Elma industrial ultrasonic baths

Camlab Ltd and ELMA have both been supplying the laboratory and industrial market for over 50 years. Since 1985 ELMA have striven to bring a solution for industrial ultrasonic cleaning that guarantees optimal results whatever the challenge.

Most industrial ultrasonic applications cannot be sufficiently satisfied using off-the-shelf solutions and consultation is an important part of the route to the optimum cleaning technique. Combining ELMA manufacturing expertise and our service capacity, Camlab can provide a unique customised solution from simple degreasing to complex surface preparation.

ELMA T1-H Series industrial ultrasonic baths provide optimum cleaning results.

The T1-H Series baths are normally available up to 180 litre capacity but Camlab can make any size required. Addition of the new Flex line allows semi or full automation of ultrasonic and rinse stages

Camlab's factory trained technical staff can work with company's to advise which bath and which solution will be most suitable for its application. Camlab already have a proven UK track record having placed a number of large industrial units in both major UK pharmaceutical and construction companies.

For further information on the ELMA industrial units, e-mail: mailbox@camlab.co.uk or view website: www.camlab.co.uk    Refer to page 278 

The weigh forward for process control

Aitken Scientific's software and hardware expertise is helping a major pharmaceutical company improve the efficiency of powder check-weighing during the manufacture of Dry Powder Inhalers. By introducing the new system, weighings are 30% faster while also meeting more rigorous health and safety requirements.

Aitken Scientific's check weighing system extends an existing software investment with new process control and a more robust weighing platform. A custom pneumatic lift-and-support mechanism was created by Aitken to protect the weighing balance while blister packs from the inhalers are pierced and the powder extracted, resulting in shorter recovery time between weighings. The increased throughput this provides also comes with a long-term cost saving, as the lift mechanism reduces stress on the balance during powder extraction, thus extending the time between maintenance cycles and reducing downtime.

The new system also introduces many improved safety features, such as an auto-locking cabinet and emergency stop capability, as well as providing integration with the dust extraction system on the product line. The whole system is accompanied by Aitken Scientific's fully traceable design documentation for both hardware and software, ensuring it meets Good Automated Manufacturing Practice (GAMP) standards and the stringent validation requirements of pharmaceutical manufacture.

For further information, e-mail: james.stirling@aitken-sci.com or view website: www.aitken-sci.com

Breakthrough in Nanoscale infrared spectroscopy technology

Anasys Instruments' highly innovative nanoIR™ platform, is a powerful new measurement tool that reveals the chemical composition of samples at the nanoscale.

"The goal of nanoIR technology is to overcome major barriers in AFM and conventional IR spectroscopy," explains Dr. Craig Prater, Anasys Instruments' chief technology officer. "AFM has outstanding resolution, but no ability to perform chemical spectroscopy. IR spectroscopy is a benchmark tool for chemical characterization, but lacks spatial resolution to address nanoscale problems. Anasys has focused on bridging these gaps."

Anasys Instruments co-founder and vice president of product development Kevin Kjoller adds, "In addition to revealing chemical composition, the nanoIR system provides high-resolution characterization of local topographic, mechanical, and thermal properties. We are excited about providing a new tool to help facilitate materials and life science research at the nanoscale."

The nanoIR system combines the nanoscale spatial resolution capabilities of atomic force microscopy (AFM) with infrared spectroscopy's ability to characterize and identify chemical species. Users of nanoIR technology can quickly survey regions of a sample via AFM and then rapidly acquire high-resolution chemical spectra at the selected regions. The system can also be programmed to automatically acquire spectra from an array of points across the sample. Mechanical and thermal properties, such as local thermal transitions, may also be mapped with nanoscale resolution.

"Infrared microspectroscopy has already proven itself extremely valuable for addressing a wide range of problems in science and industry," says Dr. Curtis Marcott, senior partner at Light Light Solutions and scientific advisor to Anasys Instruments. "I'm excited about the new technology from Anasys, as it will let us break through the submicron spatial resolution barrier and apply IR spectroscopy to new classes of problems beyond our current capabilities." Dr. Marcott is the president-elect of the Society of Applied Spectroscopy and a retired research fellow from Procter & Gamble.

Potential nanoIR application areas include polymer blends, multilayer films and laminates, organic defect analysis, tissue morphology and histology, subcellular spectroscopy, and organic photovoltaics. Polymer spectra acquired with the nanoIR system are rich, interpretable, and have demonstrated good correlation with bulk Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra. The nanoIR software allows researchers to export nanoscale IR absorption spectra to standard analysis packages. With this interface, nanoIR spectra can be used to rapidly analyze samples and identify specific chemical components.

The nanoIR system is the result of several million dollars of government and private investment. Anasys Instruments was awarded $2.6 million in research grants from the NIST Advanced Technology Program and the National Science Foundation. U.S. and foreign patents are pending.

Anasys Instruments Corporation in profile
Anasys Instruments Corporation was founded in 2005 by an experienced team of AFM industry pioneers and scientists with the goal of creating innovative analytic tools that enable a better understanding of structure, property, and function at the nanoscale. The Santa Barbara, California-based company has already pioneered two major award-winning technologies: nanoscale thermal analysis (nano-TA™) and transition temperature microscopy (TTM™). Popular Anasys products include the SThM™ and nano-TA2™ AFM modules as well as the award-winning VESTA™ local thermal analysis system.

