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DE TESTING MOISTURE IN SLUDGE DEWATERING PLANT WITHIN MINUTES ...................... 3

CARbOLITE fURNACES PLAy kEy ROLE IN SAMPLE PREPARATION AT DIAMOND LIGHT SyNCHOTRON ......................................................................................... 3PCR ON NEW bREEDS Of HybRID TOMATO SEEDS ................................................................ 4NEW PRODUCTS ...........................................................................................................................5-7COMPANy NEWS ............................................................................................................................. 8

STIRRING INDIGENOUS ALGAE FOR BIO-DIESEL & OMEGA OIL

FREEZING CELLS AT BIGGEST BIOBANKING REPOSITORY IN AFRICA

The CSIR biosciences may well have found an unequivocally valuable and constructive use for particular strains of unassuming algae. Algae; a photosynthetic organism often regarded as a nuisance in dams and swimming pools, may well play a part in restructuring South Africa’s bio-diesel and Omega 3 production in the future if research goes according to plan. When Dheepak Maharajh, Senior Scientist from the Microalgae project ordered 24 Heidolph magnetic stirrers, Deborah Shaw from Labotec, decided to investigate.

bARC South Africa has a world-class biobanking repository facility designed to store more than 3 million clinical trial samples from across Africa in support of HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), a global collaboration of scientists committed to enable innovation in the management, treatment and cure of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Tb and diabetes. bARC SA is using Thermo Scientifics’ forma 8600 series -86°C ultra-low temperature freezers to store two-thirds of the samples. Labotec, the local forma suppliers have just supplied another three freezers to accommodate this growing facility, which has expansion plans in the pipeline. Deborah Shaw from Labotec investigates.

Bioprospecting: A National Search for the Perfect Algae Strain According to Dheepak, microal-gae have been identified as a second generation bio-diesel feedstock with an oil yield at least 10 times better than seed crops. For growth and lipid pro-duction, algae advantageously utilises environmental waste sub-strates such as CO2 and nitrate rich waste water, and since South Africa is a mega-biodi-verse country, with enough

Autumn Edition 2011

The BARC SA biobanking is a long- term s torage facili t y designed to meet the highest quality standards both in pre-serving sample integrity and

managing millions of samples for major international clinical trials. As new forms of scientific testing are developed, they can be applied to existing stored

cells to advance knowledge and innovation. By reanalysing existing cells in storage, valua-ble time and expenses are saved in the research process.

sunlight and a moderate climate, the algal team at CSIR has been actively bioprospecting for local high-lipid producing algal iso-lates for the past three years.

The yield of their sampling efforts around lagoons, rivers, beaches and dams delivered over 500 algae isolates. These organisms were taken through a screening process using a quali-tative microscopic assay to iden-tify the high-producing isolates. These isolates were further short-listed, and taken through further

semi-quantitative lipid assays where the isolate with the high-est lipid or fatty acid producing profile was finally selected for the project.

Micro Algae Innovation Projects The secondary micro algae research and evaluation phase star ted in 2010 where two very different innovation prod-ucts from this source were identified with the potential for commercial development.

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BARC is the centre hub where these cells are retrieved and fur-ther analysed, and where pro-cessing takes place.

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Each Heidolph stirrer plate is used for a separate experiment with its own light rig built around the algae containing flask. The algae content is stressed to determine the optimum fatty acid producing conditions.

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FREEZING CELLS AT BIGGEST BIOBANKING REPOSITORY IN AFRICA

STIRRING INDIGENOUS ALGAE FOR BIO-DIESEL & OMEGA OIL

“Just one of these frozen cells contained here could crack the code and unlock the secret to an HIV/AIDS cure”, says Rudi Visage, Manager of the Bio-banking repository.

Sample viability and integrity are of utmost importance, and all precautionary measures to adhere to world-class facility standards have been taken into consideration. Presently, clinical trial samples are kept in the -86°C Thermo Scientific Forma freezers and in Liquid Nitrogen Vapour phase (LN2).

