August 10, 2016
Sponsored by Levitronix
Levitronix® has released the first ultrasonic, single-use (SU) flowmeter on the market. Characterized by high accuracy and superior performance, LEVIFLOW® SU noninvasive flowmeters enable a highly precise and low-cost flow measurement. With an accuracy of <1% of reading and flow ranges from 1 mL/min to 80 L/min, they offer the highest level of accuracy for measuring liquids in biopharmaceutical and other applications that require FDA, USP-VI, BSE/TSE, and animal-component–free materials that can be gamma sterilized.
Figure 1: Operating principle of ultrasonic single-use sensor
Technical Background: Figure 1 illustrates the operating principle: Two piezo-electric transducers, mounted in the sensor housing, generate and receive an ultrasonic wave. The wave going in direction of the flow (with-steam wave) is accelerated, and the wave going against the flow direction (against-steam wave) is slowed down. Both waves are processed by a signal converter. The difference of the transit time of both waves is proportional to the velocity of the fluid.
Figure 2: Single-use flow sensor
The standard configuration of Leviflow single-use flowmeters (Figure 2) consists of a flow sensor and a converter with a digital signal processor (DSP) for processing sensor signals. Various signals (analog output, digital input/output) are provided and can be configured with PC software. A two-wire RS485 bus allows arrays of multiple flowmeters. In addition, the sensor value is shown on a four-digit display.
System Benefits
High-precision flow measurement (1% of reading)
Product line covering 1–80 L/min
Gentle to sensitive fluids such as CHO cells and proteins based on ultrasonic technology, no moving parts
High accurate and dynamic flow control with Levitronix® MagLev pump
Highly flexible configuration, same hardware (converter and cables) for SU sensors and clamp-on sensors
Easy integration into OEM equipment
Easy configurable flow sensor parameters
Integrated and configurable totalizer function
Gamma radiation up to 40 kGy
All wet materials of the SU flowmeters made of biocompatible (FDA, USP-VI, BSE/TSE, and animal- component free) polypropylene
Improved bubble robustness due to DSP technology
Applications
High-purity and high-precision liquid processes
Sterilize noninvasive flow measurement in pharmaceutical manufacturing
Biotechnology processing
High accurate and dynamic flow control in combination with Levitronix pump systems
Single-use disposable applications.
Ulrike Flaig is a business development specialist at Levitronix GmbH, Technoparkstrasse 1, 8005 Zürich, Switzerland, 41-44-445-1913; [email protected]; www.levitronix.com.
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