ELGA Process Water equips Sheffield’s Nanoscience and Technology Centre

Generating high quality ultrapure water is a vital requirement for the laboratories and cleanrooms of Sheffield University’s Nanoscience and Technology Centre, and two CENTRA purification systems part of the ELGA LabWater product range have ended up fitting the bill perfectly.

Steve Walker, Senior Experimental Officer, explained: “The Centre is part of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department and provides state-of-the-art facilities and support for many high-tech businesses in the region, including the largest cleanroom for research into semiconductors, nano-magnetics and other devices in the UK.

“With the continued miniaturisation in the semi-conductor industry, specifications for water quality are always extremely high and our ideas of what we needed from a purification system were very detailed. It had to provide 18.2 MΩ-cm ultra pure water with multiple purification technologies and a re-circulating loop system to feed around 20-25 outlets and a substantial usage rate.”

After consulting a number of suppliers, the CENTRA-R 200 and CENTRA-RDS with C960 and C940 cylinders were chosen. “ELGA Process Water provided the best, most cost-efficient package of equipment and services from among the many tenders we received so we decided to go with its recommendations. In addition, ELGA had previously supplied other laboratories at Sheffield with water purification equipment so we had experience of the systems and service it could provide.”

The CENTRA-R 200 and CENTRA-RDS generate up to 18 litres of ultrapure water per minute and boast UV photo-oxidation, a 0.2µm filter for enhanced bacterial control and external deionisation cylinders. Additionally, the CENTRA range has been carefully designed to eliminate the traditional complex and untidy arrangement of equipment usual of laboratory water purification systems. The reservoir, tubing, pump and reverse osmosis and ultra-violet components are all integrated into one stylish award winning designed cabinet along with the latest monitoring and control technology - operated via a keypad - to help improve management of the loop system.

But like all ELGA LabWater systems, its greatest benefit has to be ease of use and minimal maintenance. “I like the CENTRA equipment because it works and is practically maintenance free - you set it running and then get on with other things. The only maintenance we have to do is change the filters and carry out a routine sanitization when required and engineers visit once a year to service it. It’s a real ‘fit it and forget it’ system and has proved extremely valuable in the Centre’s busy and demanding laboratories and cleanrooms.”