Each Forma chest freezer from Labotec holds around 32 000 samples. Forma has patented their refrigeration system.This system improves temperature control for more consistant tem-perature cycling and increases reserve BTUH capacity, resulting

in a more stable sample tempera-ture. Forma freezers are also built for more product protection, such as 5” foamed polyurethane insulation and cam-actuated door compression. As conserva-tion of energy is critical for bio-banking, especially since temperatures in South Africa are over 20°C most of the year, the freezers are water cooled, allow-ing for direct heat exchange transfer from the condenser to the cooling towers. This water cooling system results in a direct electrical consumption saving of up to 40% compared with other facilities of equal size.

Of utmost impor tance to BARC SA is the freezers’ back-up operational system, including an additional water supply that ensures continual operation and functionality. Forma systems are

equipped with an array of alarms and real-time monitoring systems that step into place should a problem occur. SMS’s are sent to key personnel, which they have to acknowledge should any functional problems arise. Carbon dioxide cylinders are linked to each freezer, and should generator and substation power provision fail, these will maintain the temperature for an additional 24 hours. During this time, samples can be moved to backup freezers kept for this unlikely eventuality.

The renovations to provide extra space for this project are currently underway at BARC SA.

The viable production of bio-die-sel from algae, and secondly; the human supplement Omega 3.

Preliminary results demon-strated the significant potential to increase lipid potential through nutrient stress, as well as further physiological stress. For this pur-pose, various tests are performed on the 24 Heidolph magnetic stirrers from Labotec, which were selected for their durability

and long-lasting attributes. The magnetic stirrers all run concur-rently with each other, continu-ously operating between speeds of 100-1400 rpm. Round bot-tomed flasks are placed on the top plates ranging from 250ml to 10 litres each containing algae concentrates with various densities.

As the algae density increas-es, the project is scaled-up,

Rudi Visage, BARC SA Biobanking Manager, removes samples from the Forma ULT freezers for further

observation.

intercepted only by measure-ments to indicate oil quantities in a process using gas chroma-tography. The project is con-tinually tweaked, tested and observed with the aim to even-tually ascertain the optimum growing conditions.

Techno/economic feasibility – could it be profitable? A core focus of the Microalgae project is to bridge the gap between research and competi-tive commercial products that can be developed into viable resources in the future. As the search continues world-wide for alternates to fossil fuel, and while crop based feedstocks could become unsustainable in the long term due to arable land and water requirements, the chances are good that biodiesel from algae could have the potential to better supplement fossil fuels and have the desired negligible impact on food security. Future plans would be to develop a demonstration scale facility on one hectare of property to test for eco/business feasibility.

The second discovery and project; algae’s high content of CONTACT: KIRSTY COLLARD

CONTACT: ATHISHA RAMPERSAD

Omega 3 fatty acid as an alter-nate source to the usual and more expensive salmon fish oil etc is ingested as a human sup-plement. A lack of Omega 3 & 6 can result in Alzheimer’s dis-ease or blocked arteries. Omega 3 is known to assist cognitive learning potential and is an especially important fortified ingredient (Eicosapentanoic (EPA) acid) in infant formula. The body does not always pro-duce enough Omega 3 & 6 on its own for efficient healthy liv-ing, therefore creating a need for supplements.

Understanding the processThe quest for market related algae products is still underway, and it may take a few years until the CSIR Biosciences Microalgae team has comple ted this research project to their satisfac-tion, and closed the chasm between innovation research and possible commercialisation.

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CARBOLITE FURNACES PLAY KEY ROLE IN SAMPLE PREPARATION AT DIAMOND LIGhT SYNChOTRON

Diamond Light Source, the Uk’s national synchrotron facility in Oxfordshire, has taken delivery of seven Carbolite electric furnaces designed to provide researchers with a broad spectrum of high-quality thermal equipment for sample preparation and processing.

Diamond, the largest UK scien-tific investment for 40 years, is a third-generation light source with an electron beam energy of 3 Giga electron volts (three thou-sand million volts). At its heart is a circular vacuum chamber, half a kilometre in circumference, through which electrons travel at just below the speed of light. Passing the electrons through specially designed magnet arrays produces infra-red, ultra-violet and X-ray beams of exceptional

quality and brightness, which enable researchers to study the basic structure of many materials, down to the scale of molecules and atoms.

