Industry sector: food and pharmaceutical industry
Company activity: production of lactic acid bacteria, animal feed, manufacture of active dry yeasts, silage inoculants, probiotics…
Company type: major global group
Company founding period: 1900s (for the origins of the group, which has evolved since…)
Contact person: Production manager
Company context
The company develops, produces, and markets yeasts, bacteria, and derived ingredients. It manufactures food-grade yeasts, animal feed flours, lactic ferments, carbohydrates, proteins, and enzymes. These products are intended for bakery applications, fermented beverages, human and animal nutrition, bioethanol production, and plant health. The production lines used to manufacture them rely on filtration devices that must comply with strict quality standards.
Filtration challenge
The customer was using filter cartridges with a 0.2 µm pharmaceutical-grade filtration threshold as a vent filter on fermenters. They were experiencing supply issues with these filters, with delivery times exceeding 6 weeks. They therefore wanted to change supplier to overcome this problem. The new vent filters proposed had to comply with all applicable standards and meet the requirements of the quality department.
Pemflow filtration solution
We therefore identified a filter reference in our catalog that met the same dimensional and functional characteristics as the filtration equipment already in place. The following solution was selected:
- Pleated PTFE membrane filter cartridge, pharmaceutical grade
- 0.2 µm absolute filtration threshold
- Polypropylene core and cage, silicone gasket
- 30″ filter cartridge length with code 7 end cap
We provided the quality department with documentation confirming the compliance of the filter cartridge with applicable standards, including:
- pressure drop diagram
- methods and data from the filter cartridge integrity tests
- certificates of conformity (BS EN ISO 9001:2008 traceability)
- description of construction materials and their compliance with FDA requirements
- BSE/TSE compliance
- bacterial challenge test
- correlation between the bacterial challenge and integrity test
- Food Contact Statement for SupaPore TP filters, specifically requested by the customer
The customer initially ordered several filters to carry out tests on the fermenters and validate the integrity test. We offered a 50% discount on this trial equipment. The tests proved successful.
The implementation of this vent filter was therefore approved for the fermenters, resulting in reduced costs and shorter delivery times compared with the previous solution.
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