Modular SFC Introduces Centrifan™ AF Recirculating Evaporator with Auto-Fill Capability to Enable Unattended Operation

The Centrifan AF is a Recirculating Evaporation system with a unique Auto-Fill capability that allows unattended evaporation of samples generated by any separation or extraction system. The rotor in the centrifuge-like system ensures sample integrity.

External gas supplies are not required because the rotor produces novel recirculating evaporation of the trapped gas volume to blow-down the fraction solvent. The system functions without vacuum to prevent sample contamination risks typically associated with conventional vacuum type concentrators. The auto-fill mechanism automatically determines when to add more fraction solvent to the evaporating sample containers while they continue to spin, allowing the process to run completely unattended until the fraction reservoir is empty.

Unlike a conventional rotorvap, the Centrifan AF is vacuum-less and doesn’t require a heated water bath. The recirculating evaporation technology eliminates the sample handling hazards and inconveniences associated with vacuum concentration, such as bumping, foaming, cross contamination, and freezing. Furthermore, the centrifugal force from the rotor assures sample integrity and eliminates the risk of blowing the dried samples out of their containers when the compounds are brought to complete dryness.

The Centrifan AF uses a cold trap to condense and accumulate evaporated solvent vapors in the recirculating gas. Recirculating a trapped inert gas volume allows recovery of over 80% of the evaporated solvent instead of allowing it to vent out a hood as in traditional blow-down concentrators. The trapped gas volume in the system is easily made unreactive by bleeding a very low flow of nitrogen or argon into the gas flow path. This novel recirculating evaporation technique also eliminates the consumption of large quantities of nitrogen or other gas required by typical blown down instruments.

The Centrifan AF is self-contained, portable, and requires no bench space or a fume hood. Various rotor configurations are available to accommodate a variety of popular sample container formats.