An alternative solution to rotary evaporators for solvent evaporation

Concentrators (nitrogen blowdown concentrators) are becoming increasingly used as an alternative to rotary evaporators due to both the speed of evaporation and space saving in the laboratory. Solvent evaporation is accelerated by decreasing the partial vapour pressure of the solvent just above the surface of the liquid. The systems use a heated water bath or dry block heating with programmable temperatures and a nitrogen purge to provide high speed evaporation. The nitrogen purge and evaporated solvent are removed safely using either an integral exhaust system that can be connected to the laboratory extraction system or fume hood or can be used in a fume hood.

A range of four Labtech laboratory concentrators is available from Analytix that provide solvent evaporation from 6, 10, 64 samples up to a system for 96 well plates. The mid-range 10 position MultiVap system supports simultaneous evaporation with 50 and 200ml cups with an automatic detection of liquid endpoint with infrared sensors. Most of the systems support a multiple range of vial sizes and have a touch screen terminal for easy programming.