Compressed Air is pressurized Air with pressure higher than the pressure of Air at atmospheric pressure. It is pressurized with the help of an air compressor, which forces large volumes of Air into a smaller space.
For forcing large volume of Air into smaller spaces requires a force, which is provided by equipment called Air Compressor. When Air is released, it releases the energy stored during compressing Air.
Compressed Air is stored at higher pressure, which enables it to supply at varying pressure within the limit. Compressed Air is supplied with the help of conduits spread across different areas of the pharma facility. These conduits can withstand high pressure.
For regulating pressure, a pressure control device called Pressure Regulator is used. It is typically installed at the receiving end of the individual equipment and can provide compressed Air with varying pressure.
Application of compressed air in pharmaceutical industry
The pharmaceutical industry has diverse processes for manufacturing pharma products that require compressed air of a specific pressure. Suppose compressed air is unavailable or the required pressure is not provided. In that case, the required process cannot be executed correctly, or it will occur with errors, causing the associated process to become faulty.
Let’s see some examples of pharma processes that require compressed air.
Powering pneumatic components
Every equipment and machine used in the pharma industry contains pneumatic components for various functions. Commonly, pneumatic components are used to handle the movement of entire equipment or part of it. This equipment or part requires strong force to displace from its position. Since compressed air contains energy in it, which is stored during the compression action, it can easily handle these movements.
Compressed air is directly connected to the pneumatic component, and its supply is controlled through solenoid valves, which are electromechanical devices. The Solenoid valve takes input through electrical/electronic signals and, depending upon the input signal, supplies, disconnects, and regulates the air.
Solenoid valves take input from Programmable Logic Controller – PLC or main controller to automatically control the pneumatic components.
For example, using compressed air, a pneumatic cylinder is connected to the door of the autoclave that opens and closes the door. The door opens when the cylinder is activated through a supply of air. When the cylinder is not activated, i.e. compressed air is not present; it closes the door.
Compressed Air as a part of process requirements
Compressed air is also used during manufacturing, packaging, cleaning, and other processes in various pharma processes. Instead of powering pneumatic components, compressed directly comes in contact with the product or product containers. The control method for compressing air is the same as pneumatic components, i.e. through a solenoid valve.
In this application, compressed air blows in for a fixed time, and then it is stopped. After blowing with compressed air, further stages are executed according to the process requirement. A monitoring system is continuously monitoring the blowing process to ensure its authenticity.
For example, compressed air removes any foreign particles or contaminants inside bottles in bottle-blowing machines. For this application, compressed air is blown for a fixed time. The air removes foreign particles, and bottles are advanced to further stages.
Another example is a tablet coating machine. Compressed air is used to atomize the liquid in the spray gun. Air is blown into the air inlet of the spray gun, which combines with liquid to be sprayed. When compressed air and spraying liquid combine in the gun, atomization occurs. Various drop shape...
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