Diba's Torque Right fittings fluid-tight, every time

Hand tightening single use fittings is typically a guessing game; most specify "finger tight," a subjective measurement that varies by person and finger strength. Diba Industries' patent pending Torque Right™ fittings eliminate this process variable, assuring the torque required for a proper seal by providing objective feedback that desired torque has been achieved.  Accurately torqued fittings ensure tight fluid connections and consistent, leak-free processing.

The pre-assembled Torque Right fittings are designed with tabs on either side, scored to fold in when the fitting is seated with the right amount of torque. This visual indicator allows installers to hand tighten fittings without tools, torque specification, or guesswork. The ergonomic design results in less strain on installers and facilitates training.

When paired with Diba's Flared Tubing Assemblies, Torque Right fittings produce a continuous, fully swept Fluoropolymer fluid path with a consistent internal tubing diameter in sample, reagent, wash, waste and other types of lines. The tight connections provided greatly reduce or eliminate dead volumes and carryover problems. 

Torque Right fittings are available with a standard ¼-28 thread size in nine distinct colors for easy connection coding and identification. Custom configurations with Diba's Flared Tubing Assemblies are also available; customers may specify tubing material, inside diameter (I.D.) and outside diameter (O.D.) of up to 1/8".

Diba's DP3 probe polishing improves performance

Diba Industries has introduced a new service that delivers a highly polished inside diameter for stainless steel and other metallic probes used in IVD and scientific instruments. The proprietary DP3 technology leaves a highly passivated inside surface that ensures consistent fluid handling, with no degradation over time.

The process can polish the inside surface of a probe down to a 6 micron inch roughness. The resulting mirror-like surface reduces the microscopic pits where process fluids can build up in unpolished probes, minimizing the possibility of unwanted chemical interaction with potentially reactive materials. Applying DP3 to a probe reduces carryover by up to 75%, and increases throughput, while retaining the necessary flow characteristics for efficient system performance.

Highly polished probes save cycle time and reduce washing fluid costs. They can also expand testing capabilities by facilitating more sensitive testing and the ability to work with a wider range of chemicals. Because the DP3 process smoothes the existing metal surface, rather than adding a coating (such as fluoropolymer) which can flake over time, it is much more durable.

DP3 can be applied to Diba's complete line of aspirate/dispense, piercing, level sensing, and vented reagent and sample transfer probes.  Stainless steel or other metals can be selected to custom fit to any instrument manufacturer's specification. DP3 is available for probes with inside diameters as small as .016" in flush, or angle cut tip designs. Diba's technical staff is available to assist in specifying configurations suited to any application. 

Diba in profile
Diba, part of the multinational Halma technology group, provides custom engineered critical fluid handling components and services. Diba technology includes flared tubing assemblies, lined or coated aspirate dispense probes with level sensing, in-line heaters, and custom caps for reagent and waste bottles. Diba services include fluid system development, prototypes, preventive maintenance kits, and custom extrusion.

For further information view website: www.torque-right.com  or for further information on the probes, view website: www.dibaind.com  Refer to page 342

New software developed by two researchers can
help develop more environmentally friendly products

New software developed by two researchers can help develop more environmentally friendly products, as well as assessing chemicals for REACH. The new software toolkit is based on Hansen Solubility Parameters (HSP), effectively three numbers that can capture how a chemical behaves in relation to others. 

A typical environmental scenario would be: "How do I substitute a solvent with one that is safer, cheaper and with a lower environmental impact?" Without the newly developed toolkit, the answer to this question would entail a number of laborious data analyses. With the Hansen Solubility Parameter in Practice (HSPiP) package all this becomes possible. The package includes a full e-book to provide access to a host of practical examples showing this technique in practice plus a large dataset ready for use.

New software developed by two researchers can help develop more environmentally friendly products, as well as assessing chemicals for REACH.

Prof Abbott, one of the researchers behind this project, says: "Unlocking the full power of HSP will enable scientists to create products that are more environmentally friendly, for example, by developing better bioplastics and more efficient control of nano particles dispersion. In addition, thanks to HSPiP it is now possible to calculate an easy REACH "read-across" system to assess the health and environmental impact of a large range of chemicals."

