When it comes to following best practices in a laboratory setting, precision and efficiency are essential. While considerable attention is given to advanced diagnostic tools, chemical reagents, and automated washing systems, one critical step in the reprocessing workflow is frequently overlooked: the drying stage.
The main challenge, and indeed one that is often overlooked, is that moisture on laboratory glassware, pipettes, and delicate instruments compromises experimental results. Additionally, it invites bacterial contamination and risks corroding costly equipment.
To address this vulnerability, Dekomed—a leading provider of advanced decontamination solutions—engineered the DC2200 GT Drying Cabinet, a specialised piece of equipment designed to safeguard laboratory integrity.
How Does A Dekomed Drying Cabinet Laboratory Help to Deliver Better and More Accurate Results?
The Science and Technology of Moisture Elimination
Traditional air-drying methods share one significant design flaw: the drying method involves leaving your freshly sterilised expensive equipment exposed to room temperature variables, where ambient humidity dictates drying times. Another problem is that airborne particulates can quickly recontaminate freshly washed items, which undermines the entire process. The other old-fashioned method of manual towel-drying introduces a high risk of lint deposition and cross-contamination.
Dekomed has developed a modern and advanced method to solve this problem. Their drying cabinets eliminate the above-mentioned risks by creating a tightly sealed, controlled thermal environment. The drying processes are generated with the use of high-velocity, precision-engineered heating elements and advanced air circulation loops. Thanks to their design, the cabinet evenly distributes heat throughout the entire chamber, which delivers an efficient and standardised drying process. In addition, the system utilises HEPA-filtered air to ensure that as moisture is rapidly evaporated from narrow channels, intricate crevices, and the deep recesses of laboratory glassware, it is met exclusively with sterile air. The inclusion of a built-in heat exchanger and adjustable shelf runners further elevates the system, recycling energy to drastically lower power consumption while simultaneously reducing the humidity of the exhaust air vented back into the facility.
Elevating Laboratory Efficiency With Dekomed Dryers
Time is a finite resource in high-throughput academic, medical, and industrial research laboratories. By using integrated drying cycles within automated washer-disinfectors, the entire laboratory and process can lead to severe bottlenecks, forcing valuable washing systems to sit idle while completing a thermal drying phase.
By integrating a standalone Dekomed drying cabinet into the workflow, laboratory technicians can establish a seamless, much more efficient routine that does not need one aspect of the process to wait on the other. The DC2200 GT features a spacious, highly flexible modular chamber configured to hold up to two full loads from a large-scale washer-disinfector simultaneously. It achieves thorough drying up to two to three times faster than integrated washer-dryer units. This dramatic acceleration can trim processing times by up to 40 per cent, allowing the washing systems to immediately reset for the next cycle, optimising the facility’s overall throughput and reducing operating costs, in many cases paying for itself in the time the system will save your technicians.
Versatility and Smart Control
Laboratory equipment varies widely in structural complexity and material sensitivity. A rigid glass beaker needs to be handled, cleaned and processed differently than a temperature-sensitive plastic container, a complex analytical instrument, or long, narrow anaesthetic hoses.
Dekomed laboratory dryers address this diversity through an adjustable internal shelving system and highly customisable controls. Technicians can adapt the intervals between the stainless steel shelves or utilise specialised retractable cassettes capable of holding up to 64 long hoses. Operating the unit is streamlined via an intuitive Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) with a vibrant touch-screen interface. Users can effortlessly select from fixed, pre-set cycles or manually adjust the temperature parameters to accommodate delicate materials. Each unit features thermally insulated double-glazed toughened glass doors, giving operators clear visibility to identify the load without disrupting the internal thermal ecosystem. For high-security barrier environments, a double-door “pass-through” configuration ensures that clean items enter sterile zones without the risk of backtracking.
Contact Dekomed For More Information Today
When conducting your due diligence into purchasing or, should that be investing in, the correct equipment, it pays dividends to speak to the people who know the product best. That is why we actively encourage you to talk to our friendly customer service team today to discuss our range and the different models in order to find the most suitable model for your needs.
Our team can also guide on maintenance requirements, what ventilation outlets may be required, and anything else you need to know. Contact our customer service team today on 0161 483 7333