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Processed material: pharmaceutical powder
Deconditioning of pharmaceutical powder
Our client is an international manufacturer in fine chemicals for the production of pharmaceutical powders.
The managing of the discharge of drums in pharmaceutical plants is a sensitive point to avoid the risks of operator exposure. The flowability of powders is complex due to the presence of internal bags and upstream packaging processes.
In this application, the conditioning of the powder in drums is carried out downstream of a grinding/micronization stage. This operation causes an increase in the temperature of the powder and leads to a caking of the material in the drum if the conditioning is " rushed ".
The cooling of the powder in a sealed bag generally causes the product to set, which can be extremely strong, depending on the product.
The solution integrated by Palamatic Process is the emptying of the drum by tipping it into a contained space fitted with handling gloves. The drum is first attached to a pneumatic tilting chair and then inserted into the enclosure via a linear pneumatic cylinder. The drum of powder is introduced into the enclosure through an iris valve ensuring a tight seal around the drum and a secondary door acting as an airlock.
When the drum tilter is in the "up" position, the iris valve opens, letting the drum into the booth. The iris valve will strangle the drum around its periphery. After this first automatic sequence, the PLC authorises the operator to open the internal door of the tipping cabin. The operator opens the drum through the handling gloves and extracts the bag in order to carry out the discharge. This drum discharge cabin is referenced under the name of DrumFlow® 02.
Due to the presence of lumps of product, a lump breaker/granulator ensures the correct granulometry before reconditioning in a container.
The Palamatic Process DrumFlow® 02 drum tilting system is flexible according to the type of application and integrates an iris valve per drum or an inflatable seal depending on the variety of drums to be emptied.
