Telstar develops a new laboratory freeze dryer operating with natural gases

A new generation of environmentally friendly laboratory freeze dryers that operate with natural gases has been developed by Telstar. LyoQuest Arctic is an innovative bench-top laboratory freeze dryer that integrates pre-freezing, primary drying and secondary drying processes avoiding the use of conventional HFC or HFO cooling gases.

The new freeze-dryer, which operates with natural gases composed by R-170 (Ethane) & R-290 (Propane), guarantees the long-term compliance with increasingly restrictive International regulations (like F-gas). In fact, since 2015 high GWP (Global Warming Potential) gases are not allowed except for very low temperatures applications below -50ºC.  Due to this ban for non-critical applications the availability and use of the usual HFC gases will be compromised in the short term.

The global warming potential (GWP) of a gas is a value that measures global warming and, specifically, it measures the warming impact from the emission of one unit of a certain gas when compared to one unit of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is the reference gas and is thus assigned a value of 1. Natural gases integrated in LyoQuest Arctic provide Zero ODP (Ozone Depletion Potencial) besides very a low GWP (under 6) in contrast with higher than 3000 GWP of current HFC’s. Even the new HFOs gases under development to replace them have a GWP higher than 1500.

The new environmentally friendly freeze-dryer LyoQuest Arctic combines flexibility with performance into a single unit so that users can carry out complete cycles using different containers (vials, trays, ampoules, and flasks) with the same piece of equipment. In addition to being versatile, LyoQuest Arctic also enables users to create recipes that include time, temperature and vacuum control via its integrated PLC control system.  The innovative design of this freeze dryer results in an extremely compact unit with large condensation capacity  of up to 8 liters.  The freeze-dryer’s ice condenser includes an automatic defrosting function for quick and easy de-icing.  Furthermore, its design enables many product formats to be pre-frozen in the unit, without the need for an additional freezer.