According to 3M the new LifeASSURE PNA range of bioburden filters combines the high filtration performance of membrane-type media with enhanced flow characteristics, enabling lower system costs and a longer operating life.
Andrew Whitehouse, sales and marketing manager for 3M's purification division, said: “The advanced technologies we have engineered into the LifeASSURE PNA filter series will enable customers in the coprocessor, pharmaceutical and other sectors to reduce capital costs and operating overheads whilst simultaneously benefiting from improved microbial control.”
The company says the system, designed for use in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors, can be used either as pre-filters or final filters where a 'high level of microbial control is required,' such as the production of vaccines, laboratory fluids and blood products.
Advanced technology
Filter assemblies are available with either a 0.2 or 0.45 micrometre filtration rating, and feature an asymmetric membrane which incorporates 3M's Advanced Pleat technology (APT), designed to maximise the filter's useful surface area. Additional media-support layers are positioned upstream and downstream of the membrane.
The Minnesota company claims that taken together, these design innovations help increase flow rate per unit pressure, allowing designers to meet performance targets using fewer cartridges. Additionally, 3M claim the filters are able to run continuously for longer, thereby saving the costs associated with frequent filter changes. Similarly, the company claim that the unit's higher flow rate can help reduce the number of filters needed during batch processing.
3M claims that recent testing of its 0.2 micrometre membrane, or PNA020, demonstrated 'superior reduction of micro-organisms providing Log Reduction Values (LRV) in excess of 7 with B. diminuta', whilst its 0.45 micrometre filter the PNA045 achieved and LRV of great than 8 for the bacterium S, marcescens.