Within the doughnut-shaped building, 14 experimental sta-tions are currently located (known as beamlines) with eight more due for completion by 2012. The beamlines are support-ed by laboratories that provide researchers with comprehensive in-house facilities for performing cutting-edge experiments into a very wide range of fields, includ-ing health research, engineering, environmental science, sustain-able energy, cultural heritage and fundamental physics. Plans for a further ten beamlines are current-ly under review.

Carbolite furnaces have been previously supplied for sample

preparation and related activi-ties at the Synchrotron Radiation Source (SRS) at Daresbury, Cheshire. The equipment sup-plied by the company to Diamond Light Source includes a specially designed high-vacu-um tube furnace, four conven-tional tube furnaces and two chamber furnaces. Maximum operating temperatures are between 1200°C and 1500°C. These furnaces are mainly used for heat treatments commonly used for inducing structural and phase changes, which is essen-tial for material, engineering and environmental science. The tube furnaces allow additional species to be introduced or intercalated into the structure of materials, which can then be examined using X- ray diffraction.

New Dinosaur Species “Thunder-Thighs”

A new dinosaur species discovered from a quarry in Utah, US has been named Brontomerus or "thunder-thighs" because of the huge thigh muscles it would have had.

Wooly Thinkers

It now turns out that the humble (stupid) domestic sheep can pass a psychological test (discrimination learning, reversal learning and attentional set-shifting) that monkeys struggle with. Journal reference: PLoS One

TESTING MOISTURE IN SLUDGE DEWATERING PLANT WIThIN MINUTES

Huber Technology manufactures innovative, state-of-the-art equipment from stainless steel for municipal and industrial water and wastewater treatment. Their commitment over 175 years has resulted in over 25 000 installed centralised wastewater treatment plants worldwide. Huber South Africa, who are based in George, are using the Sartorius MA35 Moisture balance in their Sludge Department to determine the dried solid value of incoming dewatered sludge to improve efficiency and optimise the sludge dewatering plant. Its fast analysis time, combined with exceptionally high accuracy, enables the company to reach increased demands on effective process monitoring.

MA35 is used as a mobile lab and values are obtained quickly, which enables them to make adjustments to the plant while commissioning. The Sartorius MA35 takes less than two min-utes to complete moisture analy-sis of a sample. Operating on a loss-on-drying method, this means that moisture content is calculated on weight loss as the sample is dried. Certain advan-tages of using moisture balances above traditional methods are apparent, for instance, the old method of using a vacuum dry-ing oven could take up to four

hours to measure moisture. With the MA35, end point deter-mination is fully automatic as the measurement stops when the sample reaches a constant weight. A built-in weighing sys-tem provides the measurement accuracy of around 0.2% for samples under 5g, and 0.05% for samples greater than 5g.

The water content is very important in the sludge treat-ment process as it determines the sludge volume, and hence its feasibility and cost of transporta-tion and disposal. Huber offers a complete chain of sludge

CONTACT: LYLE HANEKOM

CONTACT: SONJA STRYDOM

treatment processes from screen-ing and dewatering to drying.

Their focus remains on devel-oping new techniques to con-serve one of our most valuable resources; water, and to main-tain reliability at wastewater treatment plants.

For a demonstration or free analysis on the Sartorius MA35 Moisture balance you can email sonjas@labotec.co.za.

The vacuum tube furnace has sil-icon carbide heating elements which provide a maximum oper-ating temperature of 1500°C, with control provided by a Carbolite 301 PID instrument that allows temperature ramp rates and dwell periods to be pre-set for different procedures. Samples are held in a 50mm diameter 450mm long work tube. Reliable vacuum perfor-mance is achieved by means of a rotary vane roughing pump combined with a high-vacuum oil diffusion pump. Models with a turbo-molecular high-vacuum pump and fully oil-free roughing pump are also available from Carbolite.

Fritz Stammer at Huber Technology with the Sartorius Moisture analyser,

which is used as a mobile lab to make adjustments to the plant while

commissioning

In the past, Huber SA outsourced the dried solid samples and had to wait for the results. Now, the

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PCR ON NEW BREEDS OF hYBRID TOMATO SEEDS

The new tomato varieties for local and international markets need to be disease-resistant, taking into consideration the climate and environmental conditions of the area they are to be grown. The tomato varieties developed there-fore need to be disease tolerant and resistant against bacterial, viral or fungal infection. In addi-tion, the taste and other pheno-typic characteristics are also important such as yield, hot set, cold set, fruit size uniformity and color. For these reasons, testing takes place on a molecular level.

