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We are celebrating a big "O" at LAUDA, the world market leader in temperature control equipment and systems. President and CEO, Dr. Gunther Wobser has reached his half-century. With a degree and doctorate in business administration, he is the third generation of the family to manage the company. With its headquarters in Lauda-Königshofen, LAUDA was founded by his grandfather, Dr. Rudolf Wobser in 1956.

After completing his studies and gaining initial experience in an international corporation, Dr. Gunther Wobser began his career as Head of Marketing in July 1997. He has been managing the temperature control specialist as President and CEO since 2003. Dr. Gunther Wobser shared responsibility with his father, Dr. Gerhard Wobser until 2010. Today he is actively supported by the two managing directors, Dr. Mario Englert and Dr. Marc Stricker.

International expansion of the temperature control specialist

An important focus of Dr. Gunther Wobser's work is the internationalization of the medium-sized company. He founded the first foreign subsidiary, LAUDA France S.A.R.L., in 2005, and LAUDA has a total of nine sales companies abroad today. In addition to founding new companies, the business administration graduate acquired a total of four companies, three of which are located abroad. With the most recent addition, LAUDA-GFL Gesellschaft für Labortechnik mbH in Burgwedel near Hanover, Dr. Gunther Wobser expanded the LAUDA Group with a fifth production location and supplemented the product range in the key market of laboratories. The company's turnover has grown steadily from around 18 million euros in 1997 to around 92 million euros today. In the same period, the number of employees increased from 180 to 520 today, with more than 100 of them outside Germany. Even in the current challenging times, the largest employer in Lauda-Königshofen is managing without short-time working and continues to hire. The highest number of trainees in the company's history with nine new additions was reported recently. The global family-owned company is known for fair treatment of its qualified employees and enjoys an excellent reputation both regionally and in professional circles.

A leading role in innovation and digitalization

With his current focus on innovation and digitalization, Dr. Gunther Wobser continues to drive the LAUDA success story forward. He ran the company from the Silicon Valley location for one year as of July 2017 and established new.degree, his own innovation laboratory, which is now part of the newly created innovation team in Germany. A facility was also opened in September in the new "Maschinenraum" in Berlin, an innovative collaboration platform for medium-sized businesses. In addition to directing idea management, the tasks include testing ideas outside the core business and co-operating with start-ups, such as the multiple award-winning heating specialist watttron. So it is appropriate that the pioneer has recorded his insights in a book to be published at the Frankfurt Book Fair just in time for his birthday.

LAUDA, the world market leader for temperature control equipment and systems, has been manufacturing customer-specific refrigeration systems for pharmaceutical companies for more than 50 years. The company has now completed a cryogenic cooling system for use in a pharmaceutical freeze-drying plant. This enables pharmaceutical substances to be gently frozen at -80 °C. The order was placed by Martin Christ Gefriertrocknungsanlagen GmbH, one of the world's leading freeze-dryer companies with more than 70 years of experience in this field. Martin Christ relies on the expertise of LAUDA for the reliable provision of the deep-freeze environment. A Kryopac Secondary Circuit Unit from LAUDA Heating and cooling systems, the plant construction division of the temperature control specialist, which plans and manufactures exactly according to customer requirements, provides the requisite cooling capacity.

Drugs and vaccines are essential for the treatment of diseases and the health of people worldwide. Since many drugs would only have a short shelf life when dissolved in water, the pharmaceutical industry relies on gentle freeze-drying for longer preservation. LAUDA was quickly chosen as the cryogenics expert for Martin Christ for the manufacture of a freeze-drying plant for an international pharmaceutical company. Apart from LAUDA's comprehensive know-how, the two companies have enjoyed a successful working relationship for many years. "We are specialists for extremely low temperatures and have been able to gain valuable experience in this field over many years", emphasizes Ralph Herbert, the project manager for Heating and cooling systems.

Liquid nitrogen provides temperatures down to -115 °C

Precise temperature control for the freeze-dryer is provided by a LAUDA Kryopac Secondary Circuit Unit, which enables cryogenic reactions to be safely controlled. The possibility of individual temperature control of the shelves and the ice condenser is of great importance in this refrigeration system. But the Kryopac, a heat exchanger specially developed for the evaporation of liquid nitrogen, is the heart of the system. Liquid nitrogen boils at -196 °C and is therefore particularly suitable as a refrigerant for applications which require extremely low temperatures. Depending on the design of the Kryopac system, temperatures down to -115 °C are possible in the secondary refrigerant oil circuit. The -80 °C required for the freeze-dryer is therefore reached quickly and exactly to the degree. Liquid nitrogen is also a non-flammable refrigerant which is preferred not only by the end customer but also by the pharmaceutical industry in general. Other advantages include economic, safety and environmental aspects, such as low investment costs and lack of waste products. Depending on the specification of the application, the nitrogen requirement can be decreased by adapting the control system designed by LAUDA, thereby significantly reducing operating costs.

