Lyophilisation
Within the PMTC we house a pilot scale Lyophiliser with three shelves that can hold up to 1,000 x 10ml vials. A freezing and drying recipe can be programmed in to mimic industrial processes.
Process parameters such as shelf temperature, freezing time and enclosure pressure can be altered, while using different vacuum pumps can also alter the evacuation rate of the chamber to better mimic industrial conditions.
This pilot scale Lyophiliser, an instrumented piece of equipment using in-house developed software and hardware, provides in-situ ultra-fine thermocouples to measure sample temperature while minimising the thermocouples effect on drying while connected pressure readings of the drying and condenser chambers ensure all temperature and pressure data is observable in real-time via computer, which can be saved for further analysis.
Within the drying chamber an inbuilt camera is capable of observing the sampled during freezing and drying. Time points on all the images and data allow us to relate a change observed on the camera with sample temperature and pressure data.
To learn more or to become part of our Lyophilisation Community of Practice, please get in touch here
