Maximum ease of cleaning, maintenance and internal inspection: a mix of qualities that make CosmoDry System® the ideal solution even for multi-product applications. CosmoDry System is the innovative horizontal paddle vacuum dryer created by Italvacuum as the result of a deep analysis, conducted in cooperation with the most demanding customers, regarding the most urgent requirements of their production.
Power, loading flexibility, drying speed, ease of unloading, maximum product quality: these are all fundamental values. But Italvacuum went further, in order to facilitate cleaning and internal inspection; a quality that allows you to maintain over time the machine’s perfect efficiency and to optimise the production processes.
CosmoDry System is based on an operating philosophy conceived for the drying of wet powders coming from filtration or centrifugation stages and is suitable for the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), fine chemical and intermediates. The system consists of a horizontal cylindrical chamber, equipped with a concentric agitator, fitted with a heated shaft dismountable in sections; the great added value of the CosmoDry System, setting it apart from conventional paddle vacuum dryers.
The peculiar configuration of the agitator enables continuous stirring of the product and facilitates its thermal exchange, reducing drying time. Moreover, it was designed to limit mechanical and thermal stresses, thus allowing the treatment of thermo-sensitive products. But that is not all; its special features allow you to reduce product deposition at a minimum, providing an easy and efficient unloading operation, for which a dedicated operative cycle has been introduced.
Finally, a value that has always been a milestone for Italvacuum: safety. CosmoDry System is safe for the product and the operators, because it is designed and manufactured in compliance with the increasingly strict safety standards and according to CGMP and ATEX regulations.
Constructive details
For the parts that are in contact with the product, CosmoDry System is built in AISI 316L stainless steel, but other weldable materials are also available if requested by the customer, for instance ALLOY C-22 and AISI 904L.
The walls of the drying chamber, the port lid and the agitator shaft are heated through diathermic liquid circulation. Internal surfaces are mirror-polished or electropolished in order to optimise resistance to corrosion, reduce friction on the product and simplify cleaning operations.
The agitator shaft is equipped with a double mechanical seal system, conceived to guarantee perfect vacuum tightness and absolute purity of the dried batch, avoiding any risk of product contamination. The mechanical seal can be pressurised through liquid or inert gas.
Maximum ease of cleaning and inspection
Easy internal cleaning is guaranteed by an efficient CIP system, which allows the washing of all the parts in contact with the product. The frontal port lid and the easy disassembling of the agitator in different parts provide great accessibility for inspection and SWAB testing; no bulky equipment is required, thus preventing long machine stops.
The exterior of CosmoDry System is also easy to clean. The watertight external cladding of the entire machine (CGMP ‘particle-free’ configuration) covers the insulation, the electric wiring and the hydraulic and pneumatic piping. In addition, no support frame occupies the sterile room; only the drying chamber flanged to the wall. This makes external cleaning extremely easy, preventing product accumulation. These features, together with the partitioning solution, allow clean room installation while guaranteeing pressurisation and separation of sterile room from technical room.
Turnkey systems
Italvacuum is the only manufacturer in the world that, in addition to the dryer itself, can design and build internally all the auxiliary units that complete the plant, properly sizing them to meet every process requirement, vacuum system included:
- High vacuum group SAURUS 939
- Vacuum condensation group for reduction of drying time and recovery of extracted solvents
- External safety filtering unit for powders containment
- Heating and cooling group for system thermoregulation
- Control panels with PLC for complete plant management, provided with software that is certifiable according to CFR 21 – Part 11 regulations, which guarantees reproducibility of the dried batches and communication with centralised supervision systems
Dimensions
CosmoDry System presents a great loading flexibility. It is manufactured in volumes ranging from 150l to 4,400l. The loading capacity can vary from 30% to 80% of the chamber’s volume, according to the processed product, meeting in this way the multiple needs of chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
Strengths
Advantages include:
- Absolute safety for operators, environment and product according to CGMP regulations
- Homogeneity and uniformity of dried batch, thanks to complete stirring of the product
- Easy product unloading thanks to agitator configuration, reduced gap between agitator profile and drying chamber wall, and specific unloading programme managed through PLC
- Reduced drying time
- Extremely high final vacuum values for extremely low final moisture content
- Easy internal cleaning thanks to an efficient CIP system that allows reaching the requested residual ppm value with few rinsing cycles
- Easy access for inspection and SWAB testing thanks to the possibility of disassembling the agitator in different sections
- Easy external cleaning thanks to watertight cladding of the entire machine, absence of support frames in the clean room and possibility of clean room installation with separation between clean room and technical room (particle-free configuration)
- FDA approval and validation
- ATEX certification