What are vessels, and what are they used for
Vessels are round metallic structures containing liquid without affecting their state, properties, and chemical composition. The liquid inside a vessel can be included for storage or processing using specified tools and accessories.
Depending upon the application and process requirements, they can be installed with additional components such as a mixer and heating system.
In the pharmaceutical industry, vessels are used for various applications, such as
Holding liquid products during intermediate manufacturing stages
Transferring liquid to a filling machine, such as an ampoule filling machine
Mixing and blending liquid during the liquid dosage manufacturing process
Filtration of the liquid product or raw material (during or before the manufacturing process
Vessels for pharma applications require specialized metal characteristics, because the pharma drug product comes in direct contact with the vessel, and these metal features are necessary for product safety. It includes
Stainless Steel 316L for product contact parts
Dead points
Welding requirements.
Additionally, some features are necessary for the successful execution of the manufacturing process, such as
Temperature sensors to monitor inside temperature for some applications. Because some products require heat to execute manufacturing successfully
Pressure sensors monitor the vessel's pressure; some applications require elevated pressure inside the tank.
A mixer or agitator is used to mix solvent with raw material during the manufacturing process. The material of construction of mixer or agitator must also be compatible with pharma drug requirements, as mentioned above
Load cells are used to monitor the weighting data of the materials inside. It can be also programmed or modified to monitor the level inside a vessel by using its input through a central controller.
Level sensors monitor the vessel's level and prevent overflow and accuracy in the attached process.
Types of Vessels
The vessel type is defined by the application for which it is being used and developed, including the following.
Manufacturing vessels
These vessels are specifically used to manufacture a liquid pharma product. It contains additional accessories, such as
Mixer to mix different raw materials and solvents.
Heating element to achieve high temperatures required by different materials and chemicals
Storage Vessels
These vessels are only used to store liquid between intermediate stages, such as
Before filling process
The results are processed by the quality department and awaiting approval
Pressure Vessels
Some applications require liquid inside the vessel to be stored at high pressure. For these applications, vessels are manufactured to sustain high pressure by re-enforce material strength. Additional accessories are also required to facilitate pressure-related applications, such as
Pressure indicator to monitor the pressure inside and to ensure it does not deviate form its working pressure
Pressure safety device to prevent damage in case pressure abnormally increases without control
Safety valve to release gas if the pressure increases above the maximum permissible limit
What can go wrong if...
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