, a conical body, and a cylindrical neck. It is named after the German chemist Emil Erlenmeyer (1825–190 ...

volumetric flask A volumetric flask (measuring flask or graduated flask) is a piece of laboratory apparatus, a type of laboratory flask, calibrated to contain a precise volume at a certain temperature. Volumetric flasks are used for precise dilutions and prepar ...

, and

graduated cylinder A graduated cylinder, also known as a measuring cylinder or mixing cylinder, is a common piece of laboratory equipment used to measure the volume of a liquid. It has a narrow cylindrical shape. Each marked line on the graduated cylinder represent ...

. Laboratory drying rack is usually used to dry up the tube in the laboratory; for example, it can help in drying

test tube A test tube, also known as a culture tube or sample tube, is a common piece of laboratory glassware consisting of a finger-like length of glass or clear plastic tubing, open at the top and closed at the bottom. Test tubes are usually placed in s ...

boiling tube A test tube, also known as a culture tube or sample tube, is a common piece of laboratory glassware consisting of a finger-like length of glass or clear plastic tubing, open at the top and closed at the bottom. Test tubes are usually placed in s ...

, and

Thiele tube The Thiele tube, named after the German chemist Johannes Thiele, is a laboratory glassware designed to contain and heat an oil bath. Such a setup is commonly used in the determination of the melting point or boiling point of a substance. The ap ...

. In addition, laboratory drying rack can hold many types of

flask Flask may refer to: Container * Hip flask, a small container used to carry liquid * Laboratory flask, laboratory glassware for holding larger volumes than simple test tubes ** Erlenmeyer flask, a common laboratory flask with a flat bottom, a c ...

including round-bottomed flask, Florence flask, kjeldahl flask, pear-shaped flask, retort flask,

Schlenk flask A Schlenk flask, or Schlenk tube, is a reaction vessel typically used in air-sensitive chemistry, invented by Wilhelm Schlenk. It has a side arm fitted with a PTFE or ground glass stopcock, which allows the vessel to be evacuated or filled with ...

, Straus flask,

Buchner flask Buchner is a German surname. Notable people with this surname include the following: * Andreas Buchner (1776–1854), German historian * Annemarie Buchner (1924-2014), German Olympian * August Buchner (1591–1661), German influential Baroque po ...

, and Claisen flask. Moreover, laboratory drying rack can be used to drain other types of laboratory glassware as well. For instance, in terms of

funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its constructi ...

, it is used to dry up separating funnel,

dropping funnel A dropping funnel or addition funnel is a type of laboratory glassware used to transfer liquids. It is fitted with a stopcock which allows the flow to be controlled. Dropping funnels are useful for adding reagents slowly, i.e. drop-wise. This is d ...

filter funnel A filter funnel is a laboratory funnel used for separating solids from liquids via the laboratory process of filter (chemistry), filtering. In order to achieve this, a cone-like shaped piece of filter paper is usually folded into a cone and placed ...

, and

Thistle funnel A thistle tube is a piece of laboratory glassware consisting of a shaft of tube, with a reservoir and funnel-like section at the top. Thistle tubes are typically used by chemists to add liquid to an existing system or apparatus. Thistle funnels a ...

. Laboratory drying racks are preferable to the use of towels or compressed air, which can introduce fibers and impurities that can contaminate the solution.About Education. (2015). ''How to Clean Laboratory Glassware'' Retrieved from: http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistrylabexperiments/a/cleanglassware.htm It is a more economic approach, than using drying oven which is not that quantitatively clean.Glassware Care and Cleaning. (2016). ''University of Delaware Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry'' Retrieved from: http://www1.udel.edu/chem/GlassShop/GlasswareCare.htm It can dry up a lot of glassware in one rack, making it very compact and easy to use.

Additional images

File:Lab Drying Rack Yellow 1.jpg File:Lab Drying Rack.jpg File:Lab Drying Rack 2.jpg File:MUIC Lab Drying Rack 2.jpg File:Lab Drying Rack Yellow 2.jpg File:Lab Drying Rack Yellow 3.jpg File:Lab Drying Rack Yellow 5.jpg

References

{{Laboratory equipment Laboratory equipment