GEA Pharma System’s business unit, CourtoyTM, has designed the Exchangeable Compression Module (ECM) to reduce downtime and increase the operating time of a tablet press. By isolating the compression zone and making it removable, the dirty element can be removed and replaced with a clean one.
According to the vendor, the Wash-off-Line (WOL) ECM offers significant benefits in terms of both investment and operational costs, and provides exceptional levels of containment. It is economical, ergonomic, and easy to use; improves on existing WIP and CIP solutions for tablet presses; and reduces the airborne particle concentration in the compression room, which contributes to the protection of the operators, the equipment, and the product.
Tablet compression, from both a containment and processing perspective, is still one of the most challenging unit operations in solid-dose manufacturing, particularly with the increasing need to process highly potent APIs. Additionally, specific health and safety challenges arise when potent APIs are processed, requiring the use of equipment that combines high flexibility with high productivity and an appropriate containment performance. Courtoy’s MODULTM rotary presses are designed to meet these stringent criteria.
Haupt Pharma recently assessed the containment performance of four MODULTM S presses by measuring particle load in the production environment under operating conditions. They reported that all the air samples taken during a series of tests showed results below the detection limit and below the Design Exposure Limit (DEL). Also, product changeover could be achieved—and production resumed—in less than two hours, during which time all product-contact parts were removed in a contained manner and replaced with a second ECM.
Another exclusive feature of Courtoy™ tablet presses is the air compensator, which ensures that every tablet is pressed to exactly the same density and provides independent weight and hardness control, overcoming differences in die fill and powder property variations.
