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How To Choose The Right Chiller For Your Laboratory

The quality and efficiency of processes and materials worked with in a laboratory often depend on very specific environments and conditions. This makes laboratory chillers a critical piece of lab equipment. They need to be able to measure, adjust, and maintain temperatures, and to be reconfigured for different processes. 

Specific chillers can be suitable for different kinds of settings. Which factors determine which chiller suits your laboratory?

Important Traits for Laboratory Chillers

Depending on the materials and processes a laboratory works with, control over the environmental conditions surrounding them is critical. Laboratory chillers can give us the tools to create and maintain the right temperatures to work under. However, the specific environment in a laboratory puts several requirements on these machines.

Common Requirements for Laboratory Chillers

• Many laboratories work with a variety of materials and techniques. Here, one process might require a higher temperature than the other. Laboratory chillers for these labs need to be able to be reconfigured quickly for different purposes.
• Depending on its cooling system, chillers can influence the environment they are standing in in different ways. While one part of the system cools, other parts of the machine might heat up or release moisture into the air. For some processes, these types of influences need to be eliminated as much as possible.
• Laboratories are rarely spacious. Both the size of the chiller but also the noise it creates need to be suitable for the location, without hindering or putting strain on the workers.
• Many processes in laboratories create chemical reactions that can release or absorb heat or influence the environment in other ways. The chiller must not only be able to create and maintain a temperature, but also be able to measure and react to these effects and adjust its performance quickly and efficiently.
• The machines used in laboratories need to be robust, to survive and provide frequent precise use under several circumstances. Unreliable equipment can lead to failed processes, lost time and money.
• The many machines used in laboratories can use up to five times the amount of energy per square foot in comparison to regular office spaces. In an effort to reduce cost and protect the planet, items like laboratory chillers need to be environmentally safe. This also includes things like electromagnetic emissions and other strains on the ecosystem.  

Traits of Good Laboratory Chillers

Based on these requirements, a good laboratory chiller should be:

• small,
• precise,
• energy-efficient,
• quiet,
• reduced to their purpose and not have unwanted altering effects on its surroundings,
• equipped with analysis and adaptive temperature control tools,
• and use environmentally friendly refrigerants.

Factors That Decide Over the Suitable Laboratory Chiller

The base purpose of a laboratory chiller is to remove the heat from one area, and transfer it to another, to reach and maintain the desired temperature. Usually, this is achieved by a cooling circle, in which a coolant liquid is compressed, evaporated, and condensed, and subjected to air, water, ice, or dry ice to help cool it down.

Differences like the use of water or air are exemplary for the fact that the right chiller for a specific lab is dependent on the individual surroundings. A laboratory with a lack of appropriate water supply and connections will be in need of air-based cooling systems.

Factors like the:

• cooling method,
• reservoir volume,
• power requirements,
• dimensions and weight,
• cooling capacity,
• temperature stability, and
• temperature range,

decide over the right chiller for a specific laboratory. It is best to contact specialist vendors and manufacturers to find help when selecting the right model for a specific application and location.

Conclusion

To ensure an effective performance and reliable results of laboratory processes, laboratory chillers need to fulfill several requirements. Overall, the machine must be a precise thermal management system, that requires little space, power, and cooling materials, and can efficiently adapt to temperature changes via sensors and analysis. 

Next to these important functionalities, a good laboratory chiller should be easy to integrate into preexisting or changing production layouts. Depending on the laboratory purpose, different cooling systems can be suitable. Experts can help you find the ideal solution.