Protect your heat exchanger!

Question:  My process requires the temperature of the cooling fluid to be maintained at 10°C. I bought one of your 6000 Series Chillers and the instructions in the manual say “For operation at or below 20°C (68°F), the Chiller must be protected with an antifreeze solution.” Why do I need to use an antifreeze solution when the setpoint temperature is above the freezing point of water?

Answer: The reason we recommend use of an antifreeze solution – usually a technical/laboratory grade ethylene glycol (without additive) and distilled water mixture- at setpoint temperatures below 20°C is because the actual fluid temperature measured at the heat exchanger, where the heat removal takes place, may be much closer to 0°C than you might expect. If the fluid freezes in the heat exchanger, it will cause it to expand, and ultimately, to crack. This will allow refrigerant into the fluid system and cooling fluid into the refrigeration system, which essentially destroys the chiller. A cracked heat exchanger can only be caused by such circumstances and is considered customer misuse, voiding the warranty coverage. It is in your best interest that we recommend the use of an antifreeze solution, like a 50/50 mix of ethylene glycol and distilled water, in the circulation fluid. It will protect your investment in the chiller and the equipment requiring cooling and save you the time and trouble of repairing or replacing the unit.

 For more information regarding Ethylene Glycol, and other Chiller fluids, visit our website or our previous blog post.

 If you’re still not sure when to use antifreeze with a PolyScience Chiller, contact us – We’ll be happy to help!

 NOTE: Do NOT use automotive antifreeze.

Temperature Control Product Differences

What are the differences between General Purpose Water Baths, Circulating Baths (Circulators), and Chillers?

a GP Water Bath

Besides for the obvious – the appearance – there are some key functionality and application differences. First of all, a water bath is basically a tank with a heater. It works on thermogradient heating, where heat is strongest at its source and there is less heat retained the farther you get from the source.

A Circulating Bath

Circulating Baths have pumps, enabling the circulating of fluid, therefore circulating heat – making the heat more uniform and precise. Circulating Baths also have the capability of connecting tubing to external connections so you can pump to an external application (either open loop or closed loop depending on the model of circulator). Circulating Baths also have a refrigeration option, unlike Water Baths, which allows them to cool and heat a fluid.

A Chiller

This ties into the third type of product – A Chiller. While both Refrigerated/Heated Circulating Baths and Chillers provide a cooling option, there are differences between them. Circulators provide a smaller footprint, more choices (controllers and reservoir sizes), a wider temperature range (-40° to 200°C for PolyScience models), more precision (up to ±0.005°C for PolyScience models) and they are typically connected to smaller equipment requiring low to moderate cooling capacity. They also allow for direct immersion of samples or external circulation. Chillers are larger, less precise (0.1° to 0.5°C for PolyScience models), have fixed reservoir sizes and a narrow range (-20° to 70°C for PolyScience models), and provide external circulation only. However, they can connect to larger equipment, provide greater cooling with strong pumps and can replace tap water cooling.

 For more information on product offerings and selecting the right product, visit our website!

How do chillers and circulators help decaffeinate coffee?

One application for our Chillers and Refrigerated/Heated Circulators is controlling the temperature of Supercritical Fluid Extractions (SFE).

Supercritical Fluid Extraction is the process of separating one component from another by using supercritical fluids as the extracting solvent. Extraction is usually from a solid substance, but can also be from liquids. SFE has a wide array of applications. It can be used on a smaller scale for tasks like preparing samples for analytical purposes. It also works on a larger scale, either stripping unwanted material from a product or collecting a desired product. One example of the stripping process would be the decaffeination of consumables, like coffee or tea. The collection process includes items like essential oils, for products like makeup, perfume or soap. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is the most frequently used supercritical fluid.

So where do chillers and circulators come in? Extraction conditions for supercritical fluids (like Carbon Dioxide) are extremely dependent on precise temperature and pressure control. PolyScience instruments help by accurately controlling the temperature of both analytical and larger scale Supercritical Fluid Extractions. So that’s how our products help decaffeinate coffee!

Do you have an interesting application to share? Click here to contact us!

Go green with PolyScience

No vision of tomorrow can be complete without considering the environment. As a global company, we realize everything we do has far-reaching impact. That is why our products are in accordance with RoHS guidelines to eliminate harmful substances like lead and cadmium. Throughout a consistent effort we’ve decreased energy consumption by over 22% over the last two years alone, even though production has increased over 30%.

