Industry sector: Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products (NAF: 2110Z)
Company activity: Production of pharmaceutical preparations, medicinal chemical products, and herbal products
Company type: French subsidiary of an international group of Asian origin
Year of establishment: 1954
Contact person(s): New Works & Production Manager
Company context
The company is an international group of Asian origin. In Europe, it produces and distributes food additives and flavorings, particularly in the field of amino acids.
Present in 30 countries and regions worldwide, the company is recognized as a leader in research and development in the field of amino acids. Our client’s activities include, among others, consumer goods, food ingredients, natural extracts, biostimulants, and amino-acid-based products.
Filtration challenge
Our client filters air inside a dust-extraction unit equipped with 72 filter bags, treating air from a drying oven at a flow rate of 8,000 m³/h. To keep the installation running properly, the company had to intervene every 15 days to replace 20% of the filter bags, stopping production during each maintenance operation.
The air contains dust with an average particle size of 25 µm. The product— a sugar-industry co-product— is a flavor enhancer intended for the food sector.
The challenge to be resolved can be summarized as follows:
- Increase the installation’s flow rate to 11,000 m³/h
- Ensure ATEX-compliant filter media
- Ensure suitability for food contact
- Guarantee compliance with good manufacturing practices for materials and articles intended to come into contact with food (ANIA)
ANIA brings together 35 trade federations and 15 regional associations representing the food industries in France.
Images credit: www.ania.net
Pemflow filtration solution
Increasing the flow rate from 8,000 m³/h to 11,000 m³/h required expanding the filtration exchange surface. The geometry of the filter bags was therefore modified in length—while keeping the same diameter to remain compatible with the installation’s mounting system.
The filter bags are made of polyester and coated with a PTFE (Teflon™) membrane. This hydrophobic membrane is chemically resistant to solvents, acids, and bases. The Teflon™ membrane does not release impurities and traps particles on the surface of the media, thereby extending the service life of the filter bags.
Given the client’s requirements, we prepared and issued a declaration of compliance with regulations governing materials and articles intended to come into contact with food, in accordance with the following:
- Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 of 27 October 2004
- Regulation (EC) 2023/2006 of 22 December 2006, as amended
- Sanction Decree 2007-766 of 10 May 2007, amended by Decree 2008-1469 of 30 December 2008
Learn more about industrial dust extraction
Committed to achieving the expected results for our client, we carried out analyses in our laboratories to assess the residual efficiency of the media at end of life (wear rate). We found that the cleaning system was not operating across the entire filtration surface.
In addition, the pulse-jet cleaning was triggering continuously without meaningful effectiveness. We therefore proposed modifying the dust collector’s operation so that cleaning would be triggered based on a final differential-pressure setpoint. This resulted in measurable gains in both performance and energy efficiency.
Based on our dust-extraction expertise, we recommended mechanical modifications. Optimizing the cleaning nozzles now ensures a counter-pressure across the entire filter media.
Today, the dust-extraction installation equipped with our filter bags is fully operational and meets our client’s expectations. Maintenance interventions now occur every 6 months instead of every 15 days. The energy and productivity gains are highly significant. Furthermore, four dust collectors are now equipped with our filter bags.
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