Glovebox Workstations
MBRAUN offers its researchers a wide range of ready to use glove box workstations that can be equipped with a comprehensive set of optional features. University and Industrial labs use glove boxes for the research and development of emerging technologies including Lithium Batteries, Chemical, OLED / PLED and Welding.
LABmaster pro
- Compact design with powerful integrated gas purifier unit (DP as option for 24/7 purification)
- Available in 12 sizes (single sided or double sided)
- Modular box design for easy extension
- O2 and H2O < 1ppm
- Closed loop circulation
- Negative and positive pressure operation
- Working gas: Argon oder Nitrogen
Details
The LABmaster pro glove box workstation offers enhanced features and benefits to meet the demands of our clients. As the flagship model of MBRAUN glovebox workstations, the LABmaster pro can be easily configured with our entire line of specially designed process tools and can be fully integrated with other third party equipment. The LABmaster pro has proven to be a superior glove box system in numerous research and manufacturing environments and is often utilized in emerging markets such as CHEMISTRY, BATTERY, OLED, PEROVSKITE. With upgraded features and added benefits the LABmaster pro platform is your best choice to meet your growing application.
UNIlab pro
- Modular box design for easy extension
- Available in 12 sizes (single sided or double sided)
- Powerful gas purifier unit (DP as option for 24/7 purification)
- O2 and H2O < 1ppm
- Closed loop circulation
- Negative and positive pressure operation
- Working gas: Argon oder Nitrogen
Details
The MBRAUN UNIlab pro glovebox workstation has been designed to meet the specification of various applications and is considered to be the most universal glovebox platform. Compared to the LABstar workstation the UNIlab pro provides you and your team with added features including the enhanced UNIlab pro gas purification system. Other built-in features of the UNIlab pro Workstation are integrated high vacuum feedthroughs and a stainless-steel encapsulated blower. The UNIlab pro can operate with nitrogen or argon as working gas, which makes it ideal for applications like research or battery production. The enclosures are modular which gives you a wide choice of sizes (2, 3 or 4 gloves), single or double sided, and especially the possibility to assemble several enclosures together.
Applications
Brochure
LABstar pro
- Compact design with integrated gas purifier unit
- Modular box design for easy extension
- Available in 12 sizes (single sided or double sided)
- O2 and H2O < 1ppm
- Closed loop circulation
- Negative and positive pressure operation
- Working gas: Argon oder Nitrogen
Details
The LABstar pro glovebox workstation is a ready to operate high quality glovebox system that meets your specific application requirements for inert and clean environments. The system has been designed for customers needing an economic research and development tool to do vital experiments under clean atmospheres. Standard features of this system include a large main antechamber, a rotary vane vacuum pump and the MBRAUN programmable logic controller (PLC). The standard LABstar package comprises a single column inert gas purification system (fully automatic and regenerable) that purifies the glovebox atmosphere to levels of less than 1 ppm oxygen and moisture. This system can be operated with Argon or Nitrogen gas as working gas. As a matter of course the system is made available in full stainless steel piping. The enclosure is modular to extend easily the system.
Applications
Brochure
ISO PRO ADVANCED
The isolator operates in a constant relative negative pressure. Negative pressure is generated by a built in blower positioned after the outlet filter. The blower is frequency controlled and regulates the pressure to -200 Pa with an air exchange rate up to > 15 times/h. The air exchange rate can be reduced by adjusting the manual valve at the air inlet side. The frequency controlled blower will automatically increase its speed in case of a defective glove or leak. This function allows optimal operator protection under all circumstances and provides the required air speed across a glove port opening during a breach.
ISO-PRO-NANO
- Operator protection while working with nanoparticles
- Glovebox operating in under pressure mode
- Gas inlet and outlet with HEPA-Filters
- Automatic generation of airflow in case of leak to guaranty the under pressure
Details
The ISO-Pro-Nano glovebox with integrated blower is designed for operator protection while working with nanoparticles. It is operated in relative negative pressure to the environment (-200 Pa). The operator safety is guaranteed by the high leak tightness of < 1 vol%/h and the automatic (under)pressure control. In case of a leak (e.g., the breakdown of a glove) the blower generates a permanent inward gas flow with a velocity > 0.5 m/s to prevent the diffusion of box atmosphere into the surroundings. Many options are available to enrich the basic version such as with HEPA H 14 filters, front hinged window, inert gas purge operation, round/rectangular transfer chamber, push-push filter, round antechamber and its filtration, overpressure valve.
Applications
Brochure
Acryl-Glovebox
- Cost-effective solution for inert applications and/or user protection
- Thick, clear and durable acrylic box body for optimum visibility
- Purge glovebox
- Standard pre-defined configurations like antechamber (purge or vacuum)
- Working gas: Argon oder Nitrogen
Details
The MBRAUN Acrylic Glovebox Workstation offers a cost-effective, mobile solution for inert atmosphere applications. A thick, clear, and durable acrylic shell allows optimum visibility and remains impermeable to ambient air. Standard Neoprene gloves provide excellent resistance to abrasion and chemicals. The Acrylic Glovebox Workstation can be configured to meet your project specifications and/or can simply be chosen from a variety of standard pre-defined configurations.
