DIY sterile box for filling vials

[Samael]

Hey fellas,
Recently I was homebrewing with syringe filter to closed sterile vial,
however when i've inspected vial against light, there were some particles floating inside of the vial.
Im not sure how could they get there since vial was sealed and sterile.
Could such a particlel get inside trough nylon 0.22u syringe filter?

So after this I thought to construct a sterile box with with fan blowing fresh clean air through high grade hepa filter, and second fan suckin out air to keep the flow.
here is kinda basic design draw in paintjob.
You get the idea.
Anyone tried, used such a thing for transfering sterile homebrew to sterile vials?
Thanks everyone for input!

 

[daylight driller]

Looks like a pretty good investment as far as time and space wise. Why not get sterile bottle top filters and a vacuum pump. For a 3 cfm vacuum pump on ebay $50-$75 and a case of filters on amazon for under $100

 

[Samael]

Looks like a pretty good investment as far as time and space wise. Why not get sterile bottle top filters and a vacuum pump. For a 3 cfm vacuum pump on ebay $50-$75 and a case of filters on amazon for under $100

I agree with you, however I got only small amount of raws now,
and my dilema is if I can filter lets say testosterone propionate through bottle top filter, about 100ml and then flush the filter with pure oil, and then filter anouther compound, lets say NPP.
I wouldnt want to waste whole bottle top filter for just 100ml of brew.

I've found better picture for sterile box:

I've found HEPA filter which filters 99.9% particles smaller then 0.3 microns,
Machine which uses this filter is rated for 350 cubic meter/h,
so strapping two 140mm CPU fans each with 150 cubic meter/h should do the trick.
This filter is quite big so it would be possible to cut it in half, and use those halfs as in and out airflow, with 2 , one on each hepa filter.
That would be some serious sterile box for safe homebrew makin

 

[janoshik]

I agree with you, however I got only small amount of raws now,
and my dilema is if I can filter lets say testosterone propionate through bottle top filter, about 100ml and then flush the filter with pure oil, and then filter anouther compound, lets say NPP.
I wouldnt want to waste whole bottle top filter for just 100ml of brew.

I've found better picture for sterile box:

I've found HEPA filter which filters 99.9% particles smaller then 0.3 microns,
Machine which uses this filter is rated for 350 cubic meter/h,
so strapping two 140mm CPU fans each with 150 cubic meter/h should do the trick.
This filter is quite big so it would be possible to cut it in half, and use those halfs as in and out airflow, with 2 , one on each hepa filter.
That would be some serious sterile box for safe homebrew makin

No, 2 CPU fans won't do the trick.

They are not designed to work against a resistance, such as HEPA filter.

The flows don't add.

Calling is "serious sterile box" is akin to a bad joke - don't get the idea that anything under such DIY box will be sterile.

 

[Samael]

No, 2 CPU fans won't do the trick.

They are not designed to work against a resistance, such as HEPA filter.

The flows don't add.

Calling is "serious sterile box" is akin to a bad joke - don't get the idea that anything under such DIY box will be sterile.

Well that fan is rated 158,5 CFM, thats quite a bit of a airflow.
I was thinking too about industrial fan/blower with around 300 CFM.
Particular hepa filter im talking about is rated for 214 CFM/365 m³/h

This one would do the trick
Centrifugal industrial extractor fan blower 1850 RPM; 350 m3/h; 230 V | eBay
Rated 350 cubic m/hr should be quite enough for hepa filter rated max 365 cm/hr
dont you think?

Maybe i should rephrase it to CLEAN BOX rather sterile, if that would float your boat more
Its better then doing it in a room with all dust and particles floating around

 

[ickyrica]

I was looking at hepa units for this same idea and was ballparking the cost to be $500 + for the air handler & filter combo alone. This would be for a home made laminar hood, 48"w X 24"d X 36"h. I saw units that seemed appropriate to filter and correctly 'pressurize' a small work space. Asking price on those were that of a used car.

