Pharmaceutical Drying Equipment

Find innovative pharmaceutical drying equipment and connect directly with world-leading technology suppliers.

In the pharmaceutical industry, the drying process is used to reduce or remove water or other types of solvents, which could cause chemical and microbiological deterioration of the final drug, by using pharmaceutical drying equipment. But that’s not the only reason. The drying process is used everywhere in the pharmaceutical field to serve various applications: preparing granules for tablets or capsules, reducing the bulk density or weight, assisting the grinding process, or obtaining plant-derived medicines, to name a few.

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Fluidized bed system for the granulation and drying of pharmaceuticals

Pharmaceutical industries employ several processe…

Flash drying grinder for powders

Drying and grinding can be an important feature when trying to process products such as raw …

Flash drying system

Flash drying refers to the removal of moisture by a stream of hot gas that goes through a stream of small …

Laboratory-scale vacuum tray drying oven

Vacuum drying is used to remove moisture from sensitive materials. Drying small bat…

Sorption dehumidifier for deep drying

Humid ambient conditions such as those in tropical climates make dehumidification more…

Cabinet dryer for cannabis

If you need careful drying for products like pharmaceutical-grade cannabis buds then traditional s…

Fluid bed dryer for pharmaceutical solid dosage form

Fluid bed drying is a pharmaceutical process carried out to reduce th…

Vertical paddle dryer

Enable vacuum, atmospheric and pressurized processing of a variety of materials such as powders, filter …

What are you making?

It is important to note that the choice of which pharmaceutical drying equipment to use stems from whether a wet solid, a solution, or a suspension needs to be dried.

Using fluid bed dryers for drying wet solids in the pharma industry

When it comes to drying granules that will then be pressed to form tablets, the fluidized bed dryer is one of the pharmaceutical drying equipment manufacturers use. Fluid bed dryers use a stream of hot air to reduce the moisture content of powders and granules, making them a great example of direct dryers. What does this mean? Direct dryers directly apply heated air to the product, while indirect dryers conductively heat the product by circulating heated fluid through a surface that is in contact with the product.

The fluidized-bed dryer is based on the fluidization principle. When hot air is blown into the machine to dry the product, the air velocity lifts it, converting the product from a solid to a fluid state. The suspended product seems to be a bed of fluid at this point. This is where the machine’s name comes from.

Freeze drying used to prolong the shelf life of pharmaceutical products

The freeze drying process was developed during the 1940s and pharmaceutical manufacturers use it to dry heat-sensitive materials to prevent damage to substances such as proteins and microorganisms. Freeze-dryers are based on the sublimation principle, where solid crystals turn to vapor without passing through a liquid phase. Lyophilization occurs when the material is placed under a deep vacuum and subjected to heat energy, transforming the ice into gas. In pharmaceutical applications, freeze-drying improves the stability and long-term storage life of labile drugs, especially protein drugs. In the pharmaceutical industry, freeze-drying is used for preserving and storing high-value products such as vaccines, cytostatics, antibiotics, biologicals, hormones, and active ingredients. It is also used for collagens, APIs, and electrolytes.

What about spray dryers and vacuum dryers?

Spray dryers are widely used pharmaceutical drying equipment to produce pharmaceutical powders with particle sizes from the nanometer to the micrometer scale. Spray drying is a continuous process by nature since it can convert a liquid feed into a powder in a single step. A viable option for heat- or oxygen-sensitive pharmaceutical products is the vacuum drying process that reduces the risk of dust explosions. Vacuum dryers fall in the category of conductive dryers used for drying wet solids.

Pharmaceutical drying and its different applications

Drying active pharmaceutical ingredients (API)

From R&D to large-scale industry, pharmaceutical drying plays an essential role because it dramatically affects the quality of the final product both in primary pharmaceutical manufacturing, i.e., production of API or excipients, and in secondary pharmaceutical manufacture, i.e. when converting the active drugs into the final dosage form such as tablets or capsules. The drying of crystalline active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) is often needed to produce free-flowing powders for formulation, packaging, storage, and transport. The sensitive nature of API requires gentle drying in contained good manufacturing practice (GMP) environments.

Pharmaceutical drying for making plant-derived medicine

When making plant-derived medicine using plant extracts, the plant must be dried before the extraction to preserve it from enzymatic degradation. In the case of delicate plants, freeze-drying protects the thermolabile compounds. The drying temperatures range between -60°C and -80°C.

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Product Groups

Pharmaceuticals

Processes

Drying