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Press Release
Magnetic Agitators: The New Generation
ZETA presents a new magnetic agitator with excellent run-dry capability.
(Lieboch/Graz, 24 April 2015)
ZETA Biopharma, the Austrian maker of liquid process equipment, announces a new BMRT
magnetic agitator with greatly improved run-dry performance.
ZETA, the company based near Graz, Austria, has supplied over 2000 of its magnetic
agitators to more than 150 companies around the world. The customers are mostly in the
pharmaceutical and biotech sectors, and also in the food industry, in Europe, Asia, Africa,
and the Americas. “Even in this highly specialized sector, continuous improvement is the key
to long-term success”, says Reinhard Heber, head of the department ‘Products and
Components’ at ZETA.
Stirring down to the last drop
Product manager Andreas Diel explains the background: “In our new BMRT agitators, we
have used new magnetic materials that became available recently. The stronger magnetic
field enabled us to create a new solution for the critical situation where you want to empty the
vessel while keeping the agitator running”.
In the new design, some of the magnetic force is now used to lift the impeller. This reduces
friction in the impeller's ceramic bearing. In the older models, the impeller settles down on the
bearing when the vessel is empty. This led to abrasion of the bearing, with increased release
of particles into the liquid, and sometimes even failure of the bearing. Andreas Diel: “With the
new model, you can keep stirring right down to the last drop”. Importantly, the BMRT agitator
achieves this greatly improved run-dry capability without introducing any new bearing
materials or coatings, thus completely avoiding the possibility of new abrasion problems.
Powerful mixing
The classic rotor designs used the motion of the impeller in the liquid to create lift, reducing
friction with the bearing. Since the impeller now rides on the magnetic field, the lifting function
of the impeller blades is no longer needed and the shape of the blades can be optimised for
mixing. “Instead of the old, angled blades, we can now use nearly-vertical blades, which we
have designed by computational fluid dynamics to achieve a shorter mixing time with the
same energy input”, explains Andreas Diel. The new magnetic material also makes it
possible to transmit a higher torque to the impeller. This means that an agitator of the same
size as before can mix a significantly larger volume of liquid.
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ZETA emphasises that it is not changing the popular BMR range of agitators. However, as
department head Reinhard Heber concludes: “We think that with the run-dry capability, the
use of the more powerful magnets and the shorter mixing time, the new ZETA-BMRT
agitators will turn out to have decisive advantages for many clients”.
(End)
Further information and pictures are available online at:
http://en.zeta.com/index.php?seitenId=147
Reprint of images free of charge provided copyright holder is named.
Photo 1, © ZETA
The new BMRT impeller
Illustration, © ZETA
3D model of the new BMRT magnetic agitator
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About ZETA:
The ZETA Group, with headquarters in Lieboch, near Graz, Austria is a specialist in
development, manufacturing and automation of made-to-measure process equipment for
sterile and aseptic liquid processes for the pharmaceutical and food industries. The ZETA
Group employs a total of 320 people and has factories and offices in five countries.
http://www.zeta.com
Press contact, queries:
Franz Zuckriegl, MBA
Zeta Corporate Communications
Tel.: +43 316 90.83.17
Mobil: +43 699 100.33.816
E-Mail: [email protected]
Contact ZETA:
ZETA Biopharma GmbH
Christiane Gewessler
Zetaplatz 1, A-8501 Lieboch/Graz
Tel.: +43 3136 9010-406
http://www.zeta.com
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