CALIBRATION SUPPLEMENT ISO 17025 calibration benefits
At the beginning of this year, the Dutch Accreditation Council RvA approved Bronkhorst’s application to extend the scope of its ISO 17025 accredited calibration facilities. So what are the benefits?
T
hanks to the approved application to extend the scope of the calibration facilities, not only can the Centre now offer lower gas flow calibrations down to 0.15mln/min – which is applicable for all its thermal mass flow meters and controllers – but it can also calibrate, to ISO 17025 standards, its El-PRESS pressure meter and controller instrument range. According to the company,
the most important extension to the Calibration Centre is the addition of ISO 17025 calibration standards for liquids with its mini CORI-FLOW product series – it can calibrate low flow rates of 1…200g/h. Bronkhorst mini CORI-FLOW M12
and M13 Coriolis flow meters have been successfully used as the transfer standard between all laboratories, meaning the instruments are now available for National Metrology Institutes as a proven stable Transfer Standard for low flow liquid calibrations.
CALIBRATION CERTIFICATION There is an increased requirement for high accuracy ultra-low liquid flow rate and dosing instrumentation across all sectors, but in particular pharmaceutical. ISO 17025 accredited calibration certificates are essential for such industries to meet with the demanding requirements of auditing bodies and to comply with the legal requirements of British Pharmacopeia. Historically the user was forced to always send their instrumentation off site to have accredited calibration; and ISO 17025 standards for liquids was not available at the ultra-low flow rates. For the calibration of ultra-low liquid flow rate and dosing instrumentation, the highest precision is achieved using a primary, gravimetric technique. There are, however, a couple of problems with this. Firstly, the gravimetric apparatus tends to be large and suitable only for fixed installation in an environmentally controlled calibration laboratory. Secondly, as the flow rates or doses become lower, a gravimetric technique
becomes less attractive as the time of flight for each calibration point consumes more and more time. This means the calibration becomes more expensive and potentially less precise.
VALIDATION In 2014, an inter-comparison report was organised in relation to the Metrology for Drug Delivery (MeDD) in 2014. Within MeDD, various primary standards have been developed for the calibration of infusion devices and flow meters. These standards, or calibration facilities, have been developed for liquid flow rates at ambient pressure and temperature. The flow rate range per standard varies somewhat, with the combined flow rate range between 1nl/min up to 10ml/min. The goal of the inter-comparison is to validate the various standards by comparing the calibration result for a so-called transfer standard which (in this case a flow meter based on the Coriolis principle) is calibrated by all labs, after which the results are compared. Four labs of the MeDD consortium already participated in the inter- comparison, but now VSL and Bronkhorst have participated as a supplement of
the main inter-comparison. These measurements show that the standards of VSL and Bronkhorst are consistent with the harmonized value found earlier. Bronkhorst Coriolis technology can
be considered an in-line transfer calibration standard for very low liquid flow rates, offering nearly instantaneous flow readings. As a result, this makes calibration of very low liquid flow rates very fast and therefore less expensive than when using a gravimetric primary standard. As it comes with ISO 17025 accredited calibration certificates, it brings ISO 17025 accredited or traceable calibration out of the accredited laboratory and into the user’s site. Lastly, the precision of the Coriolis technology means that the change from the laboratory to on-site calibration is achieved with very little sacrifice to overall measurement precision.
Not only can the Centre now offer lower gas flow calibrations down to 0.15mln/min – which is applicable for all its thermal mass flow meters and controllers – but it can also calibrate, to ISO 17025 standards, its El-PRESS pressure meter and controller instrument range
THE BENEFITS • Accredited gas flow calibrations in the following ranges (based on Air) – Volume flow: 0.7 ml/min up to 6,650 l/min; Mass flow: 0.7 mln/min up to 6,200 ln/min
• Actual gas calibrations • Accuracy to the highest level across the world • Customer convenience: ‘one-stop service’ for purchasing flow measuring instruments with accredited calibration
• Short delivery time • Cost effective service • Qualified staff with a ‘quality-first’ approach and an eye for customers’ needs
• Gas flow calibrations for other brands is possible.
Bronkhorst T: 01223 833222
www.bronkhorst.com
INSTRUMENTATION: SUPPLEMENT | MARCH 2016
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