During research and develop-ment at Sakata, plants are infected with the relevant disease and the seedlings are grown and symp-tom expression is observed.

To speed up the process marker, assisted selection is used using P C R ( Po l y m e r a s e C h a in Reaction). The Esco thermal cycler is firstly used for the rep-lication of this small, unique seg-ment of the resistant gene, and secondly, to check for hybrid purity for quality and control purposes.

The Esco thermal cycler offers 5 interchangeable blocks to meet the requirements for Gradient PCR, Touchdown, High Throughput and in Situ PCR. To meet the expectations that Sakata biotechnology require for nucleic acid synthe-sis, this cycler had to have rapid heating/cooling rates, tempera-ture uniformit y of 0.2°C,

Sakata Vegenetics RSA (Pty) Ltd is breeding tomato varieties for the South African and European market. They form part of Sakata Seed Corporation Global, a company established in 1915 that today turns over 30 million Euros a year. Their location in the Cradle of Mankind north of Johannesburg seems apt, since it is here that varieties are developed and the research is performed to develop new hybrid tomato plants. To facilitate the increase in operations within the biotech and pathology laboratory, Sakata has acquired a new Esco SwiftmaxPro Thermal Cycler, which was supplied by Labotec.

96 wells, and a large internal memory for protocols.

As Sakata’s breeding activities are focused on an extensive tomato program, once the variety has been developed, the hybrids are grown in selected zones around the country and abroad to ensure that the varieties are well suited and adaptable for the local and European markets. Should the pre-commercial trialing be successful, the seeds are pro-duced and supplied to the pre-identified markets, and a new breed of tomatoes can flourish.

Labotec was recently awarded a sales permit from National Regulatory for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) for their six foot Esco Airstream biological Safety Cabinet.

model, the only difference being the size. The Airstream from Esco is heralded as the indus-try’s most ef ficient Class II cabinet.

NRCS SALES PERMIT FOR SECOND ESCO/LABOTEC BIOLOGICAL SAFETY CABINET

This follows the permit issued for the four foot Esco Airstream Biological Safety in May 2009, which was the first BSC in the country to receive a sales permit in terms of section 14(4) of the N a t i o n a l R e g u l a t o r f o r Compulsory Specifications Act, 2008 (Act no.5 of 2008). The six foot cabinet has exactly the same features as the four foot CONTACT: ATHISHA RAMPERSAD

CONTACT: ATHISHA RAMPERSAD

First Playstation Phone

Sony Ericsson has unveiled the first smartphone certified for PlayStation with a slide-out control pad delivering 3D-capable mobile gaming.

Enough Food for Africa

A new book, The New Harvest, by Calestous Juma, claims Africa could feed itself within a generation, and become a major agricultural exporter. The findings were recently presented to African leaders in Tanzania.

Van Gogh Painting Mystery Solved

An X-ray beam of microscopic dimensions has revealed a complex chemical reaction taking place in the thin layer where the paint meets the varnish, turning bright yellow shades into brown. The results suggest the works need to be shielded from UV and sunlight. Analytical Chemistry journal

Debbie Carmichael at Sakata Vegenetics checks for hybrid purity for

quality and control purposes using Esco's SwiftmaxPro Thermal Cyler.

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EMBEDDING WORKSTATION

Implen have launched a new photometer called Pearl that starts measuring immediately after switching it on, and then takes 3.5 seconds to measure any nucleic acids, proteins and peptides in ultra low sample volumes from 200nm to 950nm.

Thermo Scientific has introduced HistoStar, a new ultra illuminated, ergonomic and efficient embedding workstation. This innovative workstation was specifically designed to improve the users experience after information gathered in an extensive study conducted across the critical work surfaces of 47 embedding centers in the USA. The study found that a surprising number, almost 70% of the pathology laboratories, had inadequate or uneven lighting on the critical work surfaces at the specimen area affecting focus and visual effort.

