Novel system in which the excellent cleaning properties of methanol are utilised in a controlled environment to clean and dry synthetic tissue culture discs used for growing bacteria
A British company has made a significant breakthrough in the use of methanol for the specialised cleaning and drying of medical devices.
The development could lead to greater efficiency in the critical removal of residue from apparatus used in the manufacture of antibiotics.
Layton Technologies, a designer and manufacturer of industrial cleaning solutions, has developed a unique system in which the excellent cleaning properties of methanol are utilised in a controlled environment to clean and dry synthetic tissue culture discs used for growing bacteria.
The company was invited to try to solve the problem of designing a safe and effective process using the highly explosive chemical by a major US scientific company.
"They failed to find an answer in the United States, so they asked us if we had any ideas," said Layton Technologies managing director Phil Dale.
"It was a tough assignment because methanol is notoriously difficult to handle.
But it was the only suitable chemistry for the removal of forming oils and manufacturing soils from the culture discs due to their delicate nature." The low emission solvent cleaning plant technology developed by Layton is designed to remove the contaminants, which may inhibit bacterial growth, from 5mm polypropylene/non-woven polyester culture disc pressings.
The equipment includes the facility for fully automated processing by the use of an internal handling system, which includes automated process control and basket delivery to the various stages of the cleaning process. Contaminants are removed through an ingenious process during which distillation of methanol is boiled off and condensed before being returned to an immersion clean sump.
The tiny culture discs are immersed in ambient methanol with ultrasonic agitation, followed by a re-circulated nitrogen enriched warm atmosphere blow-off dry cycle above the process tank.
The process is carried out under sealed conditions.
The system includes a super cooled refrigeration plate to control the diffusion of methanol vapours during loading and unloading of the process chamber.
This also serves as the cooling source to condense the methanol vapours generated during the drying phase.