The new software, developed by Dr Hansen and Prof Abbott, together with a full set of explanatory notes, video tutorials and the theory behind it, is available on line at: http://www.hansen-solubility.com/index.php?id=13

Molex iPass+™ High-Speed Channel (HSC)
pluggable CXP copper and optical interconnect system

Molex Incorporated (NASDAQ: MOLX and MOLXA) now offer the iPass+™ High-Speed Channel (HSC) pluggable CXP copper and optical interconnect system enabling 12 channels of 10 Gbps data, for up to 120 Gbps of total bandwidth. The iPass+ CXP provides both copper and optical direct attach options for the same system port, thereby increasing the flexibility of system-level hardware for end users. This innovative dual paddle-card system was adopted as the InfiniBand* Architecture Specification Vol. 2 Release 1.2.1; Annex A6 in September 2009.

The  new Molex iPass+™ High-Speed Channel (HSC).

 "Molex's first-to-market iPass+ HSC CXP system results in one of the fastest and highest-density I/Os on the market today," said Jay Neer, advanced technical market manager, industry standards, Molex Incorporated. "By leveraging Molex high-speed wafer technology with compliant pin tails, we were able to develop a higher density, 12-channel I/O connector system which meets the needs of the growing high performance and computer data centre market."
 
The unitary press-fit connector and cage assembly provides one-step placement to the host board and is offered in both single and stacked dual-port configurations. Molex CXP 12X direct attach copper cables are designed to accommodate single, ganged or stacked connector configurations in extremely high-density requirements. CXP passive copper cables are available in a variety of lengths.
 
Further, Molex is developing optical CXP solutions with AOC (active optical cables) pluggable optical module cable assemblies and loopbacks. Cabling options for CXP optical products include 24-fiber round OFNP (Optical Fibre Nonconductive Plenum) rated jackets in 3.8 and 5.4mm diameters filling both shorter rack-to-rack and longer riser cabling requirements. The round cable construction offers superior fibre management over traditional flat cables for connecting CXP ports.  CXP optical cable assemblies for pluggable transceiver applications utilize 24 fibre (12 transmit and 12 receive) high bandwidth OM3 cable using industry-standard MTP/MPO connectors. This design meets the InfiniBand bandwidth requirements for CXP modules for lengths up to 300m (984.25'). Products also include MTP/MPO-to-LC cable assemblies for connections to Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) or LC patch panels. MPO CXP Loopbacks feature a compact housing that loops optical TX to RX ports for testing, burn-in and field troubleshooting.
 
Molex's iPass+ HSC CXP system is the latest addition to the existing iPass product family. The iPass Interconnect System offers connectors and cables that enable flexible-speed compatibility for applications ranging from 1 to 10 Gbps and is an ideal solution for the growing high-performance computing and data centre markets.

For further information, view website: www.molex.com/product/qsfp+.html  Refer to page 340

Stratophase heads £1.2m project to develop
real-time high value liquid monitoring systems

Stratophase, a specialist in real-time biochemical measurement and detection, today announced at Pittcon that, as part of a consortium of companies, it is developing a cost-effective, multi-parametric, multi-point, in-line sensor system for high-value liquid production processes.  Utilising Stratophase's advanced SpectroSens optical microchip technology, this £1.2m project will initially tackle complex production processes, such as those associated with active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and butanol-based biofuels. Highly accurate, real-time and data-rich 'fingerprints' of the various manufacturing stages will be produced to enable tighter and more timely control, which will minimise waste and increase yields. 

Dr Richard Williams, CEO of Stratophase commented, "Our existing SpectroSens technology has already been successfully demonstrated in a range of different processes including fermentations and continuous flow reactions.  We are delighted to have the opportunity to build on this success with this new project."

Stratophase's patented SpectroSens technology provides an intrinsically safe, passive and spark-free system for the in-line monitoring of liquids throughout the complete manufacturing process. At present the technology monitors liquids based on measurements associated with temperature and refractive index.  This project aims to expand the SpectroSens technology, by focusing on developing additional measurement parameters such as spectroscopic information, particle content, pressure and viscosity, to provide multiple measurements at each point of the process.  This will enable real-time monitoring of key criteria, and employ Quality by Design (QBD) principles to fulfil Process Analytical Technology (PAT) requirements.  The data will be available at each stage of a process, making it simple to identify any potential problems as they occur, for more cost-effective production.

For further information, view website: www.stratophase.com  Refer to page 285