One-piece fingertight fittings

Popular one-piece fingertight fittings

The original One-Piece Fingertight Fitting was introduced almost 30 years ago and is still one of the most popular fittings offered by Biotech Fluidics for making liquid chromatography fluid path connections of 1/16 inch OD tubing to standard 10-32 coned ports in HPLC instruments. This PEEK fitting (F-120) can hold up to 345 bar (5000 psi) and is convenient and very easy to use since the only tool it requires are your fingers to tighten the fitting into the receiving port. It is available in colours of natural, blue, black, green, red, and yellow. This fitting also comes in a longer version (F-130) which can be more suitable for instrument designs with alternative layouts but requiring similar performance.

In addition, Biotech Fluidics offers a similarly designed Ultra High-Performance version of the One-Piece Fingertight Fitting. This is called VHP PK One-Piece fitting (PK-120BLK) and can withstand temperatures up to 200 °C and pressures up to 827 bar (12 000 psi) thanks to a proprietary PEEK polymer blend. Note that this material may be conductive to electricity and should thus be used with caution in high voltage applications.

Many of the fittings are available in packs of 10 pieces, as indicated by “x” at the end of the product number. Browse our online catalogue from IDEX Health & Science LLC for more information about fittings or contact Biotech Fluidics for guidance and to discuss your application needs.

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Mobile Phase Inlet Filter Selection

 Eluent inlet filters prevents dust and other foreign particulate matters from entering the flow path of your liquid chromatography instrument. Such particles would otherwise eventually reach the column inlet, increase the system backpressure and might then also introduce radial flow heterogeneity which could affect peak shape.

Biotech Fluidics offers a range of competently designed inlet filters in different materials and porosities for a variety of solvents and requirements. All of these have a defined homogenous pore size to effectively block particles above a certain size, while letting the mobile phase through without significant pressure increase. The Bottom-of-the-Bottle™ design of these inlet filters make it possible to use mobile phases very efficiently down to the last few millimetres from the bottom of your eluent bottle. Replacement of inlet filters should be performed a couple of times per year and during the regular instrument service routines.

The patented stainless-steel Bottom-of-the-Bottle™ inlet filter features a replaceable filter cup in either 2 or 10 µm pore size that allows solvents to be drawn down to 3.2 mm (1/8 inch) from the bottle bottom. They allow flow rates up to 40 ml/min (10 µm filter) or 10 ml/min (2 µm filter) making it a trusted choice for many situations.

The all-PEEK Bottom-of-the-Bottle™ biocompatible inlet filters are equipped with a bottom withdrawal filter (2 or 10 µm pore size) allowing solvents to be used down to 2 mm (0.08 inch) from the bottom. These inert biocompatible are connected without any fittings and are available for a variety of tubing diameters, while allowing flow rates up to 30 ml/min. In addition, these inlet filter enables the connection of an optional auxiliary helium sparging line.

The inert and biocompatible UHMWPE Bottom-of-the-Bottle™ filter assembly comes with a replaceable filter cup and is an economic alternative enabling solvent withdrawal down to 2.5 mm (0.1 inch) from the bottom of your eluent bottle. These filters allow flow rates up to 5 ml/min although the hydrophobic filter material might require some surface wetting with organic solvents such as methanol or acetonitrile for optimum performance.

Biotech Fluidics also offers additional filters for liquid chromatography, HPLC and other equipment handling delicate fluids. Browse the online catalogue of IDEX Health & Science LLC for more information or contact Biotech Fluidics for guidance and to discuss your application needs.

BIOTECH REFRACTimaster

Biotech REFRACTimaster

New Refractive Index Detector

More robust, more sensitive, and more communicative. The new REFRACTi™ MASTER refractive index detector that will be launched by Biotech Fluidics at Analytica in Munich June 21-24 takes RI detection into the modern era of HPLC. The design is meeting all demands of classical liquid chromatography RI applications such as analysis of simple sugars and more complex carbohydrates. The detector can also be applied to HPLC quantification other molecules with poor UV absorbance including alcohols, fatty acids, and polymers.

The REFRACTi™ MASTER RI detector enables an unsurpassed cell temperature control range, from room temperature up to 80 °C, thus greatly facilitating use with highly viscous solvents such as isopropanol, dimethyl formamide (DMF), dimethyl acetate (DMAc) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO).

Stay tuned for more information!

Efficient Batch Degassing

What is the most efficient batch degassing?

The understanding how dissolved gases in HPLC and liquid chromatography can result in problems during detection and pumping is by no means new knowledge. Already 40 years ago, investigations were conducted about this issue while comparing means of solving it using the batch degassing methods available at the time.
It was manifested that bubbling eluents with a gas such as helium, having lower solubility in the mobile phase mixtures compared to the oxygen and nitrogen gases present, was a reasonably efficient way of removing dissolved gases. Almost as powerful was exposing the eluent to an external vacuum, although none of these methods could compare to the most efficient, but highly impractical arrangement of continuously refluxing the solvents. In contrast, especially considering todays rather widespread practice of ultrasonication, was that this approach was remarkably poor at removing dissolved gases from solvents.

“Ultrasonic degassing was
particularly disappointing”

The authors in one scientific paper even explicitly stated that “Ultrasonic degassing was particularly disappointing” after observing that this method only managed to remove one third of the dissolved gases. The citation above and the data on dissolved oxygen gas in methanol plotted in the figure below, were extracted from the scientific paper “Solvent degassing and other factors affecting liquid chromatographic detector stability” by Janet N. Brown et al., published in Journal of Chromatography 204 (1981) 115-122.
Contact Biotech Fluidics to learn how today’s efficient and convenient inline degassers can replace the outdated and ineffective practise of ultrasonication, thus eliminating the source of bubble formation in buffers and mobile phases utilised in HPLC and liquid chromatography.

