Sterlitech Blog

Beginning on June 1, 2013, Sterlitech will no longer be offering 3M Sterilization Indicators as part of our online store. We can custom order them if you need them, but we will not be replacing them with any equivalent products at this time. We will also continue to offer other sterilization equipment such as autoclaves.  You can learn more about 3M sterilization indicators here.

Sterlitech will be attending the 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Denver! We'll be hanging out at booth #810 with examples and information about our latest and greatest products.

ASM 2013 in Denver, CO, May 18-21, Booth #810

If you'll be there too, don't forget to stop by and say hello. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to discuss your filtration needs and get your questions answered from the experts!

The name Lockheed Martin invokes images of high tech aircraft, secret weapons, and other technologies that seem a whole lot more exciting than a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane.  However, Perforene™, Lockheed Martin’s latest innovation, promises to be an exciting new development for RO desalination. It’s made from graphene, an allotrope of carbon where the atoms arranged in hexagonal cells to make a sheet that is only one atom thick.  The next thinnest RO membrane is about 500 times thicker than Perforene™.  It is the almost impossible thinness of the membrane that makes it so exciting for RO; it takes about 100 times less energy to push water through the membrane when compared to the average RO membrane available commercially today.

The Perforene™ membrane was developed by placing holes that are one nanometer or less in diameter into the membrane.  These holes are small enough to trap the ions while dramatically improving the flow-through of water molecules, reducing clogging and pressure on the membrane.  Although it is only one atom thick, graphene is both stronger and more durable than almost any other material could be at this scale.

The combination of strength, high permeability, and excellent selectivity could make Perforene™ the key to cheaper desalination costs in plants across the globe.  And cheaper desalination can mean better access to fresh water in arid places such as North Africa, the Middle East or the Western United States. As the world’s population continues to grow, the demand for fresh water for drinking, agriculture, and industry will grow along with it. Perforene™ can make meeting those demands easier.

Perforene was developed and tested with the help of Sterlitech’s CF042 crossflow cell, a lab scale cross flow filtration unit designed to provide fast and accurate performance data with minimal amounts of product, expense, and time.  It enables researchers to study membrane performance in the small scale before committing resources to larger process scale systems.  Sterlitech offers the CF042 in different materials to meet different needs, in addition to the larger Sepa CF crossflow cells and the smaller HP4750 stirred cell.  Recently, we also began offering the Sepa and CF042 in Forward Osmosis (FO) configurations to further enable research into new water technologies.  Further details can be obtained by contacting us.

Starting today, Sterlitech’s selection of Hollow Fiber Filter Cartridges will no longer be available on our website. These filter cartridges from Watersep were ideal for cell culture clarification, cell harvesting, and for concentrating antibodies and enzymes. Unfortunately, we currently do not carry an equivalent product that can serve as a direct replacement for these hollow fiber filter cartridges.

However, if you need them, you can contact us, and we can put in a special order for you. Think of them as part of our “Secret Menu.”

Next month, you will be able to order a complete bench scale system “animal style.”

To learn more about hollow fiber membrane filter cartridges, you can visit Watersep’s website here.

Toray has discontinued the production of their 80B Reverse Osmosis Membrane. But fear not, because they have also started producing a successor, called the 80E, that Sterlitech will be offering on our site.

Both the 80B and its new, functional equivalent, the 80E, are polyamide membranes that are typically used for seawater desalination. A complete list of the product numbers we are discontinuing and the product numbers of the new membranes can be found below:

Discontinued 80B Membranes;

• YM80BSP475
• YM80BSP195
• YM80BSP42
• YM80BSP18

New 80E Membranes;

• YM80ESP475
• YM80ESP195
• YM80ESP42
• YM80ESP18

Sterlitech's Trade Show Tour continues at Pittcon!

Pittcon 2013 in Philadelphia PA, March 17-21, Booth #153

Attendees are encouraged to stop by and say hello, or visits can be scheduled by contacting us in advance. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to discuss your filtration needs and get your questions answered from the experts!

In order to improve the user experience on our website, we've revamped our search function to use Google's search engine. Our search function will now deliver the most relevant results to you with lightning fast speed. Visit our site and give it spin. You may just find the exact solution for your application.

After nearly ten years of legal wrangling, the Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort was given the green light to use reclaimed wastewater to make artificial snow for the first time this winter. It is also the first ski resort in the world to do so, taking its water from treatment facilities in nearby Flagstaff, AZ. It’s definitely a novel use for wastewater and, if it proves successful, it may help combat the stigma against the use of reclaimed wastewater in other applications where human contact may occur.

Unfortunately, the first run of snow sprayed onto the slopes was yellow.

Face-planting into a pile of yellow snow made from reclaimed wastewater is an icky proposition. Joking aside, the discolored snow raises serious questions about the potential health and environmental impact of spraying wastewater effluent onto the slopes. Some studies have shown that the effluent contains traces of pharmaceuticals, hormones and other chemicals which are not regulated by current water quality laws. The controversy is also complicated by the fact that the resort sits on a mountain that is considered sacred by 13 Native American tribes.

The managers of the Arizona Snowbowl assert that their artificial snow does not pose a risk to skiers’ health. They claim that the discoloration snow was a result of rusty residue from the actual snow-making equipment. The snow guns have since been cleaned to prevent further discoloration of the snow.

Ski resorts have been making artificial snow for decades. In the face of a changing climate and increasing demand for fresh water, using reclaimed wastewater to powder the slopes may just become a standard practice at resorts around the world. Let’s hope they keep it white.

Contributing Sources:

Chappell, Bill. "Ski Resort Makes Snow With Treated Wastewater, After A Long Dispute." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.

MacMillan, Leslie. "Discolored Slopes Mar Debut of Snow-Making Effort." The New York Times. N.p., 11 Jan. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.

Macmillan, Leslie. "Resort's Snow Won't Be Pure This Year; It'll Be Sewage." The New York Times. The New York Times, 27 Sept. 2012. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.

As of March 4, 2013 Sterlitech is offering a new set of shim sizes in our Sepa CF Shim Assortment Pack (SKU 1231104). This new set of shims will become Sterlitech’s new standard for use with the Sepa CF Cell. The older set of shims will no longer be offered.

The new assortment pack contains the following shims:

• 1 shim with a thickness of 2 mil (0.051 mm)
• 1 shim with a thickness of 3 mil (0.076 mm)
• 1 shim with a thickness of 4 mil (0.102 mm)
• 1 shim with a thickness of 5 mil (0.127 mm)
• 3 shims with a thickness of 10 mil (0.254 mm)
• 3 shims with a thickness of 15 mil (0.381 mm)

These shims can be stacked one on top of the other to make a shim that is the optimal thickness for your application. The selected sizes in the pack make sure that finding the optimal thickness is easy. You can visit the Sepa CF Cell page to learn more about this shim set and other parts of the Sepa CF Cell.

For reference the older Shim Assortment Pack contained:

• 4 shims with a thickness of 2 mil (0.051 mm)
• 4 shims with a thickness of 5 mil (0.127 mm)
• 2 shims with a thickness of 10 mil (0.254 mm)
• 2 shims with a thickness of 15 mil (0.381 mm)

Sterlitech's Trade Show Seasons starts with our first stop at Arablab!

Arablab 2013 in Dubai, UAE, March 10-13, Booth #654

Attendees are encouraged to stop by and say hello, or visits can be scheduled by contacting us in advance. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to discuss your filtration needs and get your questions answered from the experts!