This bench top computer controlled service unit enables the operation of the Armfield range of small-scale heat exchanger systems. It provides controlled cold water flow, bi-directional hot water flow and the instrumentation required to do a series of in-depth investigations into heat exchanger performance. The individual heat exchangers can be quickly changed over, to enable comparisons between different types of heat exchangers to be made. The HT30XC requires a personal computer with USB for the operator interface.

Armfield’s range of internal combustion engines encompasses automotive and aviation power units, each one mounted on a small test bed and providing a complete engine learning system. Each system comes with LabVIEW™ based ArmSoft™ software, which can be used to run the engine from a personal computer. The software incorporates a full range of facilities.

The Armfield FT102X miniature-scale carbonator enables precise and flexible carbonation and filling in the laboratory, dramatically improving the speed with which new products can be developed. The ability to establish precise and reproducible parameters when carbonating in the laboratory can dramatically improve the speed with which new products can be developed.

The Armfield FT110 Benchtop Rapid Extractor is used to extract the active constituents from small (one litre) samples of materials.

Ideally suited to product development purposes, the Armfield FT111 Laboratory-scale Rapid Extractor is used to extract the active constituents from materials in laboratory-scale batch sizes.

Armfield FT140 Multipurpose Mixing Vessels are designed and constructed using high-quality hygienic industry standard materials. These tanks are available in three models in varying configurations (see table) and are available in 50l and 100l volumes. All three models have an internal surface made of AISI 316 stainless steel.

The Armfield FT141 and FT142 are versatile batch processing vessels, the FT142 having UHT capability. They are suitable for high shear mixing, dispersing, homogenising, emulsifying, evaporation and vacuum deaerating.

The Armfield FT17 is a lab-scale system for evaluating membranes in a cross-flow filtration application enabling rapid determination of cross flow filtration performance using a range of membrane types with small product volumes (1 litre). It can also be used in teaching applications to demonstrate features of different membrane types and the effect of varying filtration variables.

The FT174X is a modular HTST/UHT processing system designed to treat products at flow rates of 12-40 l/hr or up to 60 l/hr for water (or similar low viscosity products). Standard modules for direct heating (steam injection) or indirect heating (using tubular and/or plate heat exchangers), aseptic processing, upstream or downstream homogenisation and additional chilling are available. These, along with many other options, enable multiple modules to be included in the same system, giving high process adaptability by reconfiguration of flexible product hoses, using quick-release connections. The sterilisation options enable it to be linked to an Armfield sterile filling bench to produce aseptic product, even when using long holding tubes and/or downstream homogenisation. As with all Armfield systems, it comes with hygienic fittings throughout as standard, it is easy to clean and very flexible in use. The touchscreen control panel makes it extremely user friendly to configure and monitor processing parameters. The operator is prompted at every stage whenever intervention is required.

The Armfield FT18-MkII is a small pilot-scale cross-flow filtration system designed to operate with a range of membrane module configurations. It can operate with as little as 5-10 litres of material but still give data that is useful for process scale-up. It can be used over the full range of cross-flow filtration applications from microfiltration through to reverse osmosis. It is the perfect tool to use, following on from flat sheet membrane trials with the FT17, for further process development and scale-up.

The Armfield Cheese Vat is designed to provide practical training in the production of cheese by the traditional method. The Armfield Cheese Vat makes an ideal research facility. When making Cheddar type cheese, approximately 1kg of cheese is produced from a ten-litre batch of milk.

The costs incurred by the length of time taken, the large quantities of raw materials required and the interruption of the production process mean it is disadvantageous to test new products using full-scale production equipment. The Armfield evaporator processes samples as small as two litres under conditions identical to those in production, sufficient to reveal the effect of heating on any ingredients newly introduced to the recipe. As well as investigation of the effect on organoleptic and physico-chemical properties, the equipment can be used to prepare product for taste trials on a daily basis to ensure the quality of incoming raw material is consistent.

Armfield miniature-scale technology is well established as offering developers the opportunity to run small trials, which provide enough information to enable scale-up to larger plant with confidence. The formulations go through similar physio-chemical changes as they would in production plant and real time data logging permits results to be recorded and repeated. The FT25 range of miniature-scale scraped surface heat exchangers has built in control and flexibility with a graphic representation on the membrane technology control panel. The operator can choose the parameters wanted for any particular formulation. The FT25 has a number of configurations according to the use required.