Our products are designed to be energy efficient and environmentally-friendly as well. Our green technologies/systems include the patent-pending WhisperCool™ and Cool Command™.

WhisperCool™ Environmental Control System: Our patent-pending adaptive technology noticeably reduces operational noise, optimizes compressor and evaporator performance, decreases overall energy consumption and prolongs compressor life. It is standard on select PolyScience Recirculating Chillers as well as on our 7 liter (-40°C) and all 15 liter and larger Refrigerated/Heated Circulating Baths.

Cool Command™: A modulated refrigeration system that allows refrigeration to be activated at higher temperatures, providing faster cool downs and optimizing energy efficiency.

In addition to our product features and practices, we have another eco-friendly offer. Are you in the market for a new circulator, chiller, water bath or other constant temperature control product? PolyScience provides equipment trade-in opportunities all year round. You can save money by trading in any old or broken PolyScience or competitor device toward the purcahse of a new PolyScience product. We will accept any brand and give you a discount toward your purchase. Naturally, we’ll dispose of your old equipment in an environmentally conscious manner. Not ready to make a purchase but looking to clear up some lab space? Take advantage of our Equipment Recycling. We will gladly accept any old circulators, chillers, and water baths (regardless of brand) for disposal in an environmentally conscious manner. All recoverable materials such as steel, copper, plastic and packaging will be recycled and refrigerants reclaimed by our qualified technicians. Contact us for more information.

So whether it’s in our factory, our products’ functionality or our trade-in and recycling programs, PolyScience is striving for a cleaner, greener, world.

Seasons Greetings!

New PolyScience Website!

After many months of hard work, we are proud to announce PolyScience now has a new website. This new site includes product information for our new, award-winning line of Circulating Baths, as well as our Chillers, Low Temperature Coolers, and Specialty Products.

With increased support, like selection tools and software, and a new aesthetic (more images and videos than ever before), this site enhances the PolyScience experience. We know you’ll love this site as much as we do!

Please visit by clicking www.polyscience.com or the below image.

PolyScience – the next chapter!

Read the new complete PolyScience Temperature Control Solutions catalog right here on your screen! Simply click on the picture below and flip through the digital version.

PolyScience recycles your old lab equipment!

Take advantage of the PolyScience laboratory equipment recycling program!

PolyScience helps you to dispose your old laboratory circulators, chillers, and water baths in an environmentally responsible manner!

Virtually all product materials (steel, copper, plastic, packaging, etc.) will be recycled, and refrigeration gases will be reclaimed by our qualified technicians, ensuring that no hazardous materials, chemicals or gases are released into the environment.

Contact PolyScience for the current offer of free receycling, trade-in offers and discounts on a new PolyScience replacement. 

Phone: 1-800-229-7569
(847-647-0611 outside the United States) or email sales@polyscience.com

So clean up those areas cluttered with unused circulators, chillers or baths, and make an impact on our environment.  Together, we can work towards a cleaner plant!

Win a PolyScience Smoking Gun™

Select your favorite PolyScience product innovation – Win a PolyScience Smoking Gun™!

PolyScience Smoking Gun

PolyScience’s newest circulating baths offer many exciting new product innovations such as rotating control heads, self-storing reservoir covers and touch-screen user interfaces.  We would like to know which of these many features would be most beneficial to your lab and application. 

All responses will be entered in a random drawing for a PolyScience Smoking Gun™ hand-held food smoker- a clever tool for “cold smoking” meats, fish, vegetables, cheeses, and even cocktails! 

To enter the drawing, view the video below and and post a comment of your favorite feature, or e-mail us. The drawing will be held on October 31^th, 2010 and the winner will be announced in the November newsletter.

PolyScience iPhone application

PolyScience iPhone application

The new Polyscience Performance Performable Controllers allow you to monitor and control remotely with your iPhone and application!

- View setpoint and probe temperature readings
- Change setpoint remotely
- Control standby turn-on mode
- Compatible with iPhone 4G, iPod Touch or iPad devices
- Requires Performance Programmable Controller and a WIFI connection

To see more exciting features of the Performance Programmable Controller, click here!