The heat technology of the Kryopac system is derived from the proven LAUDA Heat Transfer Units used by many customers. These produce a temperature-controlled liquid flow and are delivered as a compact, fully insulated, ready-to-connect system with a control cabinet. The benefit: There are no freezing problems in the heat exchangers here. Precise temperature control, compact design and high plant availability were particularly important for Martin Christ's customer. The LAUDA Kryopac Secondary Circuit Unit also meets these requirements without any problems.

Freeze-drying makes use of a physical phenomenon

Freeze-drying is an extremely gentle preservation method, as the chemical properties of the source substances are not changed. All the active ingredients in pharmaceutical products are therefore preserved. This type of preservation is also used for sample preparation in laboratories, in the food industry or archeology, for example to preserve wet leather or wood.

The refrigeration system of the Kryopac system cools the shelves on which vessels filled with drugs are placed with a cooling capacity of 30 kW at -80 °C and freezes the pharmaceuticals in two and a half hours. Heat is supplied during evacuation, the removal of air by creating a vacuum. This results in a physical phenomenon called sublimation: The frozen water evaporates without liquefying. The drug is dried directly from the frozen state. The resulting water vapor is deposited on the ice condenser of the freeze-dryer in the form of ice crystals. The ice condenser is maintained at a temperature of -80 °C by the Kryopac system. A complete freeze-drying process typically takes 48 hours.

The Kryopac system was initially completely tested at LAUDA and then subjected to a further thorough inspection as a complete system at Martin Christ before the freeze-dryer was delivered to the end customer. However, this is not the end of the cooperation. As a result of the successful working relationship and implementation of this project, Martin Christ has already ordered two more LAUDA Kryopac Secondary Circuit Units.

LAUDA, the world market leader for constant temperature equipment and systems for precise temperature generation, has extended its laboratory technology product range with the LAUDA Puridest stills product line. The devices with the 'GFL Technology' quality mark produce an ultra-pure, low-gas, sterile and pyrogen-free distillate with very low conductivity. Puridest stills are used in bacteriological and medical sample preparation and also in the preparation of cell and tissue cultures. They are also used for cleaning and sterilization processes, buffer solutions and microbiological and analytical applications. The distillate complies with the DAB regulations and the specifications of international pharmacopoeias. LAUDA Puridest stills also distill raw water of lower quality, separate pollutants, and reliably kill germs such as bacteria and viruses. 

Low-maintenance and easy to use

LAUDA Puridest stills are available throughout the world in four high-performance product lines with 14 single- or two-stage model variants in the form of stainless steel or glass stills. Depending on the model, the devices are equipped with a storage tank and produce 2 to 12 liters of distillate per hour with conductivities down to below 1.6 µS/cm. Apart from their reliability and extremely long service life, LAUDA Puridest stills are characterized by their simple handling in the daily work in the laboratory. The stills are extremely easy to commission and operate. The ultra-pure water can be extracted directly after connection to the raw water and power supply. The devices are maintenance-free, because the glass stills automatically remove pollutants. 

LAUDA Puridest stills with the "GFL Technology" quality mark

Decades of experience and technical development have set the standard: LAUDA Puridest stills are developed and manufactured by LAUDA-GFL. The company has been a member of the LAUDA group since December 31st, 2018 and is known throughout the world as a premium manufacturer of reliable laboratory technology. The use of the "GFL Technology" quality mark means that LAUDA is continuing the tradition of the GFL brand, which has been renowned for its quality and reliability in laboratories worldwide for more than 50 years.

Pure water: The Art of Distillation

Distillation is an effective and reliable way of producing pure water. The distinctive feature of distillation is that it only requires the input of energy. Compared with other auxiliary materials, such as absorbents or solvents, energy has the major advantage that it can be easily supplied to a system and removed again. As a result, stills require minimum maintenance. They are maintenance-free apart from regular cleaning. Distilled water, also referred to as aqua dest (lat. aqua destillata), is produced when steam condenses. This "pure water" is approx. 99.5 percent free of salts, organic substances, microorganisms, pyrogens and bacteria.