 

[Samael]

I was looking at hepa units for this same idea and was ballparking the cost to be $500 + for the air handler & filter combo alone. This would be for a home made laminar hood, 48"w X 24"d X 36"h. I saw units that seemed appropriate to filter and correctly 'pressurize' a small work space. Asking price on those were that of a used car.

Could you please specify the costs how did you get to 500$ ?
Were you looking for something like this?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/222616339635?item=222616339635&rmvSB=true
HEPA filter I was checking costs like 30$ its about 100cmx50cm big, rated for 0.3micron.
Suitable fan - blower - around 90$ with shipping.
Then some plexi glass sheets, etc...
For a small working area - a box of lets say 120cm x 60 or something like that, would this work?
I mean its still better then fiddling with sterile vials and sterile homebrew in sterile media bottle, somewhere in the room which is full of floating dust and what not

 

[janoshik]

Well that fan is rated 158,5 CFM, thats quite a bit of a airflow.
I was thinking too about industrial fan/blower with around 300 CFM.
Particular hepa filter im talking about is rated for 214 CFM/365 m³/h

This one would do the trick
Centrifugal industrial extractor fan blower 1850 RPM; 350 m3/h; 230 V | eBay
Rated 350 cubic m/hr should be quite enough for hepa filter rated max 365 cm/hr
dont you think?

Maybe i should rephrase it to CLEAN BOX rather sterile, if that would float your boat more
Its better then doing it in a room with all dust and particles floating around

I'm still not sure that it can work against the pressure the HEPA filter does - but I'm no expert in the field.

Just wanted to warn ya, I've been present at a site where they dealt with that kind of a problem and I can't imagine CPU fan working in that kind of scenario.

It might not seem as such, but for getting any significant airflow through HEPA filter you need one hell of a strong fan. Think at least 700 watt vacuum cleaner strong, imo.

 

[ickyrica]

My thought was something like this with an appropriate connection to the hood. Again, this would be for a smaller, self contained work space.

Thoughts?

 

[Samael]

I'm still not sure that it can work against the pressure the HEPA filter does - but I'm no expert in the field.

Just wanted to warn ya, I've been present at a site where they dealt with that kind of a problem and I can't imagine CPU fan working in that kind of scenario.

It might not seem as such, but for getting any significant airflow through HEPA filter you need one hell of a strong fan. Think at least 700 watt vacuum cleaner strong, imo.

I agree with you, CPU fans would not work at all, in regards of one of the hell of a strog fan, from what I've researched it works like this:

Every filter has a different static pressure at the working point. The working point is where the amount of the air flowing through the filter is sufficient to meet the requirement of the laminar flow.

The static pressure is expressed in inch of water column in the English units, a typical value would be 1", the SI unit for pressure is Pa(Pascal).

1" water column is around 250 Pa. Each filter has a data sheet (consult the manufacturer if this is not the case with your filter) where the static pressure at the working point is entered. Before the air enters the blower it is usually pre-filtered by a furnace filter around 1"(2.5cm) thick placed in front of the blower to protect it and the HEPA filter from big particles like dust and hairs. It can be assumed that the static pressure for this prefilter at the working point is around 0.2"(50 Pa)

So if I woulduse filter with 1"(250Pa) static pressure and a furnace prefilter with a static pressure of 0.2"(50Pa) I would need blower that must deliver 200 cfm(340m3/h) of air at a static pressure of 1.2"(300Pa).

Above mentioned FAN from ebay would according to its specs table handle it quite well:

 

[Samael]

View attachment 75711
My thought was something like this with an appropriate connection to the hood. Again, this would be for a smaller, self contained work space.

Thoughts?

lol, looks quite fancy hehe, never seen those before, I'll take a look

 

[ickyrica]

They are portable hepa units, listed under medical grade but it is Amazon. Could be incorrect. They come in -/+ and assorted power. Seems like a very adaptable system if you're crafty.

