GB2526844A

GB2526844A - Liquid waste handling

Info

Publication number: GB2526844A
Application number: GB1409945.1A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Thomas Rech
Original assignee: Stratec Biomedical AG
Current assignee: Stratec Biomedical AG
Priority date: 2014-06-05
Filing date: 2014-06-05
Publication date: 2015-12-09
Also published as: GB201409945D0

Abstract

A system and a method for aspirating and exhausting liquids in automated chemistry processing, where the system comprises a pump 50 that is capable of pumping a mixture of liquid and air. The system may have a suction probe 20 that is connected to the pump. Preferably there are no separating means between the suction probe and the pump and preferably the pump is connected to a single outlet for exhausting liquid and gaseous components of the media aspirated by the suction probe. The method uses generating a partial vacuum using a pump that is capable of pumping air/liquid mixtures. The method can further use the steps of providing the partial vacuum to the suction probe, which is connected to the pump, and aspirating media from at least one container 10 by the suction probe.

Description

Title: Liquid Waste Handling

Field of the invention

[0001] The field of the invention relates to a system and a method for aspirating and ex-hausting liquids in apparatuses for automated chemistry processing.

Background of the invention

[0002] Emptying containers as for example reaction vessels and discharging the liquid waste are recurring tasks in apparatuses for automated chemistry processing. Draining containers or reaction vessels is often done by suction. For this purpose, a suction probe is lowered into a container. A partial vacuum generated by a vacuum pump is applied to the suction probe re-sulting in an aspiration of the liquid media out of the container.

[0003] If an individual pump is used for each individual suction probe, various types of pumps can be used. Commonly used pumps are peristaltic liquid pumps or membrane liquid pumps. However, the task of draining a container typically is required for a plurality of con-tainers at the same time. Several suction probes are often multiple connected by a manifold channel and a single vacuum pump is used for the suction probes in common. The aspirated mixture can have a high air content, as the containers can have different fill levels and some suction probes may already aspirate air when others still aspirate liquids. For this reason, the vacuum pump has to provide a high throughput for ensuring that the aspiration of liquids is not impeded while some probes aspirate air, This high throughput or air flow can usually not be provided by a peristaltic or liquid membrane pump.

[0004] The common solution in this case is to use an air pump and to interpose a washing bottle or vacuum bottle between the suction probes and the air pump. The air pump provides the high throughput, but is usually not capable of pumping liquids or may even be destroyed if liquid fractions are drawn into the air pump. The function of the washing bottle is to sepa-rate the aspirated liquid from the air, The liquid accumulates by influence of gravity at the bottom of the washing bottle. The air pump is connected at the top of the washing bottle. As a result of the aspiration of air and liquids in common, foam can be created in the bottle, The foam can expand, as the bottle is under partial vacuum. The expanded foam can be drawn to the air pump and imperils the air pump On one hand pumps for liquids are usually cooled by the liquid, which is to be pumped and on the other hand pumps suitable for gases will be damaged by gas/liquid mixtures. To protect the air pump, additional dispositions are to be made, for example by installation of sensors within the washing bottle, and a process control for the washing bottle to prevent overflow, low vacuum or leakage.

[0005] The liquid waste in the bottle has to be removed, which requires a manual procedure for emptying the bottle or the installation of a second pump, such as a liquid waste pump. The liquid waste pump has to operate against the vacuum in the washing bottle.

[0006] The known solutions for aspirating and exhausting liquids exhibit a number of disad-

vantages. In summary, these are:

-The use of individual pumps for each suction probe involves high costs.

-The use of a single pump for a plurality of suction probes requires an air pump with high throughput, which is not capable of pumping liquids and air/liquid mixtures.

-The air pump has to be protected from drawing liquids by the use of a washing bottle or a vacuum bottle.

-Additional means as for example sensors and a process control are required for the protection of the air pump, which raises cost and complexity.

-The washing bottle needs to be emptied, which requires a manual procedure or an additional liquid waste pump.

-The additional liquid waste pump has to operate against a vacuum.

Object of the Tnvention [0007] It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and a method for aspirat-ing and exhausting liquids that has reduced complexity, is more cost effective and provides increased reliability.

Summary of the Inyention

[0008] The present invention provides a system for aspirating and exhausting liquids in au-tomated chemistry processing. The system has a pump that is capable of pumping air/liquid mixtures.

[0009] The term "air/liquid mixtures" as used in this description will be understood as me-dia that contain both gaseous and liquid components or gaseous and liquid fractions within the same volume. The ratio between gaseous and liquid components can be arbitrary, A foam is a typical aspect of an air/liquid mixture.

