Technical Brief: Rotary Disk Valve

Freeze Dryers come in two fundamental configurations, either with ice condenser plates/coils contained within the same chamber as the product shelves (an internal condenser) or with the condenser plates/coils contained in a vessel separate from the chamber and the product shelves (an external condenser). Mid-size to large freeze dryers, especially those used for production, tend to have the external condenser design. (Occasionally, smaller laboratory and pilot units are made in this way as well to provide for accurate and easier scaling up of the freeze-drying process.)