Because sterility is essential in single-use process equipment, any component that can reduce the risks of equipment or process contamination is worth investigating. With aSure™ instrument fittings, users can maintain sterile barriers on equipment, decrease costs, simplify set-up, and improve the ergonomics of the equipment.
The Need for Reusable Fittings in Process Equipment
Hybrid single-use process equipment often contains disposable manifolds to direct fluidic materials in multiple directions. In many cases, pressure transducers must be installed onto these manifolds to monitor flow pressure and ensure that it does not exceed the intended design limitations of the system.
Pressure monitoring is often found in biopharmaceutical processing to monitor pressure drop (ΔP) across the inlet feed and retentate line in tangential flow filtration processes; This ensures safe process pressure ranges in order to protect critical filtration membranes.
Pressure monitoring is also commonly employed in chromatography column inlet or feed lines as overpressurization can damage resin flow paths during startup.
Scientists designing these single-use systems (SUS) typically default to proprietary pressure device systems that operate on their own electronic platforms. Because this class of single-use pressure device is available as an all-in-one package, it includes integrated semiconductors and metals.
This design presents two challenges: Keeping the system’s heavy metals in mind, how do you remediate the device once you are done with it? Secondly, when you integrate the sensor into your control scheme, how do you customize the proprietary system signal to work with your standard control package?
aSure™ fittings offer a solution.
What Do aSure™ Instrument Fittings Do?
aSure™ fittings ensure that a sterile barrier exists between complex sets of manifolds, minimizing the risk of contamination. This sterile barrier is fully maintained throughout the sterilization process.
The aSure™, which is not an electronic device, is an instrument fitting that provides a simple solution for systems designers who wish to re-use sanitary pressure instruments on their single-use system without compromising performance or practicality.
Additionally, as single-use process capacities increase, the aSure™ instrument program actually lowers unit costs because pressure instruments are purchased once and then reused. It provides a useful solution for seamlessly scaling up your process.
Unlike traditional single-use options, aSure™ fittings streamline electronic control wiring by eliminating e-waste through the use of standard 4-20 ma signal instruments from the device to the control panel.
The Benefits of aSure™ Instrument Fittings
aSure™ instrument fittings can significantly reduce the risk of contamination and improve processes in single-use fluid transfer applications. Some of their advantages include:
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Universal: aSure™ instrument fittings work with any 1.5” sanitary pressure instrument, ensuring ease of use across applications and industries.
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Sterile: By providing a sterile barrier between internal instrument components and external elements, the likelihood of contamination is significantly reduced.
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Non-restrictive: The design of aSure™ instrument fittings ensures that it will not cause interruptions or blockages in the flow path during single-use fluid transfer operations.
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No “dead legs”: aSure™ instrument fittings prevent the formation of dead legs where fluid can pool, decreasing the risk of corrosion or contamination in the process.
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Instrument re-use: Using aSure™ instrument fittings to protect instruments from contamination allows users to re-use their instruments, which can greatly lower operating costs.
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Safe disposal: Because aSure™ instrument fittings contain no electronics or metals, they can be easily and safely discarded without damaging the environment.
aSure™ instrument fittings offer other attractive features in addition to these benefits. The one-piece design, for example, contributes to easy installation, while gendered connections ensure that the single-use fittings will work with a wide range of fluid transfer equipment.
aSure™ instrument fittings are designed to meet the highest standards in the industry. The instrument fittings do not contain cement or solvents, and all materials involved in their construction are certified Animal Derived Component Free (ADCF).
They are also Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) compliant. In addition, all materials that come in contact with fluid meet USP Class VI <88> and FDA Title 21 CRF 177.1520 requirements. The manufacturing facility where aSure™ instrument fittings are made and packaged is rated as an ISO Class 7 (Class 10,000) environment.
When using single-use technology, aSure™ instrument fittings allow users to streamline their processes during fluid transfer procedures. Just as importantly, they drastically reduce the risk of contamination in single-use fluid transfer applications. Keep equipment sterile and organized with aSure™ instrument fittings, available from TBL Plastics.
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