Piramal ramps production health with Spirax Sarco 15 January 2014

Better condensate removal has reduced tablet drying times on steam-heated ovens at Piramal Healthcare's pharmaceutical production site in Morpeth, Northumberland.

Mechanical engineer Paul Lunn reports that automatic pump traps (APTs) from Spirax Sarco have proved so effective at improving temperature control and solving maintenance problems on three of the plant's ovens that Piramal now plans to install them on the site's two remaining units.

"Temperature control on the ovens was previously ±5C, but now it's accurate to ±0.5C," says Lunn.

"We don't know exactly how much we're saving, but we do know that the improved control must be saving energy, because it's reducing the drying time," he adds.

Lunn also makes the point that build-up of condensate had been causing corrosion and erosion in the heating coils, meaning that Piramal had to replace each coil once or twice a year – taking an oven off line for three days.

"We haven't had any problems with the coils since the pump traps were installed. I'd say the reduction in maintenance has been the biggest benefit for me," he comments.

As for why the problem arose, build-up of liquid condensate in the steam coils led to back pressure which, in turn, made it difficult to clear using conventional steam traps – a problem solved by the APTs.

Unlike steam traps, which drain condensate normally as long as there is positive pressure in the steam coils, steam-driven APTs actively pump the condensate away even if the pressure drops below the condensate back pressure.

"We've worked well with Spirax Sarco before and this time the local engineer worked with us to design a solution and apply it successfully," enthuses Lunn.

"Now we've seen how well the APTs are working on the first three ovens, we're planning to fit them on the other two."

Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Spirax Sarco Ltd

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