Why are laboratory trials important for process development?
Feasibility testing of your application on Pope’s equipment gives you the advantage of determining the suitability of Pope Scientific technology for your separation needs. Working directly with our experienced staff provides valuable insight into determining your specific equipment requirements.
By validating your process on a small sample size first, you gain the actionable data necessary to ensure predictable scale-up, minimize development costs, and accelerate your time-to-market.
Distillation Equipment Available for Testing
Our facility provides testing capabilities across Pope’s full lineup of thermal separation technology:
- Wiped Film Evaporators (WFE): Ideal for heat-sensitive, viscous, or high-boiling-point materials.
- Molecular Stills: Engineered for high-vacuum, low-temperature separations.
- Hybrid Configurations: Fractional distillation column additions for multi-component or challenging separations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are visits allowed during Lab Trials?
Yes! Visits are allowed and encouraged. They are especially helpful if the next step is to purchase larger distillation equipment. Pope operates many different sizes of their own equipment and it is useful to see the different pieces of equipment in operation.
What does a typical Lab Trial look like?
Lab Trials at Pope are generally performed on our 2” Molecular Stil. We request about 1-2 L of material and attempt to purify it using distillation to meet our customer’s specifications. Many lab trials take one day to perform and then we return all the resulting streams to the customer for their analysis. This feasibility testing allows our customers to know if Pope’s wiped film technology is a good fit for their process.
Do you sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) prior to testing?
Absolutely. We routinely execute NDAs with our clients before receiving feed materials or proprietary process details. Protecting your intellectual property, formulation data, and trial results is a standard part of our process.
What is the typical lead time and turnaround for a lab testing project?
Testing lead times vary based on current facility scheduling and sample verification. Once feed material and SDS documentation arrive at our facility, the physical trial is usually completed in 1 to 2 weeks. Final analytical results and reported data are delivered shortly thereafter.
Request a Lab Trial Quote
Let's discuss your unique application today:
We're ready to help you navigate the journey from lab trials to pilot processing and on to commercialization, ensuring seamless transitions and optimal solutions for your product.