Pharmaceutical and biotechnology facilities use ultra-pure water as a cleaning agent and a diluent for multiple-dose injections as well as an ingredient in products. Water that is free of endotoxins, microbes and viruses is essential in these applications and others such as inhalation therapy products, internal irrigation therapy products and bulk preparation of medicines.
Maintaining hygienic, sterile and sanitary conditions within these processes is critical and contamination of the pure water must be avoided. Consequently, it is crucial that any flow sensor is constructed from clean materials to ensure the fluids being measured remain sterile.
For ultra-pure water dispensing applications, clean bore flow meters such as Titan’s Atrato® or Metraflow® ultrasonic in-line flowmeters are the devices of choice. Both the Atrato and Metraflow have no internal moving parts, relying on patented ultrasonic time of flight measurement to totalise the flow with excellent accuracy over wide flow ranges (0.002 to 20 litres / minute).
Neil Hannay, Senior R&D Engineer with Titan Enterprises, says: “Ultra-pure water can become easily contaminated by materials of construction, or atmosphere passing through tiny leaks or diffusing through thin wall polymer tubing used for flow measurement. PFA polymer was chosen specifically as an advanced tubing option for the Metraflow® as it offers excellent chemical inertness, is able to withstand damage by dangerous contaminants, prevents accumulation of particles and has an ultra-high grade of purity.”
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