Feature Article: Chlorine Dioxide, Part 2

By Barry Wintner, Anthony Contino, and Gary O'Neill, BioProcess International

CD has been demonstrated effective in both the aqueous and gas phases, which is highly advantageous for biopharmaceutical applications. It is easy to change CD from one state to the other. One benefit of the membrane sachet technology (see below) is that it can be used to generate an aqueous solution that can be stored until needed. To release the CD for gas-phase use, the stock solution is sparged with air or nitrogen and resulting vapor directed to the work area. When an equipment generator is used to produce gaseous CD, aqueous solutions can be formed by exposing the gas to water in some type of contacting device (e.g., a packed column). For gaseous uses, depending on the volume and configuration of the treatment area, fans may be needed to circulate the CD vapor.