IhC AUTOSTAINER AVAILABLE

VOYAGER ELECTRONIC PIPETTES

system, antibodies and protocols that meet their laboratories needs. Windows TM based pro-gramming makes it easy, and for quality control the system offers pre-run reagent volume tests, monitors lot numbers and expi-ration dates, and stores/prints detailed reports for every run. Dual bar coding verifies that the correct test is being performed.

The Autostainer 360 stains up to 36 slides, Autostainer 480 up to 48 slides, and Autostainer 720 will run up to 84 slides on any of the four modules. These models display all four program modules separately, and the user can choose their own reagent CONTACT: SUE McVICAR

Thermo Scientific has introduced ultimate flexibility and maximum productivity for the user with its new modular IHC Autostainer that individually stains either 36, 48 or 84 slides in one run on any combination of 4 modules. Several runs can be programmed per day on an advanced timer function, which means true hands-free, walk-away or overnight operation.

CONTACT: SAMPIE J VAN VUUREN

CONTACT: KIRSTY COLLARD

CONTACT: SUE McVICAR

The new Thermo HistoStar achieves five times brighter work surface lighting with no shadows or dark spots. A prop-erly illuminated workspace reduces fatigue and minimizes errors, taking less bench space without the need for additional clutter of remote lamps. Its light-ing intensity is easily adjustable with five levels of illumination. In addition, the HistoStar is the only workstation with a heated wax trimmer built directly into the workspace that removes excess paraffin at the embed-ding station, and eliminates wax scraping at the microtome.

Since the optics are sealed, the unit has no moving parts thus saving on any costly calibration, and the patented sample com-pression technology means that only 0.3µL of sample volume is needed.

Pearl allows for mobile opera-tion via an optional built-in printer, SD-RAM card, USB or Bluetooth. The automatic sam-ple dilution of 1:5; 1:10; 1:50, 1:100, 1:250 ensures no dilution errors with minimal hands-on time.

Voyager incorporates a small motor that moves the center-to-center tip spacing quickly and smoothly at any point in a protocol, all with one hand. Users can preset up to three distinct tip spacings to accommodate almost any lab-ware vessels from culture and assay plates to tube racks etc.

All Voyager pipettors share the same easy-to-use Touch Wheel™ controller from the award winning Viaflo® pipettors, with intuitive pro-gramming and the industry’s first full-colour display. Also, all Voyager pipettors are designed to utilize Viaflo Griptips. As a result, pipette tips will never fall off while pipetting.

Integra biosciences has recently introduced the revolutionary Voyager™ adjustable spacing pipettor, which features a mechanism that alters tip spacing at the touch of a button. So, with one hand, tip spacing can be adjusted from 4.5mm to 19.5mm using the 4, 6, 8 or 12 channel.

Fall of Roman EmpireLinked to Climate Shift

A detailed record of 2500 years of European climate using 9000 samples of tree rings has uncovered several links between changing climate and the rise and fall of civilisations.

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The new Hettich EbA270 is a small centrifuge with 6-place swing -out rotor specially designed for medical practices or laboratories with smaller volume centrifugation needs. Even though this centrifuge is small , it delivers optimal separation results comparable with any large centrifuge.

W T W h a v e i n t r o d u c e d Spectroflex for the VIS and UV.VIS range 190 – 1100nm. besides innovative optics and in tu i t ive ope ra t ion , the instrument offers the unique combination of systematic and spectral analytics and supports Analytical Quality Assurance ( AQA) fo r check ing the instrument and individual routine measurements.

the M-Prove, M-Power, or M-Pact, they stretch from the compact, portable precision balances for the natural sciences, to high resolution

CENTRIFUGE FOR SMALL VOLUMES

FLEXIBLE PhOTOMETER BALANCES WIThOUT ThE FRILLS

cuvette recognition. Reagent test kits are available from A to Z.

Other features include the 3 interfaces; USB-A for printer, barcode reader, USB stick and PC connection and a RS 232 interface.

analy t ica l ba lances with automatic calibration (60g up to 10kg).

