Your Smart New Lab Assistant

The GFD®Lab is a benchtop Agitated Nutsche Filter Dryer (ANFD) that efficiently performs laboratory solid-liquid separation processes. It is a miniature version of a production filter-dryer, allowing effective filtration and drying with the same reliability and benefits as full size PSL ANFD filter dryers.

It is designed to overcome well-known production challenges faced by manufacturers when using traditional production methods such as Büchner filtration and oven tray-drying and is the ideal technology to successfully complete scale-up and scale-down activities and to obtain predictive performance results.

The GFD®Lab nutsche filter dryer is serving research institutes, laboratories, universities and companies from a wide range of industries. The technology is assisting scientists and process engineers to innovate and optimise their unique processes, worldwide.

GFD®Lab Agitated Nutsche Filter-Dryer Options

Features and Benefits

The GFD®Lab is an all-in-one filter dryer designed to comply with Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) for regulated research and development activities. It allows process developers and manufacturers to complete a wide range of processes in one single system:

  • Slurry Filtration (solid-liquid separation)
  • Product Washing
  • Re-slurry
  • Vacuum Drying
  • Product Sampling
  • Product Discharge
GFD®Lab Agitated Nutsche Filter-Dryer Vessel Breakdown

At PSL, we understand your product is valuable. Therefore, maximising your product yield to remain competitive in your sector is vital.

The core features of the GFD®Lab nutsche filter dryer are designed to address this crucial requirement. Upon process completion, your product batch can be easily collected by simply removing the unique filtration basket from the GFD®Lab vessel.

Additionally, the GFD®Lab basket is designed to allow quick and easy changeover of filtration meshes with various pore-sizes and materials (Polypropylene, PTFE, 316LSS, Alloy 22, etc.), hence facilitating multi-product applications.

GFDLab-050-Basket

The GFD®Lab is an innovative agitated nutsche filter dryer with a modular design that enables end-users to interchange vessels sizes from the 010 and 050 series without the need to use a different base frame.

To further enhance production flexibility, the base frame of each GFD®Lab model is also compatible with all available vessel materials (i.e. borosilicate glass, 316LSS, Alloy 22)

Modules of GFD®Lab Agitated Nutsche Filter-Dryer

Due to its unique modular design, it is possible to upgrade the standard GFD®Lab Filter Dryer into a GFD®Lab PLUS model by simply retrofitting a new base frame to the existing vessel. By opting for this upgrade, the additional features allow you to speed-up development activities by automating the controls of your GFD®Lab.

  • Digital display (42 colour HMI touchscreen)

  • Enhanced user-interface allowing quick navigation

  • Real-time process graph display

  • Design process sequences

  • Optimise and save process recipes (up to 99)

  • Record and export process data

HMI-Graph-Function

The GFD®Lab PLUS allows users to build bespoke process sequences and optimise process recipes to suit particular process applications.

Production can start at a touch of a button and pre-designed recipes can be initiated with your preferred process parameters (e.g. pressure/vacuum, agitator speed/torque, temperature, duration), thus maximising batch-after-batch reproduction while minimising human error.

GFD®Lab Agitated Nutsche Filter-Dryer Control Box Interface

Selecting the right process technology at R&D stage is crucial to ensure ultimate scale-up success. PSL’s GFD® Nutsche Filter Dryers are designed to streamline scale-up development from early R&D activities with the GFD®Lab, up to GLP batches and Pilot Plant Production using the GFD®Pilot.

It is perfectly suited to complete scale-up and scale-down studies as it helps maintain, at every scale, your key process objectives (e.g. product quality, product yield, batch consistency, etc.) and key production parameters (e.g. filtration time, washing time, drying time, etc.).

GFD Nutsche Filter Dryer scale-up options

Being one of the early pioneers of containment technology, PSL has developed the unique FilterBox isolator range which can successfully accommodate every GFD®Lab vessel size (010, 050 and 500 series).

By opting for a GFD®Lab FilterBox, operators are safe-guarded from the most toxic/potent compounds and that your product is protected from production environments.

Agitated Nutsche Filter Dryer Filter Box - GFD®Lab

Need help identifying the right solution for your process?

Completing our online questionnaire leads to timely, informed and efficient discussions.

Please take a minute to confirm your process requirements by filling the online form below. This will allow us to select the right GFD® model for your specific process application.