Batch degassing graph

High-precision Dispensing

High-precision dispensing facilitated by effective degassing
Dissolved gasses present a challenge in most liquid handling situations since off-gassing and the resulting formation of bubbles typically leads to inaccurate results. This is especially troublesome in high-precision dispensing equipment, where exact volumes of chilled solutions must be distributed at high speed during long sequences. The presence of temperature gradients and pressure differences in these setups accelerates bubble formation, which immediately impacts volume accuracy to an unacceptable level. Dispensers are therefore often furnished with alarms that stop and divert the flow if bubbles are detected, which instantly has a negative impact on throughput and productivity.
The most efficient way to reduce formation of bubbles is to resolve the root cause of the problem by removing the excess of dissolved gasses. This is efficiently accomplished by an in-line degasser where a controlled vacuum withdraws dissolved gasses through a gas-permeable membrane that do not allow liquids to pass. The wide range of Biotech DEGASi® PLUS degassers offers flexibility since they are designed to meet several different requirements in terms of volumes, flow rates and solvent compatibility.
The number of daily bubble alarms during dispensing in a production machine carrying nine positive-displacement precision syringes was significantly reduced when the apparatus was equipped with two Biotech DEGASi® PLUS SEMI-PREP 6-channel degassing units. The average number of daily dispensing alarms decreased by nearly 80% when using a degasser and reached a level where this did not significantly disturb the productivity, as displayed in the figure below.

 

Biotech at Swedish LabDays

Biotech Fluidics at Swedish LabDays

Meet Biotech Fluidics in Stockholm 6-7 April during the Swedish LabDays 2022. Take the opportunity to see both brand new and well-known products, discuss with our experts in fluidic path design and degassing, or just stop by to say hello. We look forward to seeing you!

Click to Get your free ticket

Periodic table of fittings

Finding and selecting the best fitting for a particular fluid flow path design can be a tedious task. Which fittings can tolerate my pressure ratings? Which fittings have the right thread for my port design? Which fittings match the size of my tubing? Which fitting is available in my preferred material?

The Periodic Table of The Analytical Fittings can help you to answer all these questions. Download the high-resolution image and scrutinize it on your computer or print it in any size you prefer. Or contact Biotech Fluidics to get your free 70 x 100 cm hardcopy poster to hang on your laboratory wall.

If you rather have Biotech Fluidics assist with finding the best fitting for your application, you are most welcome to send an email or use the form below describing your requirements. We are always happy to help!

 

 

Learn more at: https://www.biotechfluidics.com/products/periodic-table-fittings/

MarvelXACT-Tight with a Click

MarvelXACT click

Reliable high-pressure connections every time

Reliable and reproducible fluid path connections is a fundamental requirement for meeting system suitability criteria in chemical analysis performed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC & UHPLC) equipment. Poor connections may lead to retention variability and decreased separation efficiency, thus ultimately determining if the analysis will satisfy regulatory demands including pharmacopoeia requirements, or instead fail. Since unreliable analytical results have no value at all and the samples then must be fully reprocessed, a poor fluid connection could even have impact on laboratory economy.

MarvelXACT achieves perfect leak-free fluid connections in HPLC & UHPLC by using a combination of innovative features. The pre-cut polished tube end seals efficiently and eliminates dead volumes. Moreover, the complete lack of any deforming ferrules ensures that the connection will fit to and can be moved between different port designs. Finally, the patented torque-limiting mechanism with “click” feedback ensures that every connection will have the same high performance. Built from sturdy, bioinert PEEK and stainless steel, the MarvelXACT fitting can be reconnected more than 100 times even at the most demanding positions such as column inlet.

In summary, MarvelXACT is the most cost-effective way to achieve perfect fluid column connection every time, thus increasing the probability that system suitability criteria can be met and that reliable analysis results can be delivered in a timely manner from your laboratory.

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Ralf Jutvik in memoriam

With sadness in our hearts, we inform that our dear colleague and friend Ralf Jutvik passed away during Christmas. Ralf had a quiet ending without pain and with his loved ones at his side. With astonishing 72 years in the field of analytical chemistry Ralf was truly unique. His exceptional and successful international career is almost impossible to summarize. With extraordinary enthusiasm, curiosity and leadership he started many new businesses around the world. During his 28 years at Perkin Elmer Ralf started offices in for example Moscow, Hongkong and China.

Most people start to slow down the pace when reaching their retirement age, but not Ralf. Instead, he began a new impressive journey as a serial entrepreneur in the life science field. Amongst his engagements Jour Research AB and SeQuant AB can be mentioned, both later sold to Valco and Merck, respectively. Ralf’s last major project was Biotech AB, which since the foundation 15 years ago has transformed from a small start-up to become an important global supplier of fluidic components to leading instrument manufacturers and distributors, with offices in the US and Japan and sales to 40 countries.

The Biotech Team, around the world, will miss Ralf’s enthusiasm, never-ending positivity and the warmness he always spread, even after his retirement in July this year, at an age of 95 years. In the spirit of Ralf, we will continue the journey.

Fritiof Pontén                             Anders Grahn
CEO, Biotech AB                        Chairman of the Board & Founder, Biotech AB

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

From all of us to all our clients,
partners and associates,
thank you for your
cooperation during 2021.
We wish you and your families a
Merry Christmas
and a
Happy New Year.
We look forward to a
continued successful 2022.

Stay safe and healthy.