MB TIG 1010
- TIG welding in pure argon
- No additional gas protection necessary
- Simple welding of complicated structures
- Low gas consumption
- Ready for welding within 10 ppm oxygen in about 10 minutes
- Easy manual operation
- Bench top system
- Robust and sturdy construction for every day use
- Mobile, can be carried to different work places
- Side door ø250 mm
Details
The MB-TIG-1010 bench top glove box platform is designed as a complete welding enclosure workstation with the capability to add gas purification systems and purge style antechambers. Operation enables you to easily load welding material into the box with the ability to purge with working gas (Nitrogen or Argon). Flow rate monitors, built in eye shields, and electrical connection board offers both safety and easy working power inside the box for all your welding tools. The MB-TIG-1010 is MBRAUN's recommended choice in small material welding under clean environments.
Integration and Modified Standard
Based on our standard we can propose you customization to fit perfectly to your needs. You need a bigger box, a longer antechamber, specific shelves, handling tools for heavy loads, we will find together with you the right solution.
Your process needs a specific equipment in your glovebox, we can prepare the glovebox to integrate it easily, or we could integrate by ourselves your existing equipment. Then you will receive a ready to use specify system with the right equipment.
How does an inert glovebox work?
Part 1: Sealing - Tightness
To prevent oxygen and water from entering the box, it is necessary to have a sealed system. For a MBRAUN glove box with 2 gloves, about 3ppm/h of oxygen enters the system. 60% of this amount is due to the permeability of the gloves. So the more gloves you have on a system, the higher the leakage rate.
Part 2: Closed-loop purification
To achieve purity levels below 1ppm for oxygen and moisture two technical approaches are available – purging the system with highly pure gas (typically a purity level of 5.0 is required) or circulating the gas through a gas purifier in closed loop.
To achieve low ppm levels by purging a volume exchange of approximately 10-12 times per hour is required. This means for a standard glovebox that 10 m³/h are required to reach and keep the levels of O2 and H2O at a low level (for reference a standard 50l/200bar gas tank contains 10 m³). As a result, purging has a high gas consumption and is therefore quite expensive. In addition, the attainable purity is limited by the purge gas quality.
Using a closed loop purification system reduces the gas consumption to almost zero and even allows to reach higher purities than the supplied working gas. Therefore, the operating cost is low.
MBRAUN has chosen the second solution for its glove boxes and has been an expert in purification of enclosures for over 45 years.
Advantages:
- Low operating costs
- Optimal purity in the glove box
- Continuous purification
Part 3: Gas Purification Unit
The core elements of an inertgas purifier are the integrated blower and the reactor(s). The latter are sometimes also referred to as filter columns. The reactor(s) contain two different filter beds – a molecular sieve to absorb moisture and a copper catalyst which reacts with Oxygen thus removing it from the inertgas stream.
The blower is constantly circulating the working gas (typically Nitrogen or Argon) between the connected glovebox and the reactor(s). As a result, contaminations (Oxygen entering through the gloves, outgassing of materials inside the glovebox, etc.) are continuously removed, keeping the purity levels inside the glovebox well below 1 ppm.
The capacities of the molecular sieve and the copper being limited, the reactor will be saturated after a certain time. In this case, a fully automatic regeneration program will be carried out. A succession of phases altering vacuum, heating and purging with gas will allow the molecular sieve to be "dried" and the oxidized copper to be reduced into its original state, restoring the full filter capacity of the reactor. The frequency of the regeneration depends on the operation of the glove box and the materials used inside.
For advanced processes upgrades to remove solvent vapours and even Nitrogen itself (for a highly pure Argon atmosphere) are available.
Part 4: Transfer via the antechambers
In order not to pollute the atmosphere inside the glovebox, any material which is transferred into or out of it needs to pass through an antechamber. After loading a component from the outside into the antechamber typically a sequence of vacuum/refilling removes air from the antechamber and replaces it with inert gas. MBRAUN recommends performing at least 3 vacuum/refill cycles to before opening the inner door of the antechamber. The time for a complete antechamber cycle for a standard antechamber is around 12 minutes but can be significantly shortened by using a vacuum pump with a higher capacity.
For materials which are not vacuum proof the antechamber can be upgraded with a purge function which allows to replace the air inside with inert gas without evacuating the antechamber.
Part 5: Solvent trap
Solvents are commonly used inside gloveboxes. However most solvents tend to react with the filter bed of the connected gas purifier reducing its filter capacity quickly. Some solvents even irreversibly damage the filter materials which require a replacement of them.
In order to avoid these unwanted side-effects of solvent vapours MBRAUN offers a range of solvent traps as an optional upgrade. Ranging from non-regenerable activated carbon filters to fully regenerable solvent filter units a comprehensive set of solvents traps is available. MBRAUN will assist you in finding the optimum setup for your configuration.
Part 6: Analyzer - Atmosphere Purity Monitoring
Monitoring of the O2 and H2O concentration inside the box is crucial to ensure that air-sensitive materials and processes are kept under optimum conditions, meaning at impurity levels of < 1 ppm. For this purposed MBRAUN developed its own sensors which are specifically design to be used in combination with glovebox. They are specifically sensitive and accurate at lower concentrations of O2 and H2O. Located at the gas outlet of the glovebox the sensors continuously measure the concentrations of O2 and H2O and inform the operator when it is time to regenerate the gas purifier. In combination with optional upgrades to sensors can also be used to instantly purge the system with a high flow of inertgas in case the concentrations of O2 and H2O rise quickly as this indicates a major leak in the glovebox (typically a hole in the glove).
It is recommended to re-calibrate the sensors on a yearly base to ensure accurate reading of the O2 and H2O concentrations.
