The difference between laboratory incubator, biochemical incubator and mold incubator
May 27, 2022
Lab Biochemical Incubator for growing and maintaining microorganisms or cell cultures
"The purpose of a laboratory incubator is to provide a controlled, contamination-free environment for safe and reliable work in cell and tissue culture by regulating conditions such as temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide.
Laboratory incubators are essential for the growth and storage of bacterial cultures, cell and tissue culture, biochemical and hematological research, pharmaceutical work and food analysis. "
"Biochemical BOD incubators (Biological Oxygen Demand) are used to maintain temperature for testing tissue culture growth, storage of bacterial cultures and cultures that require a high degree of thermostatic accuracy.
The basic difference between an incubator and a BOD incubator is temperature. Universal incubators only have a heated option and typically operate at 37°C, while BOD incubators, also known as cooled incubators, have both cooling and heating options and typically operate at low temperatures such as 10°C and 21°C. "
The difference between biochemical incubator and mold incubator
1. Functional difference
The biochemical incubator does not have the functions of humidity control and disinfection, while the mold incubator has both the functions of humidity control and disinfection. Therefore, a mold incubator of the same volume is slightly more expensive than a biochemical incubator. The mold incubator is equipped with a germicidal lamp, and the biochemical incubator does not need to be installed. Mold incubators are available with or without humidification, while biochemical incubators have no humidification option. Both of them can be used for bacterial culture. If the bacterial culture does not require refrigeration, an electrically heated constant temperature incubator can also be selected.
2, The difference in use
Biochemical incubators are widely used in the culture and preservation of bacteria, molds, microorganisms, tissue cells, as well as water quality analysis and BOD detection, suitable for breeding experiments and plant cultivation. It is an important experimental equipment for scientific research institutions, colleges and universities, production units or department laboratories such as biology, genetic engineering, medicine, health and epidemic prevention, environmental protection, agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry.
Mold incubator is an experimental equipment suitable for cultivating eukaryotic microorganisms such as mold. Since most molds are suitable for growth at room temperature (25°C), some humidity is required when growing on solid substrates. Therefore, a general mold incubator consists of a refrigeration system, a heating system, an air humidifier and a cultivation room, a control circuit and an operation panel. And use a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor to keep the temperature and humidity of the culture room stable. Some special mold incubators can also be set to change the temperature and humidity with the incubation time.
Difference between Microbial incubator and Bacterial incubator
Microbial incubators, also known as "heat-only" or "standard" incubators, have heating elements that provide incubation temperatures just above ambient. If the ambient temperature in the lab is around 22°C, they can only handle incubation temperatures higher than around 27°C or even 30°C.
Bacterial incubator is used for the storage of bacterial plates and the growth of bacterial cultures at 37 degrees Celsius. These incubators are only equipped with heated temperatures; therefore, these are also called heated incubators.
Besides, Cooling Incubator
Cooling Incubator, also known as "cooled" incubators, have both cooling and heating capabilities to provide a wider temperature range - also near or even below ambient. They also typically cover a range of incubation temperatures above ambient temperature - as "microbe" or "heat-only" incubators do. The investment in refrigerated incubators is higher due to the use of more sophisticated technology.