Water Activity Analyser for Pharmaceutical Applications

Labcell Ltd, the exclusive UK distributor of Aqualab water activity analysers, has introduced the latest Series 4TE instrument. It is an accurate, quick, simple and cost-effective way in which pharmaceutical companies can gain valuable information about gels, powders, pastes and tablets.

The AquaLab Series 4TE makes accurate measurements of the water activity in active ingredients, excipients and formulations. Water activity measurements are essential when following due course and process as part of GMP (good manufacturing practice) because water activity has a significant bearing on product stability, as well as the handleability of materials in production and packaging equipment.

AquaLab Series 4TE is a precise yet easy-to-use instrument which enables lab-quality measurements of water activity to be made in the production environment. It is suitable for use by formulation and research and development teams, as well as those working on new packaging designs.

A feature of the AquaLab Series 4TE is temperature equilibration allowing users to set the sample temperature to anything from 15 to 50ºC; the analyser then maintains that temperature throughout the test.  The instrument has a measurement range of 0.030 to 1.000 aw, an accuracy of +/-0.003 aw and a repeatability of +/-0.001 a_w.

Users in the pharmaceutical industry will appreciate the way in which the AquaLab Series 4TE handles data with a strong emphasis on traceability. Data is captured on the instrument and cannot easily be deleted; it can also be downloaded to a computer for archiving and more detailed analysis. Up to 8,000 data points can be stored securely on the AquaLab and the date, time and operator is logged for every measurement and calibration.

Labcell also supplies the AquaLab Series 4TEV which is identical to the Series 4TE in most respects yet benefits from an additional hygroscopic polymer capacitance sensor for analysing samples containing volatiles. Users can switch between this sensor and the standard dewpoint sensor via the instrument’s front panel menu. Accuracy with the volatiles sensor is +/-0.015 aw.

Labcell Ltd is the sole UK distributor for the AquaLab Series 4TE water activity analyser and has extensive experience supplying this instrument and its predecessors to blue-chip pharmaceutical companies.

More information online