Lyophilization Technology
With updated European F-Gas regulations affecting many pharmaceutical processes and calls for refrigerant products with a high Global Warming Potential (GWP) to be banned, there’s never been a better time to invest in sustainable, high-performance cooling systems for your freeze-drying projects
One of the most significant contributors to global warming is the use of fluorinated gases. Emissions from equipment that utilize them are now considered to be detrimental to the atmosphere and have an effect that’s up to 23,000 times greater than carbon dioxide. Although they’ve been regularly used in freeze dryers for decades, European Union legislation dictates that alternatives must now be found.
As such, GEA has been looking into alternative low-temperature cooling solutions that use natural refrigerants in commercial-scale freeze drying applications. As a result, the company has developed an innovative system using a combination of air cycling (Brayton or Coleman cycle) and carbon dioxide (CO2)-based cooling.
The LYOAIR® system, which has been shown to demonstrate high levels of throughput and reliability, can be operated without special ATEX requirements and/or installed in a non-ATEX equipped room. The air cycle cooler, for optimal energy utilization, is used to chill both the condenser and, indirectly, the lyophilizer shelves as well. The condenser operates as a cold oil resource during the freezing process.
The GEA CO2 booster can reach shelf temperatures down to –50 °C and is suitable for a wide range of product freezing applications. The cooling system uses natural refrigerants (air and CO2) and has a global warming potential (GWP) of 1 (equivalent to CO2). In combination with the corresponding air cycle cooler, the LYOAIR® system can reach –60 °C on the shelves and down to –90 °C on the condenser coils.
Carbon dioxide has a GWP of 1, which is considered to be the baseline figure or standard for comparison. If, for example, 1 kg of the hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) blend refrigerant R507 is expelled into the atmosphere and evaporates (becomes gaseous), this is equivalent to 3985 kg of CO2 being released (Source: AR5: IPCC V, 2014).
Not only does the LYOAIR® cooling system employ natural refrigerants that comply with current greenhouse gas regulations, it also benefits from the integration of highly efficient and economic third-party compressors. The combination of an air cycle system with a CO2 booster offers a lower energy consumption system for freeze dryers compared with a regular air cycle system and provides the full range of temperatures required for effective operation.
Further benefits include the elimination of explosive or toxic natural gases, less vibration and quieter functionality. It’s also easy to maintain and significantly less expensive to run than liquid nitrogen alternatives. Tests have already shown that the system can run for 90,000 hours (approximately 10 years of continuous operation) without the need for a major overhaul. Furthermore, the LYOAIR® system is retrofit-compatible with all GEA Lyophil freezer dryers.
From a business perspective, it’s been estimated that the annual operational costs of using liquid nitrogen is 10 times higher than using the newly developed LYOAIR® system. As such, in terms of return on investment, the energy savings would result in a capital expenditure neutral situation in less than 5 years (not including service charges). Not only that, there’s the added benefit of not polluting the atmosphere and environment with fluorinated gases, which seep into the local ground water and can be extremely difficult to remove. For large-scale freeze dryers, we’ve calculated that up to 1000 tons of CO2 equivalent can be saved per machine.
For an unbeatable combination of quality, excellent performance and sustainable operation, LYOAIR® represents a new way of meeting your long-term corporate social responsibility requirements.
For more information about the LYOAIR®’s electrical energy consumption, efficiency, cooling performance and a business case study, please take a look at our recent webinar.
Standard LYOVAC Models
LYOVAC® | LYOAIR® | ||
---|---|---|---|
Type | Shelf area | CO2 | Air |
FCM 75I | 5m² | 20kw | 6,5kw |
FCM 200 | 10m² | 2x 20kw | 2x6,5kw |
FCM 400 | 20m² | 2x 30kw | 2x11kw |
FCM 800 | 40m² | 2x 50kw | 3x11kw |
At –70°C Condenser and -20°C shelf operating temperature
Extending its range of LYOVAC™ Freeze Dryers, GEA now offers both integrated and standalone equipment for the production of small-scale batches and formulation or process development.
LYOPLUS™ mass spectrometer is a multi-purpose measurement device for pharmaceutical freeze dryers.
SMART LYO™ Freeze Dryers help reduce the cost of freeze drying while maintaining quality and performance, making validation and documentation easier and reducing delivery times.
ALUS® Automatic Load & Unload Systems minimize the risk of operator/product contamination while loading and unloading a freeze dryer.
La riduzione degli sprechi è importante per GEA e, sfruttando le potenzialità della tecnologia di liofilizzazione, possiamo trasformare le eccedenze alimentari in prodotti di valore e di lunga durata, contribuendo a ridurre gli sprechi, a prolungare la durata di conservazione e a creare maggiore resilienza nel sistema di approvvigionamento alimentare per le generazioni a venire.
Quando il produttore alimentare sudcoreano Pulmuone, attento alle tematiche ambientali, ha proposto a GEA di sviluppare una versione moderna dei tradizionali noodle freddi (naengmyeon), gli esperti di R&S di GEA si sono dimostrati pronti a cogliere la sfida. Hanno contribuito a sviluppare quello che oggi è un successo commerciale, prodotto con meno acqua ed elettricità rispetto ai metodi precedenti. Il risultato è anche fedele alle origini tradizionali del piatto e ai principi salutistici, di benessere e di sostenibilità di Pulmuone.