Blood Bag Drying System Saves Thousands in CAPEX
Pall Medical, a major medical supplier based in Southern California, approached JetAir Technologies about supplying blood bag drying equipment. They were looking for a system that could dry a new blood collection bag they had developed.
The new bags were scheduled for use in both North America and Europe. Pall Medical needed a viable blood bag drying solution to meet the rigorous safety standards necessary in the medical industry; after sterilization, the bags must be completely dry to avoid any mold or contamination that can arise after the bags are packaged and shipped.
Pall's engineers had initially decided to use a large, spiral heating oven to dry in addition to the JetAir blood bag drying system. Using samples of the actual collection bag, JetAir engineers created a series of comprehensive drying tests to demonstrate to Pall that the JetAir system could do the whole job by itself. The superior performance and efficiency of JetAir's blood bag drying system, which leveraged their high-speed centrifugal blower, enabled Pall to save tens of thousands of dollars in up-front capital expenditures and even more in energy operating costs each year.
In addition to simply providing drying equipment, JetAir created a complete, integrated blood bag drying solution to handle an application that did not previously exist. The JetAir team worked closely with Pall's engineers to provide a custom table-top conveyor, including an in-feed chute and collection table for the bags, to be used with the drying tunnel. To meet Pall's noise requirements, the JetAir design team added a whole host of modifications to the standard tunnel system: additional sound dampening lining, noise diverting shields, and silencer housings on the entrance and exit to the tunnel.
"This really demonstrates our growing ability to go above and beyond in terms of providing innovative solutions to our customers," reports Scott Lynn, who acted as lead on the blood bag drying project.
Pall reports being very satisfied with the new drying system.
"We are very happy with the JetAir equipment. It works very well and does exactly what we want it to,"
says the lead engineer for the Blood Collection Team at Pall.