Energy Efficient Freeze Drying Enhances Pharmaceutical Production

SP Scientific has produced a new technical brief that summarises the energy saving features available on its Hull range of production freeze drying systems.

Out of the many steps required to produce pharmaceuticals products, freeze drying is perhaps the most energy intensive of the various production processes.  Most of the energy consumed by a freeze dryer goes into the refrigeration system which must initially freeze the product and heat transfer shelves, and then condense water vapour that sublimates and desorbs out of the product during primary and secondary drying respectively.

For the last 20 years Hull production freeze dryers have been at the forefront of pioneering ever more efficient use of the energy required to drive the lyophilisation process. This new technical brief details these energy saving technical innovations and explains how they translate into energy / cost savings in pharmaceutical production.  

Smart Cool® 4.0 technology utilises the inherent flexibility of electronic expansion valves to capture greater compressor capacity under heavy loads (such as fast cooling of product) while at the same time allowing precise shelf control within +/- 1°C.  The result is that a typical Hull freeze dryer can meet or exceed the performance of other production freeze dryers using fewer and/or smaller compressors, especially when combined with MultiFlex® refrigeration.

Employing highly efficient heat transfer fluid cooled condensers, SP Scientific's proprietary MultiFlex refrigeration design enables Hull freeze dryers to meet process needs with fewer and/or smaller compressors, which results not only in significant energy savings, but overall reduced operational costs due to decreased maintenance requirements.

In addition the document describes and explains the benefits of Screw Compressor technology, Variable Frequency Drives, Water Cooled Heat Exchangers and high efficiency liquid Nitrogen refrigeration systems.