Designing freeze-drier

The Institute of Nautical Archaeology in Egypt is presently
developing a conservation laboratory in conjunction with the Supreme
Council of Antiquities and the National Maritime Museum in
Alexandria.  We are presently conserving a wide range of materials
excavated from the Sadana Island Shipwreck in the Red Sea.  Among
this material are organic materials such as leather, bone, wood (no
major ship timbers, thank God!), seeds and coconuts.

As you might guess, freeze-driers are not common appliances in the
Middle East.  Our lab is working on ways to acquire one, and
building it ourself (or finding appropriate engineering to build it
for us), would probably be much cheaper than paying import duties on
a complete system from European or US suppliers.

I have read the article in Studies (Kelly 1980; 25:176-179), about a
simple system, but I wondered if anyone else had any advice on the
proper equipment, or advances in chamber/condenser technology that I
should research before approaching suppliers/engineers here in
Egypt.  I have been in contact with two companies in the UK about
their proprietary systems, and have been cribbing from their tech
sheets, but I would still appreciate any advice. Thanks,

Howard Wellman
Director of Conservation, Institute of Nautical Archaeology-Egypt
+20 3 546 6872

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:53
                Distributed: Thursday, December 5, 1996
                       Message Id: cdl-10-53-005
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