[00! 0] The system can further include at least one suction probe (20) connected to the pump.

[00! ] It is intended that the system has two or more suction probes, which are connected to the pump.

[0012] The two or more suction probes may be multiple connected by a manifold channel, which is connected to the pump, [0013] It is envisaged that the pump is capable of pumping any media selected from the group of liquid media, gaseous media and mixtures of gaseous and liquid media.

[0W4] It is intended that the system has no separating means, interposed between the at least one suction probe and the pump, for separating liquid and gaseous components of media aspirated by the at least one suction probe.

[0015] In an aspect of the invention, a discharge port of the pump is under ambient atmos-pheric pressure, [0016] In another aspect of the invention, a discharge port of the pump is under positive pressure.

[0017] It is envisaged that the pump is connected to a single outlet for exhausting liquid and gaseous components of the media aspirated by the at least one suction probe.

[0018] The discharge port of the pump can be connected to a waste container.

[00! 9] It is intended that the waste container contains an anti-foaming agent, [0020] The present invention also provides a method for aspirating and exhausting liquids in automated chemistry processing. The method uses generating a partial vacuum by means of a pump that is capable of pumping air/liquid mixtures.

[0021] The method Carl further use the steps of providing the partial vacuum to at least one suction probe, which is connected to the pump, and aspirating media from at least one con-tainer by the at least one suction probe.

[0022] It is intended that the method further comprises towering the at least one suction probe into at least one container.

[0023] It is also intended that the partial vacuum is provided to two or more suction probes that are connected to the pump.

[0024] It is envisaged that the method further comprises collecting the media aspirated by the two or more suction probes by a manifold channel that is connected with the pump.

[0025] The method can use a pump that is capable of pumping any media selected from the group of liquid media, gaseous media and mixtures of gaseous and liquid media, [0026] It is intended that liquid and gaseous components of the aspirated media are not sepa-rated under the partial vacuum, [0027] It is envisaged that the aspirated media are discharged under ambient atmospheric pressure.

[0028] It can also be envisaged that the aspirated media are discharged under positive pres-sure, [0029] It is intended that the aspirated media are discharged through a single outlet.

[0030] The method can include discharging the aspirated media to a waste container, [0031] The method can further comprise adding an anti-foaming agent to the waste contain-er.

Summary of the Figures

[0032] The invention will now be described on the basis of the drawings, It will be under-stood that the embodiments and aspects of the invention described herein are only examples and do not limit the protective scope of the claims in any way. The invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents. It will be understood that features of one aspect or embodiment of the invention can be combined with a feature of a different aspect or aspects and/or embod-iments of the invention. It shows: [0033] Figure 1 A schematic illustration of a typical system for aspirating and exhausting liquids in automated chemistry processing as known from prior art, [0034] Figure 2 A schematic illustration of a system for aspirating and exhausting liquids according to an aspect of the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention and the Fi2ures [0035] Referring to figure 2, an embodiment of the invention will be now explained in fur-ther detail.

[0036] Fig. 2 shows a system for aspirating and exhausting liquids according to an aspect of the present invention. Several suction probes 20 are multiple connected by a manifold channel 30, A number of five suction probes 20 are shown as an example in fig. 5. However, the in-vention is not limited by using five suction probes, It is also possible to use only one suction probe 20 or to use an arbitrary number of suction probes 20. The manifold channel 30 is con- nected to an inlet port of a pump 50, The pump 50 is a modified air vacuum pump that is ca- pable of handling at least a small amount of liquid in the air stream. The pump 50 is config-ured to provide sufficient air flow capacity so that drawing of liquids by the suction probes 20 is not impeded when some of the suction probes 20 already draw air, [0037] The pump 50 can be a pump that is capable of pumping liquid media, gaseous media and mixtures of gaseous and liquid media, [0038] The suction probes 20 are configured to aspirate the liquid waste out of containers 10, The containers 10 can be for example reaction vessels in an apparatus for automated chemistry processing.

[0039] The pump 50 has a discharge port 54, where the media aspirated by the suction probes 20 are exhausted as an air/liquid mixture. The discharge port is under ambient atmos-pheric pressure, [0040] The pump 50 or the discharge port 54 of the pump 50 can be connected to a single outlet for exhausting liquid and gaseous components of the media aspirated by the at least one suction probe (20), [0041] The discharge port 54 of the pump 50 or the single outlet carl be connected to a waste container. The waste container can contain an anti-foaming agent for supporting a separation of the air/liquid mixture.

