When the manufacturer of a peptide synthesiser needed a glass column that would operate at 600psi, it turned to Bio-Chem Valve/Omnifit for help
The peptide synthesis is carried out using proprietary immobilisation media packed in a glass column.
The manufacturer needed to ensure that, if the column was dropped, the valuable sample would not be lost.
The client also needed the column to be printed with its own scale markings and company logo.
To meet the pressure requirement, Bio-Chem/Omnifit selected borosilicate glass with a 16mm interior dimension and a thicker wall.
New PTFE adjustable end pieces were specially designed to fit the thicker glass, incorporating PTFE-to-glass primary seals and EPDM O-ring secondary seals to ensure compatibility with the buffers and CIP chemicals.
Two adjustable end pieces were also included to give a bed volume range of 4-44ml and a bed length range of 20-220mm. The customer's logo and volume scale was transferred and fused onto the column before being covered with clear heat-shrink tubing, which contains the contents if the column is accidentally dropped.
Bio-Chem Valve/Omnifit took a detailed design brief from the customer before presenting initial proposals using e-drawings and animated CAD models for the client's assessment.
This process dramatically reduced the lead-time to production prototypes.
Once the final design was agreed, Omnifit scheduled manufacture to meet the customer's delivery programme. Bio-Chem Valve/Omnifit manufactures a wide range of components that can be combined to provide customised solutions for fluid handling and control.
Once manufacturing has been completed, all components are delivered to meet the customer's supply chain requirements for scheduled, Kanban or JIT delivery.