For further information, e-mail: roshan@anasysinstruments.com or view website: www.anasysinstruments.com  Refer to page 286

Camlab now offers automated water analysis
solution for BOD by day and titration by night

Camlab, one of the UK's leading scientific suppliers and service/repair agents, has been appointed by Man-Tech Associates to represent and support the company's range of automated water quality analysers in the UK.

The PC-BOD™ system, which is designed to automate the 5- and 7-day BOD analysis method, simplifies the complex BOD measurement procedure required by many discharge consents to analyse the quality of wastewater.   The system is designed to automate dilution water, seed and inhibitor addition as well as rinsing procedures, critically the system simplifies the whole measurement process for BOD5._.

The PC-BOD™ system.

Featuring a durable autosampler, the PC-BOD™ system provides a range of rack configurations to suit the users sample requirements all designed around the standard 300ml BOD bottle.  The rinse pump, liquid level sensor control and BOD probe stirrer control are built in to a compact module.  The pumps are designed to deliver accurate volumes at a speed which ensures sample trays can be completed in reasonable time-scales, a liquid level sensor ensures that no samples are overloaded.  The PC-BOD™ oxygen measurement is delivered by a standard BOD probe allowing for easy replacement when required.

The PC-BOD™ enables laboratories to conform to regulatory Norms such as Standard Methods 5210B, 21st edition; Standard Methods 5210B, 20th edition; and DIN EN 1899-1.

Camlab can also configure a number of variants of the PC-BOD™ technology to address differing laboratory operating requirements.  The cost-effective PC-BOD™ Mini system, an 11 bottle capacity solution, is ideal for laboratories needing to prepare and analyse samples for BOD5 at a rate of five to 50 samples a day, for three, five or seven days per week.  The key element of all of the PC-BOD™ systems is the software used for the BOD calculation, the Man-tech BOD software offers a significant improvement on the built in calculation in many commercial dissolved oxygen meters.  The software and autosampler setup are seamlessly linked in one package on the control PC.

Offering a simple upgrade path, Man-Tech's PC-BOD/Titrate Duo™ enables laboratories to prepare and analyse samples for BOD5 then, with the simple change of a rack and probe holder, analyse different samples for pH, conductivity, alkalinity, turbidity and more.  The system allows organisations to carry out BOD sampling and titration with a single integrated system.  The PC-BOD/Titrate Duo is best suited for environmental laboratories with smaller to medium sized throughput.  The duo system can be purchased as an upgrade to an existing PC-BOD™ or PC-Titrate™ system, ensuring upgrade flexibility whatever the initial purchase.

David Miller, Business Development Manager of Camlab Ltd said: "Mantech's PC-BOD™ technology offers an automated BOD analysis solution that is not only simple to operate but is also scalable.  BOD measurement is inherently a complex procedure but Mantech's intuitive software capabilities help to simplify the overall process and make it possible to readily add an automated water quality analyser to the same sampler at a later date if and when required.  The degree of scalability makes the Mantech technology a highly cost-effective water quality analysis package.  The PC-BOD™ Mini is the perfect size for the smaller laboratory and offers an even quicker return on investment for laboratories that run only a few BOD samples per day."

For further information on the subject, and for technical articles, e-mail: mailbox@camlab.co.uk or view website: www.camlab.co.uk  Refer to page 304 

afm+, a new AFM platform from Anasys for analytical measurements

Anasys Instruments, the company that pioneered nanoscale thermal analysis and nanoscale IR spectroscopy using an AFM, has chosen the Fall 2011 MRS meeting to introduce a brand new, easy-to-use research and analysis tool. The afm+ is the first fully integrated AFM platform to offer three important analytical capabilities.

Using Anasys' proprietary thermal probe technology for Nanoscale Thermal Analysis (nano-TA), the afm+ allows the user to obtain transition temperatures on any local feature of a sample or to obtain a transition temperature map. It makes measurement of glass transition temperatures (Tg) and melting temperatures (Tm) a simple operation. This mode also includes Scanning Thermal Microscopy (SThM) which allows the user to map relative thermal conductivity and relative temperature differences across the sample.

Transition temperature microscopy (TTM™) is used to quantify and map thermal transitions in heterogeneous materials. Transition temperature microscopy (TTM) is a fully automated mode in which an array of nano-TA measurements is rapidly performed and each temperature ramp is automatically analyzed to determine the transition temperature.

Finally, the afm+ is fully upgradeable to perform nanoscale infrared spectroscopy for measuring and mapping chemical composition on the nanoscale. This technology enables point-and-click nanoscale IR spectroscopy that produces IR spectra that correlate to FTIR libraries. This makes chemical imaging on the nanoscale a reality. The upgrade options also include the ability to measure the mechanical properties of samples. Data may be collected using a contact resonance method to map stiffness variations simultaneously with the topography.

In summary, the afm+ is providing the basis for a multifunctional nanoscale measurement suite. The afm+ is fully upgradeable to the Anasys nanoIR system, a probe-based measurement tool that utilizes infrared spectroscopy to reveal chemical composition at the nanoscale. The nanoIR also provides high-resolution characterization of local topographic, mechanical, and thermal properties. Potential application areas span the realms of polymer science, materials science, and life science, including detailed studies of structure-property correlations.

For further information, e-mail: roshan@anasysinstruments.com or view website: www.anasysinstruments.com  Refer to page 286