Continuous filtration enables increased efficiency in antibiotics production

October 2017

The reference at a glance

Project

Expanding the production of drugs at a pharmaceutical company

Technology

Druckdrehfilter RPF

Operating site

Europe

Industry

Pharmacy

Application

Continuous filtration process for the production of antibiotics

Solution

Replacement of the batch process with a continuous process

An international pharmaceutical company in Europe enjoys various benefits after moving from traditional batch production to a continuous antibiotics manufacturing process. These include significant savings despite an increased yield and greater throughput. A key component that made these improvements possible is the rotary pressure filter from BHS-Sonthofen.

The pharmaceutical company produced a highly efficient new drug based on the traditional batch process method. In light of growing demand, the company soon launched a project to increase production. Rather than copying the old production line, project management recommended modifying the batch process by introducing a continuously operating BHS rotary pressure filter (RPF) and adding new reactors.

The project implemented as a result of this assessment increases production in the order of 150 percent, while incurring only a fraction of the investment costs of the previous manufacturing process. In addition, changing to continuous filtration increases the yield by close to a third, further improving the profitability of the new product. The key to achieving these benefits is the ability to monitor the continuous filtration and cleaning process online. This delivers a much more consistent product quality while at the same time allowing the company to reduce the number of consumables used in production.