Pharma Industrial India Magazine - July - August 2024

Q What role does compressed air play in pharmaceutical manufacturing and how does Delair’s desiccant dryer work to remove moisture from compressed air? Deepesh Upadhyay: Compressed air is an essential require- ment of the pharmaceutical industry and finds application in a wide range of processes. It plays a critical role at every stage of manufacturing, right from mixing the powder or producing granules at the time of tablet pressing to giving the right tex- ture, colour, and flavour to the medicines. It is also required at the time of coating and encapsulation, oxidation process, cleaning bottles and containers, and conducting aseptic pack- aging. In liquid medicines, it ensures accuracy in the balance of the ingredients and maintains precise measurement of each formula. Therefore, the role of compressed air is very important for the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products, and the presence of moisture in the pressurized air can give rise to quality is- sues in the medicine. Reducing the effectiveness of drugs, it can result in the revocation of entire batches of medicines from the market and incur huge loss to the company. In order to address the problem, Delair’s desiccant dryer comes with the proficiency to eliminate moisture, dust particles, oil, and other solid contaminants from the compressed air. It conforms to quality standards of ISO 8573-1:2010 Class 1, and main- tains the optimal atmospheric dew point temperature range of (-40°C) to (-70°C) max. and work on the principle of heatless regeneration with the help of desiccant to adsorb and desorb water vapour. At the same time, the dryers also make use of pressure swing/ purge air principle to initiate the regeneration of desiccant bed. Q Why is the control of moisture particularly critical in the production of hygroscopic pharmaceutical products and how does Delair’s solutions handle this? Deepesh Upadhyay: As stated above, moisture in com- pressed air can severely meddle with the tablet manufacturing process. Here, it is important to understand that the various materials used in medicine are hygroscopic in nature. On ac- count of this, at the time of tablet compression, the presence of moisture in compressed air can cause caking and lumping of powdered materials. This can severely impact the entire tablet- Deepesh Upadhyay Asst. Vice President, Delair India Pvt. Ltd. Delair’s compressed air dryers, utilizing desiccant-based drying technology, treat compressed air to achieve dew point tem- peratures ranging from -40°C to as low as -70°C, explains Deepesh Upadhyay, Asst. Vice President, Delair India Pvt. Ltd . in his engaging session with Pharma Industrial India. INTEEWRSVIEW PHARMA INDUSTRIALINDIA · JUL-AUG 24 20