Rapid drying oven for providing rapid drying of multiple samples

A chemical compound drying system, comprising:

• a vacuum chamber which includes support for at least one plate with the chemical compounds to be dried contained within wells formed in the plate;
• a heating element connected to provide heat to said chemical compounds;
• and
• an inert gas delivery system comprising a rotatable supplying manifold suspended above said support and an evacuating manifold located below the level of said support so that said inert gas is intermittently delivered across the top of said at least one plate and into the wells within said at least one plate to conserve nitrogen while effectively removing accumulated vapor.

A rapid drying system for accelerating the evaporation of a liquid or liquids from a plurality of wells of a microtiter plate containing a plurality of chemical compounds of interest that are to be dried, comprising:

• a vacuum chamber which includes support for a plurality of microtiter plates with the chemical compounds to be dried contained within the wells formed in said plates;
• a heating element connected to provide heat to accelerate the evaporation of said liquid or liquids and to dry said chemical compounds;
• and
• an inert gas delivery system connected to supply a substantial flow of inert gas across the top of said plates supported by said support.