Microfluidic reservoir block heater

[E-RESHEAT01]

    Compact digital block heater

    Heat fluid reservoirs during your microfluidic experiment

    The block heater is a heating dry bath incubator that sets the temperature between ambient +2°C ~ 100°C. The temperature controller device comes with different blocks to fit three reservoir sizes: one half-block with three 50 mL reservoir inserts, one half-block with six 15 mL reservoir inserts, and one quarter-block with six 1.5 mL reservoir inserts. A heat insulator block and a plastic lid are also included.

    Buy onlineSpecifications
    Main benefits
    • compact
      Compact
      Uses minimum bench space
    • Intuitive
      Easy to use
    • Versatile
      Compatible with various reservoir sizes

    Features of the block heater

    Compact

    The dry digital block heater for lab tube temperature control is a small device (18.5 cm square) that is easy to place on a laboratory bench. The surface loss is minimized.

    Versatility

    The reservoir heater is sent with 3 blocks to make it compatible with reservoirs of 1.5, 15 and 50 mL, which allows for maximum tube size versatility.

    Precise and fast heating

    The temperature control is precise  and reaches the desired values in an average of 16 minutes.

    Easy to use

    Connect your reservoirs to your pressure-based flow controller and place them on the temperature controller, in the compatible insert.

    Related applications

    Why is it important to control the temperature in a microfluidic system?

    Temperature control is a critical aspect of microfluidic systems because it can significantly affect the behavior and performance of the system. Here are a few reasons why temperature control using a reservoir block heater is important for microfluidic systems:

    1. Cellular viability

    Human cells grow in-vivo in specific conditions, and any slight modification of the environment may affect the cellular viability and their ability to grow and fulfill their functions. In particular, temperature changes have dramatic effects on cellular viability, hence the necessity to accurately control the temperature in a microfluidic cell culture.

    2. Reaction kinetics

    Many microfluidic systems involve chemical reactions or biochemical processes that are temperature-dependent. For example, enzymes used in many biological assays are highly sensitive to temperature, and slight changes in temperature can affect their activity and specificity. Therefore, precise temperature control is essential to ensure the accuracy and reproducibility of such reactions.

    3. Fluid properties

    The viscosity and surface tension of fluids used in microfluidic systems can be highly dependent on temperature. This can affect the flow rate, mixing, and separation of fluids in microchannels, which can ultimately impact the performance of the system.

    4. Biomolecular interactions

    Biomolecular interactions such as binding and folding of proteins can also be affected by temperature. For example, thermal denaturation can lead to loss of biological activity or structural changes in proteins, which can significantly impact the outcome of experiments or assays.

    5. Thermal management

    In microfluidic systems, heat dissipation can be a challenge due to the high surface-to-volume ratio of microchannels. Accurate temperature control is therefore essential to avoid thermal gradients that can affect the performance of the system and lead to inconsistent results.

    Overall, temperature control is critical for achieving accurate and reproducible results in microfluidic systems, particularly for applications involving biological or chemical reactions. The block heater helps scientists overcome this issue by constantly controlling the temperature inside the reservoirs.

    How to use the block heater in combination with Fluigent flow controllers

    The block heater, in combination with Fluigent microfluidic flow controllers and reservoir caps,allows the precise control of the fluid’s temperature while circulating it through a microfluidic channel to perform different types of experiments (cell study under controller biochemical environment, production of hydrogel droplets, etc). Simply place the pressurized tube inside the block heater within the appropriate reservoir insert, and apply pressure to the tube.

    Figure 1: A 15 mL tube pressurized by a FlowEz flow pump while heated by the temperature controller

    Specifications of the block heater

    Temperature rangeAmbient +2°C to +100°C
    Display accuracy0.1
    Temperature accuracy at 37°C±0.5°C
    Operation ambient temperature+8°C to +40°C
    Heating rate16 min-1
    Dimensions185x185x25mm
    Weight< 1 kg
    Tube size compatibility1.5 mL ; 15 mL ; 50 mL

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