Pump Life Testing Of TPE Tubing
Introduction
The ability to operate biopharmaceutical tubing in a peristaltic pump can be a critical performance attribute in liquid management applications and unit processing operations. It is often the case that tubing, which has been qualified for use in welding operations, is incompatible with peristaltic pump use, and vice versa. This leads to the need to qualify multiple tubing types within a single application in order to accomplish various operations. BioFlex® TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) tubing is both weldable and pumpable, making it a versatile option for a variety of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical applications. In this technical bulletin, BioFlex® TPE pump life testing results are presented. Both non-sterile and gamma irradiated BioFlex® TPE tubing and C-Flex® 374 tubing were tested for pump life performance by subjecting samples to continuous pumping until failure was observed.
Materials and Methods
Water was continuously pumped through non-sterile and gamma irradiated ⅜” x ⅝” (ID x OD) BioFlex® TPE (Meissner, part no. 91T49G57) and C-Flex® 374 (Saint Gobain, part no. 374-375-4) tubing samples using a peristaltic Masterflex I/P pump operated at 450 RPM. Photos of each tubing sample were taken at 4 hour intervals until failure of the tubing was observed. Pumping through the BioFlex® TPE samples continued for a total duration of at least 1.5 times that of the C-Flex® 374 failure time.
Results and Discussions
The results of the tubing pump life testing for both non-sterile and gamma irradiated tubing samples are presented in Figure 1. Failure of non-sterile C-Flex® 374 tubing was observed at 34.3 hours. Non-sterile BioFlex® TPE was continuously pumped for 59.5 hours with no failure. Failure of gamma irradiated C-Flex® 374 tubing was observed at 45.0 hours, while gamma irradiated BioFlex® TPE tubing samples were continuously pumped for 67.5 hours with no failure. Tubing failure was characterized as a continuous progression of weakening in the tubing sidewall over time until fluid leaking occurred. These results indicate that BioFlex® TPE tubing exhibits enhanced pump life performance and is capable of pumping 1.5 times longer than of C-Flex® 374 tubing. The results also indicate that gamma irradiated tubing samples provide better pump life than non-sterile samples. It is known that gamma irradiation provides additional crosslinking of TPE polymers as a result of the high energy input, which is believed to enhance the resilience of the material against cyclic stress.
Conclusion
BioFlex® TPE tubing exhibits superior pump life performance with a pump life more than 1.5 times that of C-Flex® 374 tubing. These results confirm that BioFlex® TPE is a suitable tubing choice for critical biopharmaceutical pumping applications.
Figure 1. Time to failure (in hours) of non-sterile and gamma irradiated ⅜" x ⅝" (ID x OD) BioFlex® TPE and C-Flex® 374 tubing samples that were continuously pumped at 450 RPM using peristaltic pump (Masterflex I/P). Please note: BioFlex® TPE tubing did not fail and was continously pumped for more than 1.5 times longer than the C-Flex® 374 failure time.