[0042] Tn a method for aspirating and exhausting liquids, a partial vacuum is generated by means of a pump 50 that is capable of pumping air/liquid mixtures. The partial vacuum is provided to a plurality of suction probes 20, which are multiple connected by a manifold channel 30. The suction probes 20 aspirate the liquid waste out of the containers 10, when the suction probes 20 are lowered into the containers 10. The media aspirated by the suction probes 20 are collected by the manifold channel 30, which is connected to the pump 50.

[0043] The method includes providing sufficient air flow capacity by the pump 50 so that drawing of liquids by the suction probes 20 is not impeded when some of the suction probes already draw air.

[0044] The media aspirated by the suction probes 20 out of the containers 10 are exhausted as an air/liquid mixture at the discharge port 54 of the pump 50. The air/liquid mixture can directly be routed to drain.

[0045] The exhausting of the aspirated media can be done using a single outlet for exhaust-ing liquid and gaseous components of the aspirated media.

[0046] Alternatively, the air/liquid mixture exhausted by the discharge port 54 of the pump is routed to a waste container. The air/liquid mixture routed to the waste container then separates into the liquid waste and air, Separating of the air/liquid mixture can be supported by adding an anti-foaming agent to the waste container.

[0047] The system and the method for aspirating and exhausting liquids according to the appended claims exhibit many advantages in comparison to known solutions: -The system uses fewer components, as for example a vacuum bottle, sensors for monitoring the vacuum bottle and process controlling can be omitted.

-The costs of the system are significantly reduced, -The system exhibits less foam creation as the exhaust is not in a vacuum, but under ambient atmospheric pressure or under positive pressure, -The creation of foam occurs only in the waste container.

-The creation of foam in the waste container can easily be further reduced by adding anti-foaming agents in the waste container.

-The system has a significantly increased reliability due to the reduced number of components and the capability of the pump of handling air/liquid mixtures.

List of reference numerals container suction probe manifold channel conduit pump 54 discharge port liquid waste pump vacuum bottle

Claims

Claims 1 A system for aspirating and exhausting liquids in automated chemistry processing, comprising a pump (50) that is capable of pumping air/liquid mixtures.
2. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one suction probe (20) connected to the pump.
3, The system of claim 2, wherein two or more suction probes (20) are multiple connect-ed by a manifold channel (30) and wherein the manifold channel (30) is connected to the pump (50).
4. The system of any of the above claims, wherein the pump (50) is capable of pumping any media selected from the group of liquid media, gaseous media and mixtures of gaseous and liquid media.
5. The system of any of the claims 2-4, wherein there are no separating means, inter-posed between the at least one suction probe (20) and the pump (50), for separating liquid and gaseous components of media aspirated by the at least one suction probe (20).
6. The system of any of the above claims, wherein a discharge port (54) of the pump (50) is under ambient atmospheric pressure.
7. The system of any of the claims t to 5, wherein a discharge port (54) of the pump (50) is under positive pressure.
8. The system of any of the above claims, wherein the pump (50) is connected to a single outlet for exhausting liquid and gaseous components of the media aspirated by the at least one suction probe (20).
9, The system of any of the above claims, wherein the discharge port (54) of the pump (50) is connected to a waste container.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the waste container contains an anti-foaming agent.
11. A method for aspirating and exhausting liquids in automated chemistry processing, wherein a partial vacuum is generated by means of a pump (50) that is capable of pumping air/liquid mixtures.
12. The method of claim I], further comprising -providing the partial vacuum to at least one suction probe (20), which is con-nected to the pump (50); and -aspirating media from at least one container (10) by the at least one suction probe (20).
13. The method of claim 12, further comprising lowering the at least one suction probe (20) into the at least one container (10).
14. The method of claim 12 or 13, wherein the partial vacuum is provided to two or more suction probes (20) that are connected to the pump (50).
15. The method of claim 14, frirther comprising collecting the media aspirated by the two or more suction probes (20) by a manifold channel (30) that is connected to the pump (50).
16. The method of any of the claims 11-15. wherein the pump (50) is capable of pumping any media selected from the group of liquid media, gaseous media and mixtures of gaseous and liquid media.
17. The method of any of the claims 11-16, wherein no separating of liquid and gaseous components of the aspirated media is done under the partial vacuum.
18. The method of any of the claims 1 1-17, wherein the aspirated media are discharged under ambient atmospheric pressure.
19. The method of any of the claims 11-17, wherein the aspirated media are discharged under positive pressure.
20. The method of any of the claims 11-19, wherein the aspirated media are discharged through a single outlet.
21. The method of any of the claims 11-20, wherein the aspirated media are discharged to a waste container.
22. The method of claim 21, further comprising adding an anti-foaming agent to the waste container.