Thorough cleaning of precision sieves used in analytical, science and testing laboratories can be crucial in meeting GLP standards.  Manually scrubbing the sieves is not a sure-fire means to clean them.  A time-consuming operation in itself, the chief area of concern is potential contamination of subsequent products being processed because 100% of the particles may not be removed.

An ultrasonic cleaner is a far superior cleaning procedure, now made easier and more foolproof by Elma’s cleverly designed stainless steel SRH 4/200 sieve rotation holder.  Electrically powered it easily fits onto select sizes of the Elmasonic E and S series ultrasonic cleaners.  Up to four 200 mm (8 inch) diameter lab equipment sieves even from different manufacturers are placed into the unit much as dishes are loaded into a dishwasher, and held in place by rollers.  Once the sieves are clamped into the holder ultrasonic energy is applied while the sieves rotate into and out of the ultrasonic cleaning bath. This adds a rinsing action to the cleaning operation.

The key to superior ultrasonic cleaning performance is positioning the analytical sieves at an angle so that contaminants removed by cavitation action fall to the bottom of the ultrasonic cleaning tank and are not trapped in the laboratory sieves themselves.

When the ultrasonic cleaning process is complete, the entire unit is lifted from the tank and placed on a drain board for drying and reuse.  But if the sieves are used in conjunction with insoluble particles a visual inspection should be made by laboratory personnel to see if they are geometrically locked in the mesh.  If so, physical force through manual brushing is still required to remove them.

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What challenges has your company overcome in cleaning analytical laboratory sieves?  How do you keep released particles from falling into other sieves?

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