Shelf life of a product is an important part of quality control in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical markets. And testing oxygen permeation of packaging influences product longevity. In an effort to increase the accuracy of permeation testing, Ametek Mocon, a provider of packaging testing instruments and gas controllers and sensors, launched a new analytical instrument to measure the oxygen transmission rate (OTR) of whole packages under precisely controlled environmental conditions.
The new OX-TRAN 2/40 Oxygen Permeation Analyzer for OTR measurements, unveiled at PACK EXPO International (booth S-1454), helps users to understand precise oxygen ingress through a package. Applications include permeation testing of thermoformed trays, bottles, flexible pouches, corks, caps, and more.
According to the company, testing the oxygen permeation of whole packages has suffered in the past due to poor control of the test gas conditions if the package was tested in room air or required cumbersome set up of an independent environmental chamber that was often difficult to use. Adding to the complexity of legacy package permeation testing, package samples needed to be epoxy adhered and heat removed from reusable plates.
“With the new OX-TRAN 2/40, whole packages can now be accurately tested for OTR values at controlled humidity and temperature conditions,” says Phillip Tan, the company's director of strategic marketing. “Samples are changed easily with a new methodology. The chamber is large enough to accommodate and simultaneously test four large packages, each about the size of a two-liter soda bottle.”
Additionally, the analyzer uses the company’s next generation software platform with automated controls and simple touchscreen display. “The industry finally has a permeation instrument that is designed for accurate and easy package testing,” says Tan.
The OX-TRAN 2/40 utilizes Mocon’s industry-standard coulometric sensor, so no calibration is required, and it complies with ASTM F1307 for OTR measurements.
