11/11/2009Telstar vacuum technology reduces noise generation in laboratory freeze dryers

Telstar has developed new, low-noise vacuum pumps tailored to the vacuum and flow requirements of the LYOQUEST laboratory freeze dryers.

Within the entire range of vacuum which are achievable here on earth (from 10³ to 10^-10 mbar) Telstar has focused its efforts on ‘coarse' and ‘fine' vacuum; that regime understood to lie between approximately 10³ and 10^-2 mbar. The company is specialized in the production of oil-sealed rotary vane vacuum pumps.

Through their features and performance, these pumps can be used in: support, elevation, pneumatic transport, filtering, molding, sintering, manufacturing of light bulbs and fluorescent tubes, desiccation, dehydration, degassing, impregnation, thermal insulation, and evacuation of cooling circuits; the entire range of applications is too long to list here. They can also feature in processes which are well known in Telstar, such as freeze drying and leak detection.

During the development of the new Telstar LyoQuest laboratory model of freeze dryer, there arose the requirement to adapt one of the company's pumps to the new requirements, not just of vacuum and flow, but also of low noise generation and aesthetic compatibility. It was with this brief that the Telstar Vacuum division took on the challenge of addressing the requirements of the Telstar Life Sciences division. A technical group was established in order to make improvements on one of the existing models in production at the company. The chosen model was the 2G-6 pump, with a suction flow of 6 m3/h and an ultimate vacuum of 0.02 mbar.

After assessing various potential solutions, the decision was taken to introduce a micro-leak into the interstage of the pump; repeatability and reproducibility being verified by means of a considerable number of trials.  A reduction of more than 10 dB in the generated noise was confirmed (from 65 to 55 dB) without any significant loss in ultimate vacuum. To complete the development, some aesthetic modifications were made, including adoption of a color scheme which matches that of the LyoQuest unit in to provide a uniform appearance within the laboratory setting.

These improvements have already been implemented in all of the 2G-6 pumps produced; those for use in Telstar freeze dryers and those for general laboratory use.  In parallel, additional production checks have been introduced in order to fully guarantee quality and compliance with the requirements demanded by the market.

Converse to the thinking of Aristotle, according to which nature abhors a vacuum, Telstar has concentrated its efforts on developing vacuum technologies and on implementing improvements to its equipment to address the myriad of applications for this technology in the field of life sciences and the industrial sector in general. The extensive experience of Telstar Vacuum Solutions in terms of innovation, international teamwork and managing large-scale projects, has demonstrated a capability to successfully implement improvements to benefit each application so clients are provided with solutions which are truly tailor-made.