Microbial contamination in raw materials, production intermediates and finished products can compromise product quality, increase chemical consumption and negatively affect manufacturing processes. The best solution to microbial contamination is early, rapid and accurate detection and proactive treatment that addresses problems before they become serious.
Kemira’s LumiKem® 2nd Generation Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) technology is the cornerstone of Kemira’s advanced microbial control program. LumiKem technology is the culmination of years of experience in mineral slurry preservation combined with the newest advances in ATP technology to provide an accurate monitoring tool in a number of mineral slurry applications. The LumiKem Pigments test kit has been optimized for such applications as starch, mineral slurries (including kaolin, titanium dioxide, precipitated calcium carbonate, others), and other challenging products.
The features and benefits of Kemira’s LumiKem technology are:
- Immediate alert to the proliferation of microbial growth before it gets out of control, allowing quick corrective action
- Reduction or elimination of unnecessary biocide re-treatments as "insurance" against spoilage
- Utilization of a patented, proprietary, second-generation reagent suite to provide real-time, consistent results in high-solids, interference-laden matrices such as mineral slurries
- Utilization of the only technology known to extract 100% of ATP from substrates, providing more consistent and reliable data
- Communication of results in ATP concentration rather than Relative Light Units (RLU) ensures results that are comparable between sites and over time, independent of instrumentation and ambient conditions.
Standard plate counts as well as thin film (dehydrated versions of the conventional agar plate) analyses require 2-3 days to extract meaningful information, limiting the ability to take corrective action. By comparison, LumiKem technology provides information regarding the level of anti-microbial contamination within a matter of minutes. Furthermore, plate counts and thin films cannot culture many of the microorganisms responsible for spoilage and odor that are present in a system. LumiKem technology provides a better picture of the microbial activity for all organisms contributing to the spoilage of product.
LumiKem technology offers a better approach to optimizing biocide treatment, avoiding occurrences of "blind" re-treatment regimens and enabling confidence in treatment programs. The ability to analyze all parts of the production process allows the end-user to identify the true source of microbial contamination and prevent future recurrences.
Get to your microbiological problems before they start and take your microbiological control program to the next level with LumiKem technology. Contact your local Kemira account representative for more information.
Oil and Mining offers a large selection of innovative chemical extraction and process solutions for the oil and mining industries, where water plays a central role. Utilizing our expertise, we enable our customers to improve efficiency and productivity.
Kemira is a global two billion euro chemicals company that is focused on serving customers in water-intensive industries. The company offers water quality and quantity management that improves customers’ energy, water, and raw material efficiency. Kemira’s vision is to be a leading water chemistry company.