Everything You Need to Know About Laboratory Hydraulic ...
There are many ways that hydraulic presses can help with pharmaceutical research and development. One such example is dissolution testing – an important quality control process that helps to ensure the efficacy of pharmaceutical products.
Dissolution testing is an essential tool for making sure that drugs or drug substances are safe and effective when consumed. It involves testing the rate and amount of active ingredients which dissolve in a liquid vehicle; this helps to measure how much of a drug will be released into the body, and at what rate.
One common way of performing these tests is through the use of a press. The sample is carefully weighed, placed in a dialysis bag with a dissolution medium, and submerged in the vessel of the press. From there, it’s pressed against a die with 1-10 tons of force, repeatedly over time to ensure thorough mixing with the dissolution media. This mixing process helps to calculate how much material was released out of the system, and continued pressing reinforces accurate results by breaking down particles even further.
Laboratory presses are available in a variety of sizes and configurations. Which one you need will usually be determined by the intended application – as well as how well it fits with your lab’s workflow and user requirements.
A manual hydraulic press uses a hand-operated lever to apply load to a sample.
A mechanical lever controls a piston which moves in a cylinder containing hydraulic oil, exerting pressure on a die or head containing the desired material. By turning the lever back and forth, pressure from the cylinder can be increased or decreased until an optimal amount of force is achieved for a given task.
There are no electronic components in a manual hydraulic press and, as a result, this machine is often cheaper than its automatic counterparts – but they also require more physical effort to use. As a result, they’re harder to use consistently for each task; there’s always a chance that samples are being pressurised to a slightly different load by the operator.
An automatic hydraulic press works by using a pump to elevate a piston, which holds air or liquid pressure. This allows for incredibly precise application of force when the piston’s pressure is released and directed into whatever is below it.
Unlike a manual press, the piston is controlled by a switch or automated controller. This means they can be controlled to a high accuracy and repeatability; the pressure will be the same every time.
Automatic hydraulic presses, such as the APEX 400, improve the workflow in busy laboratories, as – once the press is programmed – it can operate autonomously, allowing the technician to get to work on other tasks. Not only are they far less laborious to operate than a manual counterpart, but they’re more accurate and consistent, due to the lack of variable factors during use.
A hydraulic mini press is a small, portable press that uses hydraulic power to produce force.
It works by using pressure generated by a pump to move an oil-filled plunger, which in turn compresses fluids or gases to exert force on an object. Pressure is regulated by the system’s valves, which can be adjusted according to the requirements of the task at hand.
Mini hydraulic presses typically only weigh about 4 kilos, but are still capable of applying around 2 tons of pressure. The small size of a mini press is often favoured by pharmaceutical labs, who will frequently benefit from a hand-held, low-cost, and mobile solution.
Manual hydraulic presses typically consist of a cylinder filled with hydraulic oil that supplies pressure to a moving piston. Pressure is then applied using a hand-operated pump.
The material to be compressed is placed on the piston, which is then slowly raised to apply a force to the material.
The basics of operating a manual hydraulic press involve just a few simple steps…
- First, make sure your workspace is safe. You should ensure that the area around the press is clear and free of obstructions.
- Place your workpiece – such as a pellet die containing a sample material – centrally on the piston.
- Slowly turn the leadscrew at the top of the press to bring the nose of the leadscrew onto the top of the workpiece.
- Use the handle to pump hydraulic oil into the piston and start applying a load.
- Once the desired load has been achieved, turn the release valve to release the pressure.
A hydraulic mini press is a smaller, lightweight version of a full-sized hydraulic press. You’ll frequently discover them in pharmaceutical labs, polymer testing labs and undergraduate chemistry labs – as well many other places where pressing pellets for FTIR is commonplace.
Often weighing around 4 kilos, mini presses can still accurately apply 2 tons of pressure, just by turning a handle. As they typically produce smaller pellets for lab applications (7 mm diameter rather than the more usual 13 mm diameter), this enables an equivalent pressure to be applied despite the lower tonnage.
Many standard-sized hydraulic presses are manually hand-pumped. Mini presses reduce the physical effort required, without needing to pay for an automatic press. In addition, they need less counter space to use and store.
A hydraulic mini press also has the added benefit of a pressure gauge, so you can make sure you always apply the same load. This makes sample production far more repeatable, creating additional reliability in your testing process.
Specac offer a comprehensive range of sample preparation accessories for FTIR, including presses, pellet dies, high temperature film makers, and consumables such as KBr powder.
Besides these, a variety of other sampling techniques – including single and multiple reflection ATR, DRIFTS, and Specular Reflectance – are available.
Our accessories are customised and calibrated for the user’s needs, so why not contact our experts for a quote?
If you want to learn more details on this topic or other interesting reads, visit tpypress.