Oxygen Permeation Analyzer for Bottles, Pods, and Other Whole Package Forms

A new analytical instrument to measure the oxygen transmission rate (OTR) of whole packages at ambient environmental conditions has been launched by Ametek Mocon. The Ox-Tran 2/48 analyzer targets package permeation testing in the food, beverage, and healthcare packaging application space, where knowing the precise rate of oxygen transmitting through a package at room temperature and room humidity conditions is critical to a product’s shelf life.

The Ox-Tran 2/48 offers high-capacity testing with eight cells. Four of the cells are for testing OTR and the other four are used for conditioning packages so that they spend less time in test. Applications include permeation testing of formed trays, bottles, flexible pouches, corks, caps, and pods.

Historically, testing the oxygen permeation of whole packages suffered from messy sample preparation of the package, typically involving epoxy adhesives that were difficult to apply evenly and challenging to scrape off. Said senior product manager Jeff Jackson, “The new Ox-Tran 2/48 makes ambient OTR testing of whole packages easier and more reliable than traditional methods. Samples can be effortlessly changed with a disposable foil mounting or with application-specific cartridges that require no epoxy at all. With its eight-cell parallel operation, automated controls from our Next Generation software, and simple touchscreen display, this instrument can increase your testing efficiency while providing accurate OTR package testing in ambient conditions.”

The Ox-Tran 2/48 utilizes Mocon’s industry-standard Coulox sensor and complies with ASTM D3985 for OTR measurements.