LYOPHILIZATION IN SPACE AND ON EARTH

The technological process of drying products is quite complex, during which moisture is removed from the frozen product, in a vacuum, bypassing the liquefaction process using complex and expensive sublimation machines – offered by the Bulova company: on own equipment.

Lyophilization (or sublimation )- this is the process of dehydration (drying) products using quick freezing in a vacuum, at which moisture evaporates, bypassing the liquid phase, and passes into a gaseous state.

Substances are released from water (or other media – solvent) by converting this liquid (together with the product of course) into solid form, by freezing, and water (in the process of lyophilization) turns into steam, when a vacuum is applied to the frozen material, these vapors are removed from the air above the frozen material, without the influence of heat.

Essentially: as you know, matter has three states: liquid, solid state, steam. (we do not take plasma into account), under the influence of heat (temperatures) these states are transformed.

exist “Triple point” with a certain temperature and pressure, in which liquid (water or other solvent medium) are in three states at the same time (solid, liquid and vapor) in balance with all his physical states.

For example: water at temperature: 0,01° C and vapor pressure 611,73 Pa will move to a point of equilibrium with all three physical states. I (principle of lyophilization) with a slight decrease in temperature and pressure (or increasing vacuum) – water turns into steam without transitioning into a liquid state.

During sublimation, products are not subject to heat treatment, which is very important for proteins and other unstable substances, for example: medicines, such, as antibodies, contain immunological drugs, semi-synthetic penicillins, cephalosporins, serum.

At low temperatures, gradual, very gentle drying, the product does not lose its useful properties and taste, and upon rehydration, the appearance restores its initial properties!

The sublimation process begins at low temperatures from -70 ° C to -1 ° С. And the raw material is frozen until -40 ° С -70 ° С.

lyophilization process (sublimation) flowing, conditionally, in three stages:

1) freezing, below temperature, the same triple point of matter, which you already know about. Moreover, the type of freezing is very individual for each substance - freezing should not destroy the cells of the product with ice crystals.

2) Then the process takes place in a vacuum, which brings the substance closer to its triple point.

primary drying. Water (or solvent carrier) begins to evaporate and re-solidify on cold condensation plates sublimator at negative temperatures. At this stage, they sublimate about 95% moisture. 3) secondary drying aimed at removing unfrozen water molecules. This is a process of gently heating products (triple point heating), the maximum temperature at the edges can be positive.

Sublimation allows you to preserve all the nutrients of the product, his smell, taste, as well as color, peptide bonds in cells.

Lyophilized products also have a long shelf life – to 25 years! Practically in any temperature conditions: from -50C to + 50WITH.

The mass of sublimated products can decrease in 100 times!

Any product of animal or vegetable origin or semi-synthetic can be turned into sublimate, be it dairy products, Microorganisms (bacteria, yeast), vaccines and antitoxins, biological reagents and strains, enzymes and vitamins, squirrels, jury, blood, protein organisms and substances, oils, fruits, seed, plants and their juices.

A by-product of lyophilization can be a hydrolate of a sublimable substance.

It is impossible to sublimate at home. Sublimation or lyophilization – this is industrial drying of products and substances, this requires powerful refrigeration units, and special expensive sublimation machines, in which a vacuum and gentle heating of raw materials will be created.

Lyophilization – this is the most expensive and energy-intensive type of drying products, definitely used for especially valuable products and substances, unstable to heat, in which you need to save all properties and elements, and sometimes tissue structure and peptide bonds.

The price of the sublimated product is much higher than the price of the raw material, and the sublimation drying itself takes from several hours to several days.

Term “lyophilization” - of Greek origin ("dissolve (dry) with love”) not too common, more often use "sublimation".

Actually, the phenomenon of the transition of ice to steam was invented in 1906 year by Jacques-Arcier d'Arssoval (electrophysicist) and his assistant Frédéric Bordas at the Biophysics Laboratory of the Collège de France in Paris. U 1911 year of Downey Harris and Shackley, worked in the physiology laboratory of Saint Louis University, developed a method of freeze-drying to preserve the rabies virus (this work ultimately led to the development of the first rabies vaccine). And already in the USA it was used in the first half of the 20th century in the food industry. The first food product, which was prepared by the sublimation method - it was sublimated coffee.

The freeze drying process was developed as a commercial method, which made it possible to make the serum chemically stable and viable without the need for its cooling. Soon, After this, cryodesication was applied to penicillin and recognized as an important method of preserving biological substances. From that time, lyophilization began to be used as a preservation method. Interesting fact: documents are restored with the help of lyophilization, that are damaged by water.

However, NASA did freeze drying food – truly cosmic, this is how space food is prepared for astronauts.

And it became the most branded cosmic sublimated product on Earth – space sublimated ice cream is a classic filling, made according to the technology of cooking food for astronauts. This is regular ice cream, from which most of the water was removed (and oxygen too) using the lyophilization process.

By the way, ice cream specially developed by Whirlpool Corporation for NASA's Apollo program back in 1985 year – I have never been in space like this, but became a popular space product on Earth.

It's cosmically delicious! And a bonus from the Bulova company - all customers will definitely try the ice cream, which does not melt, and served very chilled to match the taste sensations and the name of course.

The Bulova company provides liquefaction services (sublimation) products and substances in Ukraine, of course, it is mostly complicated, especially valuable materials, which need exactly this drying method. After all, some substances, to protect proteins from denaturation during lyophilization, sublimed in special media from various chemicals. Preliminary calculations are required – technological map of sublimation for each substance. Experimental (test) sublimation of material in the company is carried out in small volumes in small sublimation dryers.

Company “Bulova” provides sublimation services for all regions of Ukraine, works with postal and transport companies for convenience. HACCP is implemented at the enterprise (the same, cosmic quality standard).