Endocrine News takes a look at some of the latest chillers that will cool your samples as well as your lab’s operating costs.
An essential tool in the research laboratory, chillers serve as a reliable cooling circuit necessary for the applications of most labs. Environmental factors such as temperature can skew research results if there is even one degree of variation, and chillers help ensure the accuracy of an experiment or test. When chilling samples using cool water, a substantial quantity of tap water is required, which can be extremely wasteful.
Lab chillers provide an alternative, making laboratories more sustainable, not to mention, more cost effective. By eliminating the need for abundant quantities of fresh water to be used to cool samples, lab chillers can save tens of thousands of gallons of water each week which translates to a substantial sum of money.
Here, we round up some of the chillers on the market today that may increase accuracy, sustainability, and cost effectiveness in your lab.
DuraChill® Portable Chillers
The DuraChill Portable Chillers by Polyscience are said to provide stable and reliable cooling for many common heat removal applications, including laser etching, AA furnaces, ICP, rotary evaporators, vacuum systems, reaction vessels, plasma etching, and condenser cooling. Featuring a large, full-color touchscreen display with intuitive interface and support for five different languages, this chiller comes in a compact, portable design that takes up less floor space. Added benefits include DynamicFilter™, a self-cleaning filter system, liquid level monitoring to prevent pump failure, and user-adjustable temperature, pressure, and flow rate alarms.
Flow-through Chiller
The Flow-through Chiller by Huber USA is designed for simple, low demand cooling applications. This chiller is commonly used in combination with heating circulators to remove heat in order to cool a process back to room temperature. The Flow-through Chiller features compact, space-saving construction, strong housing with carrying grips, and uses an environmentally friendly natural refrigerant.
FX Industrial Chillers
The JULABO FX Industrial Chiller is used for countercooling of PRESTO® Highly Dynamic Temperature Control Systems or for general high capacity cooling applications with cooling capacities from 31 kW to 66 kW. The robust and durable instruments provide a functional design and can be operated outdoors in rain-protected installation. The Industrial Chiller can be optionally equipped with an extended ambient temperature range package for fluctuating or extreme ambient temperatures and working range extensions.
Benchtop Chiller Racks
The Labcon Benchtop Chiller works with 0.5, 0.65, 1.5, 1.7, and 2.0mL micro tubes. The Chiller should be frozen overnight, and after an hour, it should be at the defined chilling temperature appropriate for bench work. That temperature remains the same for up to four hours. This Benchtop Chiller is available in 0°C and -20°C temperature versions, holds 20 tubes, and is made of polycarbonate and thermal gel.
Globe Rapid Chiller
The Globe Scientific Rapid Chiller provides rapid cooling of up to 12 biological samples in 1.5-mL and 0.5-mL tubes. This Chiller will chill and re-chill samples for up to 45 minutes on the benchtop. The Rapid Chiller should be placed in a -20°C freezer for 24 hours before use and then will be ready to chill or freeze samples in just a few minutes. Featuring a printed grid for easy sample identification and non-skid feet to prevent sliding on the benchtop, the Rapid Chiller offers a mess-free alternative to dry ice solvent baths.
Ai Series Compact Recirculating Chillers
The Ai C15 series recirculating chiller has been called “the true thermostatic control laboratory chiller.” This closed laboratory chiller is ideal for applications such as cooling rotary evaporators, analytical instrumentation, laser etching, ICP, vacuum systems, plasma etching, and jacketed reactors. The system can also be used as a replacement to tap water cooling in laboratory applications. Featuring a microprocessor PID controller, this Chiller offers precise temperature control or cooling below ambient temperature.
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