Porvair Ultravap Mistral

The Ultravap Mistral from Porvair Sciences is a fully automated solvent evaporator designed to eliminate the traditional bottleneck of manual dry-down in high-throughput laboratories. Developed in cooperation with leading liquid handling robot manufacturers – including Hamilton, Tecan, PerkinElmer, Beckman Coulter, and Agilent – the Mistral integrates seamlessly into robotic workflows. Its flat-front profile and motorised plate shuttle enable direct interfacing with robotic arms, making it ideal for walkaway automation in demanding sample preparation environments.

The Mistral offers the ability to store up to 15 user-defined evaporation programmes, each supporting five ramping stages and precise vertical movement of the sample carrier in 0.1 mm increments. This ensures accurate gas targeting and efficient evaporation across a wide range of solvents and sample volumes. The system supports interchangeable needle heads for 24-, 48-, 96- and 384-well formats, and is compatible with ANSI/SLAS-standard microplates and tube/vial holders up to 50 mm in height. Gas temperature (up to 80 °C), flow rate, and movement gradients can all be programmed, providing excellent flexibility for varied workflows and sensitive samples.

Engineered with safety and scalability in mind, the Ultravap Mistral features integrated obstacle detection, password-protected method access, and a built-in fume management system with ducting capability. For higher-throughput applications, multiple slave units can be operated in synchronisation via a master unit using CAN interface and RS232 connectivity. With its compact footprint, intuitive touchscreen interface, and automation-ready design, the Ultravap Mistral delivers fast, reproducible solvent evaporation for modern laboratory environments.