pilot scale freeze dryer for use in pharmaceutical plants

Pilot-type freeze dryer is a kind of in-situ freeze drying equipment designed for pilot stage, which combines laboratory precision with industrial-level control capability, and is widely used in the fields of biopharmaceuticals, food engineering, traditional Chinese medicine research and development, and life sciences.

Description

Pilot Scale Freeze Dryer

The pilot scale freeze dryer adopts in-situ lyophilization technology, enabling fully automatic control from pre-freezing through sublimation and final drying. This avoids contamination and material loss during transfer, ensuring stable and consistent product quality.
Ideal for transitioning from laboratory to small batch industrial production, it provides a robust platform for new product development and process validation.

Core Features

  1. Full-automatic programming control: PLC system with touch human-machine interface, customizable and savable freeze-drying programs, supports 40 temperature control parameter settings for variable/complex processes.
  2. Powerful data recording: FAT32 file system with USB export; continuously saves over 3 months of operation data for batch recording and quality tracing.
  3. High-precision temperature control: Silicone oil circulating temperature control, error <1°C, stable and uniform temperature for reliable process optimization.
  4. Silent and efficient: Imported silent compressor and high-efficiency drying filter, low noise, long life, strong system stability.
  5. Transparent visual window: High-transparency organic glass door for real-time observation of material status.
  6. Cold trap split structure: Physical isolation of cold trap and drying chamber, higher water capture efficiency, reduced cross-contamination, faster drying.
  7. Intelligent frost management: Automatic defrost function, reduces manual maintenance.
  8. Inert gas filling interface: Nitrogen and other gases can be injected post-drying to improve product storage stability.
  9. Tray structure optimization: Square stainless steel trays, regular shape, corrosion-resistant, easy material distribution and cleaning.

Performance Advantages

  1. Pilot mass production support: Suitable for grams to kilograms batches, various bottle/tray specifications.
  2. Flexible program settings: Adaptable for process exploration and batch verification.
  3. Multi-layer temperature monitoring: Independent probe in each partition layer, real-time multi-layer curve reading for heat analysis.
  4. Multiple data security mechanisms: Password management, anti-tampering, operation log for process safety and traceability.
  5. Easy maintenance: Full stainless steel design, dust/corrosion resistant, easy daily cleaning and upkeep.

Working Principle

  1. Pre-freezing: Shelves cool and freeze material in the drying chamber, forming stable ice crystals.
  2. Sublimation drying: Under high vacuum, ice crystals sublimate directly to water vapor, rapidly captured by the cold trap.
  3. Resolution drying: Further reduces combined water content, stabilizing product residual water rate.

The entire process occurs in a closed environment, avoiding microbial or external contamination, ideal for biological substances.

Application Fields

  1. Pharmaceutical industry: lyophilized vaccines, powder for injection, antibiotics, celine bottle preparation.
  2. Traditional Chinese medicine & natural products: dehydration and preservation of herbs and plant extracts.
  3. Food industry: freeze-dried coffee, fruit/vegetable powder, seafood, health foods.
  4. Life science: storage of proteins, enzymes, antibodies, cell culture media.
  5. Research institutes & pilot bases: process development, validation, small batch finalization.

Cavity Types

  1. Standard type chamber: Without automatic pressure plug, for tray or common container drying, suitable for products with low sealing requirements.
  2. Upper pressure type chamber: Built-in automatic pressure plug device for vacuum sealing inside bottles post-lyophilization, ideal for injectables and drugs requiring high sealing/stability.
Technical Parameters
pilot scale freeze dryer for use in pharmaceutical plants
ModelFDP20SFDP20TFDP30SFDP30TFDP50SFDP50TFDP100SFDP100T
TypestandardTop pressstandardTop pressstandardTop pressstandardTop press
Tray temperature≤-50°C to +70°C
No-load condenser temperature≤-80°C
Vacuum degreeless than 10 Pa
Freeze drying area0.2 square meters0.36 square meters0.5 square meters1 square meters
Power3.5kw4.5kw3.5kw4.5kw6.5kw7.5kw9.5kw10.5kw
Ice condenser capacity6.5kg per 24 hours10kg per 24 hours15kg per 24 hours
Shelf300x400x13mm300x450x13mm550x480x13mm
Shelf quantity2+13+14+14+1
Material loading capacity4.5L7L10L20L
Distance between shelves145mm90mm90mm90mm
Temperature uniformity±1°C
Cooling methodair cooling
External dimensions1340x930x1340,1630mm1340x1015x1460,1780mm1630x1030x1610,1910mm
Power supply220Vac, 50Hz or 380Vac, 50Hz
Number of vials loaded468xф22mm or 864xф16mm or 1584xф12mm702xф22mm or 1296xф16mm or 2376xф12mm1040xф22mm or 1944xф16mm or 3456xф12mm2016xф22mm or 3944xф16mm or 7020xф12mm