Technical Overview

Vessel Sizes & Filtration Basket

The GFD®Lab consists of an agitated vessel designed to work under vacuum and under pressure. The vessel can be made of Borosilicate 3.3 Glass, 316L Stainless Steel or Alloy-22. An integrated heating jacket aids quick and effective drying of the product

Solid-liquid separation is performed within the GFD® filtration basket, which is completely removable for maximum product recovery. The filtration basket is available in polypropylene, PTFE, 316L Stainless Steel and Alloy 22.

 

GFD®Lab VESSEL SIZES
010 Series 050 Series
Typical Product Cake Volume (process-dependant) 0.03 – 0.10L 0.18 – 0.50L
Vessel Volume 0.3L 2.0L
Filtration Area 0.002m2 0.010m2
Frame Dimensions (H x W x D) 980 x 530 x 330 mm 980 x 530 x 330 mm

Upgrade Options

Upgrading to the GFD®Lab PLUS allows users to build bespoke process sequences and optimise process recipes to suit particular process applications. Pre-designed recipes can be initiated with your preferred process parameters (e.g. pressure/vacuum, agitator speed/torque, temperature, duration), thus maximising batch-after-batch reproduction.

 

GFD®Lab Features
GFD®Lab
GFD®Lab PLUS
Combined Filtration & Drying

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Removable Filter Basket

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316L or Alloy 22 Vessel

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Agitator Raise & Lower (R&L) Manual R&L only Automated R&L available
Digital Display & Touchscreen

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Real-time Value & Graph Display

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Process Sequence Design

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Process Recipe Optimisation

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Process Data Recording & Exporting

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    Find Out More

    If you are looking for more detailed information on GFD®Lab Nutsche Filter Dryers, download the brochure here.

    GFDLab Nutsche Filter Dryer Brochure Cover
    GFD Product Slides

    GFD® Product Overview

    GFD Product Slides

    GFD® Reference & Case Studies

    Featured Articles

    Glass Nutsche Filter Dryer (top view)

    Key Features and Benefits of a Glass Nutsche Filter Dryer

    Nutsche Filter Dryer and Buchner Funnel shown in Lab

    Agitated Nutsche Filter Dryers Vs Büchner Funnels

    GFD Nutsche Filter Dryer

    Scalable solutions with the GFD Nutsche Filter Dryer

    FAQs

    Selecting the right GFD®Lab vessel size is achieved by looking at the expected cake volumes from the process and matching this to the operating cake volume range of the vessel sizes.

    The GFD®Lab Nutsche Filter Dryer is a versatile piece of equipment suited to Research & Development, often resulting in it being used with several processes/products. When selecting equipment it is important to verify the compatibility of the materials of construction (MoC) with the process.

    It is recommended that the following checks are undertaken.

    • Compatibility against expected solvent(s) present in liquid and vapour phases so the sealing elements (O-rings, gaskets) are a suitable MoC
    • Compatibility against solid materials in case of corrosive properties which may result in the use of particular types of metal (e.g. Alloy C22 over 316L Stainless Steel)
    • Temperature and pressure requirements during the process against the limits of an MoC (e.g. Metallic vessels over Glass vessels in case of higher pressures)

    PSL always strive to support our partners by offering a range of options relating to our products.

    If we are unable to accommodate particular requirements, the design of the GFD®Lab basket does allow third-party mesh to be used only if it is cut to the correct dimensions and is a suitable thickness (approximately up to 2mm).

    Automation, which is only available on the GFD®Lab PLUS, is carried out via a sequence configurator. Each sequence can contain up to 4 process steps. For each step, the user can program different parameters: agitator speed, agitator height, agitator direction, torque limit, temperature, pressure and timer.

    The GFD®LabPlus can also save a sequence to an SD Card. This “recipe” can be recalled at a later stage. Up to 99 recipes can be saved to the system at any one time.

    The GFD®Lab PLUS control box allows monitoring of the process pressure and temperature but this information cannot be fed back to the vacuum pump or temperature control unit for adjustment.

    Process data capturing automation is only available on the GFD®Lab PLUS. The agitator speed, agitator height, agitator direction, torque, temperature* and pressure* can all be monitored. (* The latter only if optional instruments are purchased).

    The data is stored locally on the GFD® and can be exported to a USB stick mounted at the back of the control box. The data is exported in .csv format.