 

[Samael]

They are portable hepa units, listed under medical grade but it is Amazon. Could be incorrect. They come in -/+ and assorted power. Seems like a very adaptable system if you're crafty.

im Looking at it and it looks quite fucking well tbh.
the price is quite steep but its a portable package, you'll just connect it to clean box/room, have a other hepa filter there where air can be pushed and there you go.
not too bad

can't find it in europe tho, tax and customs fees would be killer for me.
So best I can do is to replicate what this thing does,
wont be looking so fancy or wouldnt be that portable but it would do its job.

 

[ickyrica]

im Looking at it and it looks quite fucking well tbh.
the price is quite steep but its a portable package, you'll just connect it to clean box/room, have a other hepa filter there where air can be pushed and there you go.
not too bad

I'm by far a leading mind with this. If it can be done better, cheaper, whatever I'm all ears. All in all seems like it would be a good fit but like you said its not price friendly

 

[Samael]

I'm by far a leading mind with this. If it can be done better, cheaper, whatever I'm all ears. All in all seems like it would be a good fit but like you said its not price friendly

well yeah you can go cheaper,
you just need hepa filter, and fan that is suited for HEPA filter you will choose.
It's all explained quite well in here:
Laminar Flow Hood - Build a HEPA filter flowhood | Fungifun

We would be using it however in positive pressure mode - clean room/box instead of laminar flowhood mode,
to protect vials from contamination while filling.
exactly like i that picture i've posted before.

Negative pressure is to protect operators and environment against contamination. Ideal for lab operations such as pharmaceutical powder packaging that generate particle contaminants . Incoming air is passed through Hepa/ Ulpa filter to remove particles; Optional second HEPA/ULPA or activated carbon filter to remove contaminants /fumes from the exhaust air.
Positive pressure filtration glovebox is to protect samples against airborne particles. Sample protection is provided by capturing room air, passing the air through a Hepa/Ulpa filter into the chamber and returned to the room through optional HEPA filter.

so in short:
find HEPA filter
find suitable fan/blower

put it together and attach it to your clean box/room

 

[Samael]

This pro unit costs around 2500$ but it does the same thing as DIY version for couple of 100 bucks.

 

[ickyrica]

This pro unit costs around 2500$ but it does the same thing as DIY version for couple of 100 bucks.

Baller.

I saw this on a recent jobsite. Not sure if it is - or + or both? It's like 48" wide. Room for days.

 

[Samael]

Baller.

I saw this on a recent jobsite. Not sure if it is - or + or both? It's like 48" wide. Room for days. View attachment 75712

That looks like a laminar flow hood.
A good one diy is little pricier to make, then glove box, you need some bigass filters and whatnot
But i think thats what its used in pharmacy anyways.

http://www.laminarflows.co.uk/ (Types of Laminar Flow Cabinets – Uses and Benefits – Information Guide)

 

[Samael]

Baller.

I saw this on a recent jobsite. Not sure if it is - or + or both? It's like 48" wide. Room for days. View attachment 75712

Building a DIY Flow Hood | London Biohackspace

Want to join me in little diy adventure? Hehe
You could even go overkill and install germicidal lamp.
Laminar flow cabinets may have a UV-Cgermicidal lamp to sterilize the interior and contents before usage to prevent contamination of experiment. Germicidal lamps are usually kept on for 15 minutes to sterilize the interior and no contact is to be made with a laminar flow hood during this time.

 

[master.on]

After zapcap questions

After zapcap questions



I don't think the HEPA filter + blower is really needed. It's better to make sure gaskets keep a seal, and to replace the taped filter membrane preferably every brew.

The most important thing
is to make sure the clear plastic withstands sanitizing fluids. That's why IMO glass (aquarium) is better than plastic.
Formaldehyde would be great for sterility, but you'll need to allow it to dry outdoors, or at least fully open the window.
At least wipe it squeaky clean with alcohol before each brew.
By doing so you'll have an enclosure that's actually cleaner than most surgery rooms, for less than $100 spent.