Bio Pharm fittings

[daniele]

Has anyone details about vacuum performances of bio pharm fittings ?
I have seen em used in a pharmaceutical environment down to 10-4 torr... Techincians told me about vacuum proofness, but if someone here is better advised... i accept any help !


Ciao
Daniele

[guest]

Lookout for plastic gaskets or packing. It may be rated for that high a vacuum but and this is a big but it may out gas mightly .... I tried plasic stuff years back switched back to old fashioned "wrung" copper gaskets. Unless the plastic is a viton derivative or clone.

Good luck
Larry Leins
Physics Teacher

[DaveC]

I would second Larry's observations on the outgassing. If you have the time to wait...might be overnight... once degassed, most plastics are usually good for the 10-5 torr.. or possibly a bit lower.

But temp is a big factor. And the number of times it will be back up to atmosphere.

Dave Cooper

[daniele]

Yes, dedicated vacuum stuff is better...
I was just a little curious about that kind of flanging.

Tnx anyway for help.

Daniele

[guest]

The biopharm fittings (Tri-clover) are a variant of the common KF vacuum fitting. KFs are not suitable for pharmaceutical or food processing applications because of the small trapped areas between the o-ring and the center ring that are hard to sterilize. In terms of vacuum characteristics they are roughly equivalent and the elastomers will do all the things elastomers do: outgas and permeate.