Environmentally Friendly Circulators and Water Baths

Problem: In order to save money, many laboratories use improper equipment or environmentally unfriendly processes. This leads to questionable lab work, varying results, and lowered safety. Additionally, laboratories often fail to validate their equipment, allowing it to degrade until it fails due to age or because it cannot meet necessary parameters, such as temperature control. This equipment often gives results that are not reproducible and are more costly in the long run.

Solution: Circulators and water baths, such as the FL-300 recirculating cooler from Julabo, precisely control process temperature. Distillations, chromatography, and chemical reactions all require specific temperatures. In addition to maintaining a set temperature, there are concerns of uniformity in the container, safety, and cost saving concerns with dry ice or liquid N₂.

Often these applications use glass reactors and vessels, because of their chemical corrosion resistance and the need to observe the process. When glass is used, and often without any insulation, the quality and performance of the temperature control device is even more important due to the higher demand of heating and cooling.

Another area of concern is water conservation. From a simple rotary evaporator to a large laser system, many pieces of laboratory equipment are connected to tap water for cooling and temperature control. By using the proper equipment instead of just tap water, the water is in a self contained unit and circulated at the precise required temperature. In addition, overhead costs of water consumption and its drainage impact can be eliminated.

The FL-300 recirculating cooler from Julabo provides environmental- friendly cooling and saves tap water. The units are rapid, powerful, highly efficient, and offer short cool-down times. The units feature a bright LED temperature display that is clearly visible across the room. Designated models are water-cooled and thus operate almost noiselessly and offer reduced heat generation to the environment. The units feature warning and safety functions; all wetted parts are made of high quality stainless steel or plastic. Filling is rapidly and conveniently made on the front.

Circulators and water baths are used for many applications and should be used in any application where water conservation can be achieved. The cost of one of these products can often be recouped in one year! At the same time, they precisely control the temperature of a process.

Julabo offers a variety of circulators, baths, and chillers that can perform multiple operations at a defined temperature, pump fluid externally to a larger system or selfcontained system, or accurately control temperature sensor calibration.