The design has focused only on the essential features needed to ensure quick, fast measuring results, which makes it easy enough to handle for even a first-time user. Features of the M-series are the weighing range up to 10 000g, with choices of resolutions up to 0.1mg or 1 mg, battery operation, stack-ability, compact design or large

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weighing platforms, external calibration or automatic inter-nal calibration.

CONTACT: SONJA STRYDOM

CONTACT: ATHISHA RAMPERSAD

CONTACT: KIRSTY COLLARD

Sartorius has launched the new M-Class balances. This range focuses on the essential must-haves, but still has the capability to cater for everyone. Choose a range suitable for your need; from

The EBA 270 accepts common blood collection and urine tubes up to a volume of 15ml and accelerates them to a maximum speed of 4,000 min-1. This cor-responds to a RCF of 2,254.

The centrifuge’s speed and running time can be variably adjusted for different applica-tions. A pulse key enables short centrifuging. In addition, the EBA 270 features lid locking and holding, imbalance switch-off,

SpectroFlex is suitable for waste water analytics, drinking and general water analytics, environ-mental monitoring, beverage, wine and food industries. Routine measurements are sup-ported by more than 150 meth-ods with bar code and automatic

They are supplied with the Ross ultra electrode, both of which offer an unbeatable warranty period. The range can be spe-cif ically matched to your requirements, whether for a basic value priced pH meter, or for a variety of pH measure-ments for water, media, or pro-cess water, a specific package can be tailored. Expect an

The Orion 3-Star range of benchtop meters from Thermo Scientific for measuring mV, pH, temperature or ORP offers ease of use with their simple three button operation, and accurate reliable results.

exceptionally long-life perfor-mance backed by a 3 year war-ranty on the meters, and a two year warranty on the Ross electrode.

CONTACT: KIRSTY COLLARD

STAR ph METERS WITh ROSS TRIODE

Life-Saving Pneumonia Vaccine Launched

A pneumococcal conjugate vaccine against pneumonia was rolled out in Kenya and is expected to be rolled out in more than 40 countries by 2015.

Spider Likes Stinky Socks

Researchers have found that an East African spider, Evarcha culicivora, is attracted to your stinky socks.

lid closure of metal and emer-gency lid lock release. The max-imum capacity of the swing-out rotor is 6 x 15ml and it weighs just 13kg. All this is encased in an easy to clean plastic housing with a metal lid and stainless steel seamless chamber.

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FOOD SCALES MEET ALL CRITERIA

INDUSTRIAL ROTAVAPOR FROM BUChI

The new compact VacVision vacuum controller is equipped with a large TFT graphic display w i t h t o u c h p a n e l . T h e VacVision offers intuitive opera-tion, a guided configuration menu (wizard), simple hard-ware interfacing by color-coded cable connections as well as a plug and play function.

The connectable compo-nents include; Fore vacuum pump, High vacuum pump,

for t ably in the hand for point-of-use dispensing. It pro-vides a convenient range of multiple dispensing options from propor tional control (drop by drop) and auto vol-ume to locked dispense for quick filling of large laboratory glassware.

With its easy access doors routine sanitization takes min-utes. The patent pending

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Imagine controlling and monitoring your entire vacuum process simply using your finger tip? With the new world’s first universal high vacuum controller called VacVision from Oerlikon Vacuum you can do this. Due to its large touch screen panel, VacVision offers a platform capable of configuring vacuum systems in different ways and operating these with great flexibility to keep your complete vacuum process safely in the forefront.

The Elga Purelab flex 3 & 4 are the latest additions to the award winning Purelab flex range of systems. The Purelab flex allows users to focus on routine test work, without having to worry about the water quality affecting any test results. The point-of-use display displays clear easy to understand information at all times such as system status, temperature, alarms, time and Total Organic Carbon (TOC).

CONTROL ENTIRE VACUUM PROCESS

LOW VOLUME ULTRAPURE WATER FROM FLEXIBLE DISPENSOR

The TOC reading, critical for sensitive analytical applications, is in real time providing an advantage over other conven-tional TOC monitors which pro-vide a delayed response reading. Biological impurities such as endotoxins, DNase, RNase and bacteria are efficiently removed by point-of-use filters.

