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New products
Filtration+Separation October 2005
New batch of quality audit standards launched UK-based Malvern Instruments has introduced a batch of quality audit standards (QAS) for confirming the performance of its range of particle size analysers. This is believed to be the world’s largest ever batch of particle sizing standards, claims the company, and was commissioned from independent specialist company Whitehouse Scientific, based in Chester, UK, which designed and produced a new high-capacity spinning riffler specifically for the task. Starting with a master batch of 1000 kg of glass beads, with a size distribution of 13-130 µm, Whitehouse successfully split this bulk material through various riffling stages, into final lots of 2.5 g and 0.25 g single shot bottles. The standard deviation obtained from a comprehensive series of bottle-to-bottle particle size measurements was 0.2% to 0.3%. This means that the particle size distribution obtained
from one bottle to another is equal to that obtained from repeat measurements of a single well dispersed sample. A key requirement of a QAS is that it should be available in sufficient quantity to allow its widespread adoption and use for the longest time possible, hence the need for a large batch of starting material. Malvern’s first batch of standards, based on a 250 kg master batch, lasted for six years. It is estimated that the new 1000 kg master batch will provide standards until the year 2020 and beyond. A refinement of the standards is that they are now packed in shoulderless unbreakable bottles, which empty completely without retaining any sample residues. Malvern’s QAS are supplied in packs of ten one-shot bottles and come with measurement protocols, pass/fail criteria and certificates of conformance. www.malvern.co.uk
Cerafil – the most effectual TopKat emissions to air. The WID incorporates stringent limits for particulates, VOCs, dioxins and NOx – and all are handled by the new TopKat element. TopKat can be employed in new filtration plants, or retrofitted, delivering combined pollutant control in a treatment regime that can be much simplified compared with traditional alternatives, reports Madison. Madison Filters has introduced a new ceramic filter element – the Cerafil TopKat. According to the company, the element combines high filtration efficiency and temperature capability with an integral catalyst capable of removing dioxins and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) down to “extremely low levels”. NOx can also be treated, equally effectively, by the addition of ammonia or urea into the gas stream, upstream of the filter plant. New environmental legislation, such as the European Waste Incineration Directive (WID), is setting tough new standards for
TopKat has to date been applied to medical waste and meat waste incineration duties, where the company reports more than 99% dioxin removal was achieved along with 97.2% NOx removal at a NH3:NOx ratio of 0.98 – indicating almost “ideal” reactivity, claims Madison. The technology can reportedly be used in a broad range of incineration applications, as well as in other scenarios such as glass melting, metal smelting, power generation and chemicals production. www.cerafil.org
Pharma filter makes the grade Millipore has announced the availability of a new Millipore Express SHR (sterile highretention) filter, which provides sterilising-grade performance and mycoplasma removal across a range of applications including cell culture media and media additives, process intermediates and other biological fluids. According to the company, these filters deliver validated sterilising-grade filtration and reliable mycoplasma removal for enhanced sterility assurance, high flow rates for improved process efficiency and an on-board PES membrane prefilter for extended filter capacity and lower filtration costs. The sterilising-grade Express SHR 0.1 µm rated filters are available in a range of formats including membrane disks
(25 mm, 47 mm, 90 mm and 142 mm); cartridge filters ranging in size from 5 to 30 inches; OptiScale disposable scaling devices; and Opticap XL and XLT autoclavable or gammacompatible capsules. Millipore’s Express SHR devices are a part of the Millipore Express family of PES filters. www.millipore.com