08 July 2010
GEA Pharma Systems hosted a hands-on seminar entitled Freeze Drying and Automatic Loading and Unloading Systems (ALUS®) at the GEA Lyophil facility at Hürth, Germany on 8 June 2010. The event was attended by 20 participants from six different countries and three continents.
The day was set up as a combination of lectures on the latest developments in freeze drying technology and a tour of the facility with projects in various phases: these included one integrated project in FAT stage involving six freeze dryers and loading systems. The last part of the programme was dedicated to real life demonstrations of freeze drying equipment.
The seminar covered a number of important elements of the pharmaceutical freeze drying process. These included: the fundamentals of freeze drying, including optimization techniques; the opportunities for energy saving and the reduction of cycle times; leak detection of silicone oil using mass spectroscopy for increased product safety; the design of ALUS® equipment; and gasket management to optimize plant maintenance.
Picture (right):
Compact ALUS® with RABs showing minimal base plate depth.
These lectures were complimented by two hands-on demonstrations. One covered the automatic loading and unloading of a production scale freeze dryer; the other was a demonstration of an in-line detection system for silicone oil traces on a similar machine. Both demonstrations were very well received by the participants who all enjoyed the opportunity to ‘have a go’ at operating the equipment.
The day was a great success and GEA Lyophil intends to repeat it as soon as possible covering further hot topics in freeze drying.
GEA Pharma Systems is dedicated to innovation and thereby providing durable quality through its well-established brands: Aeromatic-Fielder™ and Collette™ - batch and continuous granulation, drying, pelletizing and coating; Buck® - contained materials handling; Courtoy™ - tablet compression; and Lyophil™ - pharmaceutical freeze drying.
For further editorial information contact:
Steve Jordan - The Words Workshop Ltd.
26 Swanwick Lane, Milton Keynes, MK10 9LD
Tel: (44) (0) 1908 695500 Fax: (44) (0) 1908 690099
E-mail: steve@thewordsworkshop.co.uk
Web: www.thewordsworkshop.co.uk
For further business information contact:
Hubert Kluetsch - Director Sales and Marketing
GEA Lyophil GmbH
Kalscheurener Str. 92 50354 Huerth Germany
Tel: +49 (0) 2233/6999-220 Fax: +49 (0) 2233/6999-8220
E-mail: lyophil@geagroup.com
www.geapharmasystems.com
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