Pharmaceutical Industry

Applications

Pharmaceutical Industry

Air treatment for the pharmaceutical industry

The pharmaceutical sector is among the most highly regulated industries. For good reason. The products manufactured in pharmaceutical plants can ease suffering and save lives. To do so, however, their production must meet stringent quality standards. And that begins with very clean compressed air. Pneumatech offers a complete range of air treatment solutions to achieve the compressed air quality standards pharmaceutical companies must meet.

The use of compressed air in the pharmaceutical industry

Compressed air plays a crucial role in virtually every phase of the production of pharmaceuticals. Just consider the laboratories in which they are developed, the extruders and bottling plants, tablet presses and packaging machines. Compressed air really can be found everywhere in the production process.

In many applications, such as mixing and granulation, drying, pressing, coating and packaging, this compressed air comes into direct contact with the pharmaceuticals. When that happens, the air has to meet certain quality standards, or you risk contaminating your pharmaceuticals.

The importance of quality air in pharmaceutical production

All untreated compressed air contains contaminants, which can be divided into 3 categories: moisture, particles, and traces of oil. It would be disastrous for this untreated air to get in direct contact with pharmaceutical products. That is why the treatment of the air is a top priority – not only to protect your products but also your equipment.

Fortunately, different technologies are available to ensure that the air meets the stringent air quality requirements of the pharmaceutical industry: Particles can be removed using filters, while moisture and water are adressed through aftercoolers, dryers, water separators, condensate drains, and additional filtration. To eliminate oil contamination, filters and carbon towers can be used, or an oil-free, Class 0 compressor can be implemented.

The compressed air quality standard

ISO 8573-1:2010 is the international standard that categorizes compressed air quality. Pharmaceutical processes typically require class 1.2.1 or 1.3.1.

Purity class	Solid particles			Water		Total oil
	Number of particles per m3			Pressure dewpoint		Concentration
	0.1 < d ≤ 0.5 μm**	0.5 < d ≤ 1.0 μm**	1.0 < d ≤ 5.0 μm**	°C	°F	mg/m3
0	As specified by the equipment user or supplier and more stringent than Class 1.
1	≤ 20000	≤ 400	≤ 10	≤ -70	≤ -94	≤ 0.01
2	≤ 400000	≤ 6000	≤ 100	≤ -40	≤ -40	≤ 0.1
3	-	≤ 90000	≤ 1000	≤ -20	≤ -4	≤ 1
4	-	-	≤ 10000	≤ 3	≤ 37.4	≤ 5
5	-	-	≤ 100000	≤ 7	≤ 44.6	-
6	≤ 5 mg/m3			≤ 10	≤ 50	-

Germ-free/sterile air: other compressed air quality standards pharmaceutical must meet

ISO 8573-1 does not define values for germs/micro-organisms. However, germ-free compressed air is extremely important for pharmaceutical manufacturing processes. That's because germs and micro-organisms can compromise products and endanger the health of the consumer. It is therefore important to remove them from compressed air using specialized technologies such as sterile filters.

The dryer that meets pharmaceutical production needs

Meeting the compressed air quality standards pharmaceutical companies must comply with requires the right dryer. The Pneumatech PB is that adsorption dryer:

Quality air: Get high-purity compressed air with a stable pressure dew point to achieve ISO 8573-1:2010 Class 1, 2 & 3 at 100% load conditions.
Lower costs: Thanks to its best-in-class efficiency, the PB range keeps your energy costs as low as possible.
Superior reliability: No pharmaceutical company can afford production downtime. Thanks to the PB’s quality components and durable design, you enjoy industry-leading reliability.
Advanced control and monitoring: Our advanced PurelogicTM Touch is included as standard to allow you to optimize efficiency and reliability.

A wide range of filters

Pneumatech has a full range of filters to make sure your compressed air meets all particle, oil and moisture content quality requirements. Our portfolio includes oil coalescing, particulate and oil vapor filters, as well breathing air, silicone-free, sterile and process filtration.