Interphex Convention

This year, Interphex was held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pa.

Interphex, the largest pharmaceutical conference and exhibition in the world, was feature cutting-edge technology in the area of life sciences, from drug development to manufacturing. Once again, this show shares a location with PlarmaMedDevice, the only comprehensive event to focus on the convergence of medical device, pharmaceutical and biologic industries.

To safely handle shear-sensitive cells, use this centrifuge

The Culturefuge 400 (photo) is a new production-scale disc-stack centrifugal separator designed specifically for primary clarification of shear-sensitive cell culture processing. The unit is capable of harvesting 20 – 30 m 3 of material from bioreactors in only a few hours, meeting the demand for processing at high capacities. Developed for larger scale applications involving mammalian cell cultures and other shear-sensitive biological material, the Culturefuge 400 has a hermetic outlet that prevents product contact with air, eliminating any possibility for foaming or oxidation. The hollow spindle inlet provides gentle acceleration of the feed liquid, minimizing lysis of shear-sensitive cells. Available in several configurations, it can be mounted on a fixed-base frame, which includes process and utility piping, automation and instrumentation for service and process liquids entering and leaving the separator. — Alfa Laval, Lund, Sweden

Booth 1334

This mop is designed for use in clean facilities

The EasyCurve Mop (photo) is designed for cleaning floors, walls and ceilings in cleanrooms and controlled environments. It consists of a flat, fabric-laminated mop head attached to a curved, stainless-steel frame, the EasyCurve provides superior performance, ease of use and effectiveness, according to this firm. Designed for pharmaceutical and medical-device manufacturing plants, hospitals, compounding pharmacies, and other critical or controlled environments, it is an ideal upgrade for applications where sponge roller and self-wringing mops are currently used. The EasyCurve is compatible with a wide range of disinfectants, solvents and cleaning solutions. — Contec, Inc., Spartanburg, S.C.

Booth 1034

Two new options improve this size measurement probe

The Parsum IPP-70 (photo, p.34D-1) inline particle-size measurement probe is now available with two new options that are designed to simplify regulatory compliance for pharmaceutical applications. Providing realtime particle-size analysis, the Parsum IPP-70 monitors and controls granulation, coating and spray-drying processes. The first new option allows for the provision of Installation/Operational Qualification (IQ/OQ) documentation together with a verification kit for checking measurement accuracy. The second option offers a unit with highly polished contact surfaces, and includes material traceability documentation. Size and velocity measurement is possible for particles, granules and pellets from 50 to 6000 µm in dia. With the ability to be inserted directly into a process line or unit and easily integrated with systems for automated control, it can be used to monitor gravity-fed, pneumatically-conveyed and fluidized streams. — Malvern Instruments, Bedfordshire, U.K.

Booth 1205

This modular RFID system is the first with built-in I/O

This firm now offers the first modular RFID system with built-in I/O capability. With BLident (photo, p.34D-1), users may add additional I/O modules, and up to 8 channels of RFID, plus additional discreet or analog I/O comprise a single node on the network. Built on the ISO155693 13.56 MHz HF standard, BLident can be integrated into existing platforms, and supports Profibus-DP, DeviceNet, Modbus-TCP, Profinet and EtherNet/IP. Standard non-programmable gateways and CoDeSys programmable gateways are available with either IP20 or IP67 protection rating. BLident data carriers are available with read/write intervals between 5 and 500 mm and use FRAM storage technology for virtually an unlimited number of write operations. It can read and write data simultaneously at 0.5 ms/byte and is capable of production speeds of 10 ms at a distance of up to 500 mm. — Turck Inc., Minneapolis, Minn.

Booth 652

These communication modules ensure efficient message delivery

An updated family of fiber-optic communication modules for ControlNet self-healing ring and dual self-healing ring applications is now available from this company. The single self-healing ring (EOTec 2C31) and dual self-healing ring (2C32) communication modules (photo) provide multiple communication paths between the various elements of the control system. They utilize Downstream Multicasting technology, so that, in the event of a failure on one communication path, communications are still maintained along a secondary path (or in the case of the dual ring, tertiary paths). This allows the transmission of incoming messages in multiple directions, ensuring that the message is directed towards all nodes in the ring while never being transmitted back to the point of origin. According to the manufacturer, these communication modules support the highest number of nodes and deliver up to 60% more optical power than competing models, allowing for the longer transmission distances between nodes. — Weed Instrument Company, Inc., Round Rock, Tex.

Booth 349

A tablet counter and more from this packaging firm

The RX-Fill (photo, p. 34D-2), a versatile tablet counter, is capable of counting product in manual, semi-automatic and automatic modes of operation. Also available from this company is the bottle Recoverx 1040, a solid dose product recovery system designed to allow the operator to recover product from containers of various shapes and sizes. The manual Recoverx, a manual-deblistering machine, requires no change parts and will also be on display. — BellatRx Inc., Point-Claire, Quebec, Canada

Booth 4207

Feed difficult-to-handle powders accurately

Available in pharmaceutical and industrial models, the MT12 micro-ingredient feeder (photo) accurately feeds free-flowing to difficult-to-handle powders at rates between 20 and 2,000 gal/h. Loss-in-weight (model KCL-SFS-MT12) and volumetric (model KCV-MT12) feeders are available for continuous or batch operation. These compact feeders are designed for easy disassembly, fast and easy cleaning and optional automatic refill. Typical applications include: feeding jet mills, tablet presses, continuous extrusion processes and accurate feeding of expensive micro ingredients. — K-Tron, Pitman, N.J.

Booth 1317

Handle high temperatures and pressures with this flowmeter

The Type 8045 Insertion Magflowmeter (photo, p. 34D-3) incorporates a stainless-steel finger and fitting to meet high-pressure and high-temperature requirements of instrumentation and automation applications. The unit handles medium temperatures (up to 230°F) and fluid pressures up to 230 psi. The measuring velocity range is 0.33 – 33 ft/s. The Type 8045 is compatible with pipe diameters of 0.5 to 16 in. It features a 4 – 20-mA output, as well as pulse and relay outputs. It can be used with a PLC with this company’s Type 2030 diaphragm valve, Type 8630 digital positioning unit coupled with the Type 2712, and the Type 8644-P. — Burkert Fluid Control Systems, Ingelfingen, Germany

Booth 317