The flexible ergonomic pat-ent pending handset fits com-

A key requirement in food processing is compliance with stringent regulations. The new Sartorius Combics food Scale Series makes it a whole lot easier for you to take suitable measures anywhere from 3 to 150kg for analysis and in preventing contamination according to HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points).

All Combics Foods scales are manufactured according to the recognised standards of EHEDG (European Hygienic Equipment Design Group) and are made from high-alloy stainless steel, with load plates of AISI 304 stainless steel or optionally brushed/electropolished for exceptional smoothness. The detailed cleaning instructions will deliver results for even better compliance than governing requirements. The scales meet IP69k highpressure washdown and IP69k submersibili t y requirements.

A variety of new tools and fea-tures include a USB module that enables one to record the process data to a memory stick, a level sensor that allows no more overfilling of the receiv-ing flask, and USB and RS485 CONTACT: SONJA STRYDOM

CONTACT: NATASHA MALAN

CONTACT: NATASHA MALAN

CONTACT: LOUIS VD HEEVER

The new Rotavapor® R-220 SE was developed for universal application, and typically can be found for example in scale-up processes. Some of the design changes include a patented flask fixation and an EasyClamp to enable fast and safe installation of the glass parts.

Active vacuum gauges (up to a total of three) and Valves (up to two with checkback signaling and up to three without check-back signalling). In addition the VacVision offers the possibility of connecting a venting facility, seal gas, heaters and cooling at the turbomolecular pump.

interfaces for control of system components and integration of a vacuum pump or recirculating chiller.

sanitization cartridge makes sanitization minimal with no manual handling o f any chemicals.

Both systems deliver up to 10 liters of ultrapure water per day and can dsipense up to two liters per minute. The Purelab flex 3 delivers ultrapure water direct from potable tap water and Purelab flex 4 requires a pre-purified feed.

HEAD OFFICE: PO Box 6553 HALFWAY HOUSE 1685 TEL: (011) 315-5434 FAX: (011) 315-5882CAPE TOWN: PO Box 790 HOWARD PLACE 7450 TEL: (021) 531-7660 FAX: (021) 531-7690DURBAN: PO Box 178 UMHLANGA ROCKS 4320 TEL: (031) 566-4870 FAX: (031) 566-4875BLOEMFONTEIN: TEL: (051) 436-9532 FAX: (051) 436-9532

Email: sales@labotec.co.za Home page: www.labotec.co.za

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50 YEAR PARTY - LABOTEC EXPOSED

2010 BABIES

Deborah Shaw, Marketing Manager with baby boy, Brett in

Sampie J van Vuuren, Product Manager with baby boy, Daniël

Kirsty Collard, Product Manager with baby girl, Cayla

Labotec would like to welcome new staff to their growing team. This increase forms part of an extensive programme to improve processes and provide better service to clients.

WELCOMING NEW LABOTEC STAFF

From left to right: Rynau vd Westhuizen, Internal Sales; hanna Du Plessis, Internal Sales; Chris Smith, Product Manager; Charné Laten, External Sales; Gayton Peacock, Junior Technician; Roland henin, External Sales.

Eon Fortuin, Technician, Cape Town

Nina Sebrandt,Admin, Cape Town

Jaisan Jugmohan,External Sales, Durban

STANDALONE NEW FT-NIR SPECTROMETER

b uc h i ha s i n t r o d uc e d NIRMaster, the first stand-alone fT-NIR spectrometer in the market. It is powerful, rugged and reliable enough to be used for routine quality control in any food or feed production environment.

The cleaning and the opera-tion is extremely simple and safe and complies with the special hygienic require -ments, and with the wide range of quick-start calibra-tions the NIRMaster is ready for immediate implementa-tion without the need of fre-quent, expensive instrument standardisations.

The BUCHI NIRMaster is available in a food certified PMMA or stainless steel hous-ing, with high ingress protec-tion. The unique polarization interferometer provides the NIRMaster with a level of robustness that is not achiev-able by other technologies. Its high sensitivity assures reli-able and accurate results even in harsh environments.

The user can operate the NIRMaster from an intuitive touch screen interface, pro-viding highest usability and all relevant results at a glance.

CONTACT: NATASHA MALAN Any

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