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A sterilization tunnel provides dry
heat sterilization or depyrogenenation of containers, vials,
bottles, ampoules etc. The items to be sterilized are placed
on a conveyor belt that moves them through the tunnel at a
pre-determined rate. Typically, heat exposure of 350 C for
15-20 minutes is required.
This application is very challenging if you are trying to
use a thermocouple based system. Thermocouples must be the
Kapton coated type and sufficiently long enough to pass through
the entire length of the tunnel. Each thermocouple must be
secured into position and carefully bundled so they can feed
into the tunnel without getting damaged or entangled in the
moving belt assembly. During the mapping process thermocouples
offen get dislodged and several attempts may be needed to
get good test results.
The XpertLog wireless dataloggers can make this difficult
application a simple one. However, the dataloggers cannot
be exposed to high temperature without being damaged. Therefore,
for this application, the datalogger requires a Kapton coated
extended probe. The datalogger is placed inside an insulated
canister which acts as a thermal shield. The extended probe
feeds out of the canister and can be positioned on the belt
or inside an item to be sterilized (see picture below).
Multiple datalogger canisters can be easily placed on the
moving belt to accurately temperature map the tunnel operating
conditions. The dataloggers will not be damaged if heat exposure
is limited to 15 to 20 minutes @ 350 C or less.
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Sterilization Tunnels (Depyrogenation)
Thermocouples versus Wireless Dataloggers
Average Time Saved using Wireless Dataloggers = 6 Hours
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