Investment under control

System piping with PVDF-HP (Reverse Osmosis 2,000 l/h hot water sanitizable) © Werner GmbH 2016.

In the pharmaceutical industry, the number of contract manufacturers has increased significantly in recent years. A key advantage of these predominantly medium-sized companies is their high degree of flexibility. This particularly concerns the product range and manufacturing capacities. However, the high cost pressure in the healthcare system also requires appropriately adjusted investments.

Combined Material Selection

While traditional pharmaceutical water systems are primarily built from stainless steel, modern, extremely inert plastics such as PVDF or PP natural offer a cost-effective alternative with all necessary approvals. Considering that a typical production plant for Purified Water or Highly Purified Water consists of more than 95% various plastics (for example, a 1,000 l/h reverse osmosis system already has 40 m² of product-contact membrane surface), a modern plastic can easily be used for the negligible portion of the piping (usually < 2% of the total system).

Werner GmbH offers pharmaceutical water systems with capacities ranging from 60 l/h to well over 10,000 l/h, optionally in stainless steel or cost-optimized PVDF piping; both materials are naturally suitable for thermal sanitization at > 85 °C. In addition to the lower investment costs, which are especially evident in the area of membrane valves, PVDF is characterized by a very smooth (Ra < 0.20 µm/Pipe; Ra < 0.25 µm/Weld seam) and hydrophobic surface, significantly reducing bacterial growth compared to traditional materials.

Of course, PVDF piping components are fully automated welded, similar to stainless steel; the documentation of the weld seams complies with all GMP requirements.

Werner GmbH has successfully implemented these cost-optimized pharmaceutical water systems, particularly in the "Contract Manufacturing" segment and for suppliers to the pharmaceutical industry.