Mach-Aire News

May 2012

Isolator successes in South East Asia

Mach-Aire is enjoying considerable success in designing and supplying Isolators for various customers in South East Asia.

Their agents in Thailand and South Korea are very active in both the hospital and pharmaceutical sectors, resulting in orders for Safety Cabinets, Downflow Booths, aseptic and containment pharmacy Isolators, as well as complex Sterility Test Isolators.

Considerable time has been spent in training the agents both at their own offices, and also with customers in the UK, and this is now paying dividends. Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT's) with the customers at Mach-Aire's Bolton facility has also enabled agents and users alike to gain a much better understanding of the company and the technology.

Frequent visits to South East Asia have assisted in promoting the Mach-Aire brand, and the next sales visit in May will be during the Cophex (Cosmetic and Pharmaceutical Industry) exhibition in Seoul, Korea where a Mach-Aire Sterility Test Isolator will be on the Young Sciences stand.

May 2012

CFoil™ results in improved containment

Mach-Aire's exciting innovation, the CFoil™ has achieved excellent results at a number of test sites in the UK, and they have just been installed to a series of new Cupboards for a large laboratory facility in the Midlands.

The aerofoil device is designed to drastically improve the containment (robustness) performance of Fume Cupboards, regardless of the air velocity at which they are operating.

Tests have shown that on a 2m wide Fume Cupboard operating at a face velocity of 0.5m/second, a 35% improvement in containment was achieved, whilst on the same Fume Cupboard operating at 0.3 m/second, there was a 38% improvement in performance.

An improvement in the containment performance is often the main criteria for considering the CFoil™, but an added benefit is that if the face velocity can be reduced as well, it has a knock-on effect on reducing energy consumption and of course operating costs.

April 2012

Celebrating twenty years in clean air innovation

Mach-Aire Ltd was formed in 1992 with the aim of designing and supplying Fume Cupboards and complementary extraction systems to research and teaching departments in the industrial and academic markets.

It could never have been foreseen that 20 years later, the business would also be supplying impressive pharmacy Clean Rooms to major hospitals, as well as Sterility Test Isolators and other containment systems to pharmaceutical customers in China, Korea, Thailand and Singapore.

This has recently led to the formation of a joint venture company in Shanghai, China with their partners Tech-Lab Limited, the two companies meeting a number of years ago on a prestigious R & D laboratory facility for GSK in Shanghai. The organization is locally manufacturing Fume Cupboards, and also supplying Booths and Isolators.

Excellent design and the desire to push the boundaries of airflow development have been the key to the ongoing success of Bolton based Mach-Aire Limited. Product development never stops, and more recently this has involved the development of both low carbon and low energy usage Fume Cupboards designed to help the environment.

Mach-Aire will continue to develop its global business by offering design innovations and solutions to the needs of our diverse customer base, wherever they may be.

February 2012

Mach-Aire (Shanghai) awarded Downflow Booth project for Beijing company

Mach-Aire (Shanghai) Clean Air Technology Ltd, the Mach-Aire JV which became operational in March last year has successfully been awarded its first Downflow Booth purchase order. A local pharmaceutical manufacturer in Beijing has specified a 6m wide Booth to be used to control hazardous dusts whilst dispensing and vacuum transferring powdered product to a mixing vessel. A further two weigh stations for handling small volume products have also been specified, and will be delivered at the same time.

The complex layout will involve very close co-operation between the customer, the Shanghai based design team and the UK project engineers, and will result in the manufactured equipment undergoing a Factory Acceptance Test in the spring. Installation and full validation will then follow immediately after delivery to site.

Mach-Aire in the UK hosted the Chinese customers in December, and they were able to visit recent installations at UK sites, before concluding their visit, and discussing other potential projects at the Mach-Aire facility in Bolton.

Darren Hughes the General Manager of Mach-Aire (Shanghai) Clean Air Technology said "We are very pleased to have secured what we will hope will be the first of a number of contracts from our customer. Apart from this Booth project we are also working very closely with them on projects for Sterility Test Isolators, and hence the visit to similar installations in the UK".

January 2012

French healthcare project for Mach-Aire

Mach-Aire, the Bolton based innovators in clean air technology have been successful in obtaining a contract for a two glove Positive Pressure Isolator for the Laboratoire de Therapie Cellulaire in the south of France. This adds another installation to their growing international customer base.

The IPP-120 Isolator with twin transfer hatches, will be used on stromal cell work within their Grade C Clean Room. Specifically, it will be used for cell harvesting and the sterile transfer of cells from one container to another.

The Grade A environment in the Isolator and the physical barrier between the product and the technician ensures optimum operating conditions, whist the ergonomic design and variable height adjustment of the Isolator means the unit is easy to use. A high quality stainless steel finish with a flat working base with large radius corners reduces cleaning time and eliminates dirt traps, which was a critical requirement by the end user.

This complex Isolator will involve very close co-operation between the customer and the Mach-Aire design team and will result in the manufactured equipment undergoing a full Factory Acceptance Test in the Spring. Installation and full validation will then follow immediately after delivery to site.

Mike Davies, the Sales & Marketing Director of Mach-Aire added "Our wealth of experience in clean air technology has enabled Mach-Aire to secure this project allowing us to add another customer to our expanding installation list in the pharma and biotech sector".

October 2011

Patent Applied (UK Application No. 1117890.2) for CFoil

Mach-Aire are pleased to confirm that they have just received "Patent Applied for" status for CFoil, an exciting innovation developed by Mach-Aire engineers, at their facility near Bolton.

The aerofoil device is designed to drastically improve the containment (robustness) performance of their Fume Cupboards, regardless of the air velocity at which they are operating.

Tests have shown that on a 2m wide Fume Cupboard operating at a face velocity of 0.5 metres per second, a 35% improvement in containment was achieved, whilst on the same Fume Cupboard it was 38% better when operated at 0.3 metres per second.

By improving the containment of the Fume Cupboard, there is less need for an increased face velocity, and hence energy consumption and operating costs can be reduced.

Additional details will be available in due course, but if you would like to discuss this further with Mach-Aire, then please contact us directly.