Many of our followers may have noticed that we haven’t posted a new blog in a few months. Fear not- we have still been working on plenty of interesting sanitary process challenges. In this post, we’ll talk about a recent tangential flow filtration application and how Holland was able to leverage our unique design and build skills to provide a drop in replacement for process pump that just wasn’t up to par.

In late September, Holland was contacted by an OEM who was working with an end user to improve the performance of an existing TFF skid. This particular OEM manufactures a variety of automated and semi-automated portable single use filtration skids for the pharmaceutical industry.

While no stranger to the Quattroflow line of quaternary diaphragm pumps, the OEM was working with a customer who had an earlier iteration of one of their skids that utilized the popular Watson Marlow line of peristaltic pumps. The end user was having problems with the high pressures and tubing performance and compatibility issues that frequently trouble peristaltic pumps.

So the solution seems simple, right? Well, not so fast. If you’ve been following many of our earlier blog posts, you would know that the Quattroflow pump is a positive displacement pump designed specifically for the bioprocess industry. It is a gentle, low pulsation pump that uses a series is four diaphragms and check valves to push and pull media through the pump chamber. Available in both stainless steel and single use pump chambers, the high-turndown Quattroflow pump is perfect for these applications. So what’s so tough? Let us explain.

This client was using a servo motor to drive the peristaltic pump. As clean room suites tend to be as compact as possible, so does the equipment that goes into clean rooms. Because the skid had already been built, Holland was presented with unique challenge- provide a servo equipped Quattroflow 1200 that was a drop in replacement for the Watson Marlow pump that the skid was designed around.

To do this meant designing and fabricating in house a new mounting block to mount the servo motor to. Then, we had to figure out how where to position mounting holes so we could bolt in our pump where the Watson Marlow used to be. Finally, we had to mount the motor and couple it to the pump. And we had to do all of this without the skid. Pulling dimensions from CAD models, slowly but surely, a design developed.

When it was all said and done, about five weeks later, we finished bolting the motor to the mounting block and the mounting block to the base plate. Pushed the two halves of the Love Joy couplings together (located inside of the motor mounting block) and bolted down the QF1200 ring drive, and just like that, we had a Quattroflow 1200 pump with servo drive that was ready to stand in for a Watson Marlow pump that just could do the duty.

Drawing of Quattroflow  1200S with Servo Drive

By implementing a solution that bridged several core competencies at Holland, including technical expertise, design, and fabrication the end user was presented with a solution that, after calibrating the servo drive, allowed for the replacement of a non-performing technology with a performing technology in less than 20 minutes, preserving the benefits of overall skid design.

So the next time you have a technical question about a Quattroflow or are trying to tackle a difficult design challenge, contact a Holland Sales Engineer. We’d be happy to help.