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Accurately control pressure to push and pull liquid
Pair it with a flow sensor for accurate flow control
High precision and responsiveness for your flow regulation
Automate and control your microfluidic experiment
Designed by scientists for scientists, the versatile and powerful OB1 MK4 pressure controller provides the perfect flow control for all kinds of applications. Whether you need pressure or vacuum, low or high flow rate, for short or week-long processes and experiments, the OB1 MK4 is the ideal instrument for your microfluidic needs.
The Elveflow OB1 MK4 is the only microfluidic flow control instrument worldwide to use piezoelectric regulators. The piezoelectric technology gives you 20 times more precise and 10 times faster flow control than any other flow controller on the market.
The OB1 MK4 can be configured according to your needs. In one piece of equipment, you can have up to 4 pressure and/or vacuum channels (and other customized options). If your needs change, the instrument can be upgraded later, in any way you want.
Connect the OB1 MK4 to a standard liquid flow rate sensor (MFS) or our premium Coriolis flow sensor (BFS, suited to both liquid and gas) to directly control the flow rate in your chip. The system continuously calculates the pressure and maintains the desired and constant flow rate.
Single and intuitive software to get started in a few clicks and automate the most complex and long experiments. The SDK libraries allow you to control the OB1 MK4 using your own code while connecting it to other instruments. The MK4 is also equipped with UART communication protocol in addition to the ESI and SDKs control, allowing it to communicate with most control systems, such as Mac, Linux, Arduino, PLC.
The OB1 MK4 can be used on a bench setup or embedded in your own product. Elveflow has a solution for every step of your research & development. Discover our OB1 MK4 OEM solution.
For all the publications using our products, please click here.
For all the application notes and reviews based on our product, please click here.
This table summarizes the main specifications of the Elveflow® OB1 MK4 pressure controller. To provide quality & performance, all of our instruments are tested and calibrated independently (response time, stability, repeatability… ) after being assembled and all test results are kept.
Non-contractual information, may be changed without notice
(1) Max pressure value might vary by +/- 2.5% (2) Pressure stability (standard deviation) measured over the full pressure range with an external high accuracy pressure sensor (Druck DPI150) (3) Time required to reach 5% of the setting point. Depends on the computer operating system (4) Time required to reach 95% of the set point. Volume dependent – Measurement was done on 12 mL reservoir for a set point from 0 to 200 mbar (5) A vacuum source is mandatory for calibration and use of dual channels even if the channels are to be used in pressure only.
The performances of the OB1 (for example, the pressure stability) is tied to the full operating pressure range.
In order to achieve optimum performance, we recommend our users to choose the smallest pressure range that covers the required experimental pressures.
By coupling a MFS or BFS flow sensor to the OB1 flow controller, you can use the software to directly control the flow rate by directly inputting the flow rate value.
The software uses a PID loop to control the flow rate by setting automatically the pressure to reach the requested flow rate. Doing so, you can benefit of the best of the two worlds to get a fast and precise (pressure driven) volume flow rate (flow sensor).
Pressure and flow sensors can be connected directly to the OB1 MK4. The sensors can be used in passive mode (for monitoring only) or active mode (to enslave).
Yes, you will need a pressure source to work with the OB1 pressure controller.
You can either use the air supply of your lab if there is one, use a compressed air bottle or use an air compressor. Elveflow has selected a compressor that is perfectly fitted for most application using the OB1.
If your OB1 has a vacuum channel, you will need a vacuum pump. Elveflow also proposes a selected pump that work perfectly with the OB1.
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Unboxing video
ESI is Elveflow’s dedicated software interface, built to make experimenter’s life better. It is perfectly adapted for the control of simple and advanced setups and workflow automation. It integrates several modules that make time-consuming and painful tasks so simple. It comes with SDK libraries to control Elveflow system from your own code.
The OB1 control window allows to:
“We are using the device extensively at the moment and I have been quite impressed by its capabilities”Dr. Hayden Taylor, University of California, Berkeley, United States OB1 flow controller user
“I found the systems quite robust and easy to connect and use”Martino Chiara - deMello Group, ETH Zurich, Switzerland Droplet pack user
“The OB1 is performing so well and we are very impressed by its behavior so far.”Eric Pedrol Ripoll, Facultat de Quimica, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, SpainOB1 flow controller user
“The Elveflow OB1 enables us precise pressure and flow control and measurement in various microfluidic and lab scale projects from tissue engineering to membrane filtration analysis. ”Arne Lüken, Chemical Process Engineering at RWTH Aachen, GermanyOB1 flow controller user
“We are the proud owners of an OB1 we bought about a decade ago. It is still going strong. We would like to ask for a quote for another OB1.”Dr. David Tadres, University of California, Santa BarbaraOB1 flow controller user
“After an easy installation, we are now using the OB1 and flow sensors routinely and are very satisfied by both the flow stability and the software's user-friendly interface.”Nelson BC Serre and Matyáš Fendrych, Cell Growth Lab, Department of Experimental Plant Biology, Charles University, Czech RepublicOB1 flow controller user
“We have used Elveflow's products for about 9 years now and are big fans, and have made lots of recommendations to friends in Wageningen and the Netherlands. They are so easy to use, reliable and the pricing is sharp. We are very happy customers! ”Prof. Dr. Joris Sprakel, Physical Chemistry and soft Matter, Wageningen university, NetherlandsOB1 flow controller user
“I've extensively used Elveflow systems in the World's most Brilliant X-ray source. Elveflow systems are precise, controlled and adaptive to many samples under adverse conditions.”Pushparani Micheal Raj, PhD, Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Lund, Sweden & MAX IV Laboratory, Bavaria, GermanyOB1 flow controller user
“We use Elveflow instrument in several projects and they are great to work with. The LabVIEW implementation was also very successful. I hope more people can get to know the OB1 system.”Seongjin Park, Senior Engineer, IlluminaOB1 flow controller user
For more details about Pressure driven flow control, please read this application note.
By connecting a MFS or BFS Flow Sensor to the OB1 MK4, you enable direct rapid and precise regulation of the flow rate. The PID algorithm of the software reads the flow rate and adjusts the pressure accordingly to reach the target flow rate with speed and precision.
We have several pressure channel options available covering a wide range, up to 8000 mbar (116 PSI) and down to -900 mbar (-13 PSI). Choose the pressure channel that covers your experimental pressure requirements.
The OB1 MK4 is a compact module that can accommodate up to 4 channels (pressure and/or vacuum). Each module can be upgraded at any time and have channels added or changed. You can control as many channels as you want with one computer.
Need more channels on one module (8, 16, 64…. or even more)? Our custom service would design a specific pressure controller that fits your needs.
The ESI software can control up to 16 Instruments through the same interface. Thanks to TTL triggers you can synchronize your Elveflow system with any other instrument used in your laboratory (microscope or any electrical instrument … ). The Scheduler is a user-friendly tool to automate complex steps of your experiments and protocols.
Enter your targeted volume and this module will automatically adjust the flow rate at the right time to inject it.
Automatic diagnostic of the fluidic path sizing and recommendations to improve your microfluidic setup.
Do not suffer anymore because of bubbles!
Don’t lose precious time in calibration protocols.
For any help to determine what microfluidic instruments you need, you can contact us! Our experts will help you build the best microfluidic setup for your application, with our state-of-the-art microfluidic line.
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