Hygienic Batch Sieving Of Pharmaceutical Pellets

The pharmaceutical industry requires the highest standards of hygienic design, usability and performance across all processing equipment. Extensive research is continually carried out by suppliers to ensure the high standards of pharmaceutical manufacturers are met.

When a pharmaceutical producer sought an upgrade to an existing Russell vibratory sieving machine, a customised vibratory sieve was designed to better suit their evolving needs. The Finex 22™ is a unique and versatile high-performance pharma screening machine which has remained one of the most popular choices in the pharmaceutical industry for over 30 years, and is ideal for check-screening and grading pharmaceutical powders and pellets.

For this particular application, a double-deck Finex 22™ was supplied fitted with a 1600µ mesh on the top deck and a 800µ mesh on the bottom deck. This allowed the customer to grade small batches of product. The bottom mesh included a scroll frame to ensure a better flow of the material across the entire screening area is achieved. An easy-clean magnetic grid separator was also fitted to the bottom deck to ensure any ferrous contamination was sieved anf removed before the material progresses further down the process line. The machine was supplied in high quality 316L stainless steel and was fully mirror polished to a documented 0.2-0.6Ra value.

As this vibrating screen machine needed to be at a certain height to fit in with the existing process line, the sieve was supplied on a stand. However, due to regulations the stand cannot exceed a certain height. To ensure the machine was of the height requested by the customer, an extended base was also added. An enclosed system was needed to transfer the product from the sieve to the next stage in the process. The discharge from the outlet was angled downwards and fitted with tri-clamp assembly to enable the material to pass straight to a drum via a flexible connector to the drum. As the machine was to be used within different processing lines, a blanking assembly was also added to the outlet to enable the customer to close the oversize outlet when required. A final modification was the addition of a viewport to enable operators to inspect the material as it is being screened.

Common with pharmaceutical processing equipment supply, prior to despatching the machine a Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) was carried out where the customer visually inspected the machine at the Russell Finex factory. With the FAT passed, a comprehensive Documentation Pack was then issued, which included the full FAT report, mill certification, certificates of conformity and FDA declaration letters to ensure faster validation during commissioning.

Links
Finex 22: http://www.russellfinex.com/en/separation-equipment/screening-machines/vibrating-screeners/
Customised pharma screener: http://www.russellfinex.com/en/news-and-events/high-specification-finex-22-vibrating-screener/
Sieving pharmaceutical products: http://www.russellfinex.com/en/industries/pharmaceuticals/screening-active-pharmaceutical-ingredients/