2025-09-30

The quality of medicine is instrumental in driving the overall growth of the pharma industry. It plays a crucial role in achieving optimal health and, at the same time, bodes well for the speedy recovery of the patients. On the contrary, substandard medicines can have a damaging effect on the patients and severely impact public health and safety.

Therefore, looking at the role of drugs in improving the health of a person, it is essential to ensure the production of superior quality medicines that conform to the stringent quality standards outlined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Therefore, in the process of manufacturing safe, effective, and superior quality drugs, industry players should be vigilant of threats that can degrade their quality. Here, if moisture is present in the compressed air, it can result in the manufacturing of substandard medicines. Compressed air finds application in a wide range of pneumatic operations at various stages of the processing, manufacturing, and packaging of pharmaceutical products.

At the time of manufacturing, compressed air is required for various critical processes such as mixing, granulation, drying, pressing, coating, and packaging, to name a few. From giving the right colour, texture, and flavour to tablets and capsules to mixing powder and producing granules for carrying out tablet pressing, coating, and encapsulation, compressed air comes into contact with the medicines at every stage of production. Furthermore, it accurately balances the ingredients, and in liquid medicine, it is required to achieve precision in the measurement of each formula.

Understanding the imperative role of compressed air in the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products, it is a prerequisite to ensure the purity of the air. The existence of moisture in the pressurised air can severely disrupt the tablet compression and tablet coating processes. Additionally, looking at the hygroscopic nature of the various materials used in medicine, moisture can result in lumping and caking of powder and ultimately result in the failure of the tableting process. As a result, the compression of powdered materials into tablets needs to be done under high pressure in a completely dry state. In case moisture is left unattended, it can cause the decomposition of the drugs, significantly reducing their medicinal value.

Along with this, compressed air laden with moisture at the time of the spray coating of tablets can account for the change in colour, smell, and taste of the medicine. Leading to the formation of blisters, moisture can cause the breakage of tablets. At the same time, giving rise to uneven coating, it severely compromises the quality of medicine, which can culminate in its revocation from the market. In turn, it can severely deteriorate the quality of medicines and significantly reduce their shelf life. 

In addition to medicine, the repercussions of moisture even extend to the breakdown of pneumatic tools and machines that perform the manufacturing process. Moisture is responsible for initiating corrosion in pipes, pneumatic operated cylinders, zig & fixtures, and other components, which ultimately interferes with the seamless completion of the various operations. Where corrosion gives rise to inconsistent and sluggish functioning of the pneumatic valves and cylinders, moisture is responsible for freezing issues in equipment during the winter.

Therefore, it becomes imperative to supply compressed air devoid of any form of contaminants to ensure the manufacturing of the highest-quality medicines that retain their integrity throughout their shelf life. Consequently, to remove moisture/water, oil vapours, dust particles, or any form of solid contaminants, installing an efficient and reliable compressed air dryer can proficiently treat the compressed air, ensuring seamless completion of various pneumatic processes.

Adopting desiccant dryers can go a long way in achieving the purpose by efficiently conducting the elimination of any sort of impurities from the compressed air, including water/moisture, dust particles, oil, and solid contaminants. The dryers seamlessly achieve an atmospheric dew point of (-) 40°C & max up to (-) 70°C, essentially required for ensuring the dry state of the air utilised for pharma applications.

In addition to this, it comes with the advantage of a purge optimiser that works towards significantly reducing the standard purge losses. Alternatively, being well-equipped with Dew Point Depending Systems (DPDS), it proactively drives energy efficiency by preventing purge losses for variable load capacities. Furthermore, working on the principle of heatless regeneration, the physical properties of the desiccant carry forward the adsorption and desorption of water vapor.

Therefore, understanding the importance of medicines in curing diseases, it is essential to keep their quality intact for a long time. Given that moisture meddles big time with the manufacturing of drugs, deploying compressed air dryers must be prioritized throughout the processing of the medicines to avoid loss to the health and lives of people.