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Nitrogen Generation in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Like with the food packaging and the chemical industries, the pharmaceutical industry relies heavily on nitrogen in its various applications. In fact, pharmaceutical companies require a reliable source of high purity nitrogen and can benefit by generating their own nitrogen in-house to reduce cost while controlling quality and boosting efficiency. Let’s learn more about why nitrogen is such a key element (pun intended) for this industry.

Why is Nitrogen Used in the Pharmaceutical Industry?

One of the biggest advantages of nitrogen is that it is a dry, inert gas; this means that it doesn’t react with other elements. This makes N2 extremely useful as a replacement for a hazardous or otherwise undesirable atmospheric gas, most notably oxygen. Nitrogen reduces the presence of oxygen that may provide the catalyst for combustion or negatively affect product quality. It also controls the level of oxygen in a workspace, lab or throughout an entire facility.

Nitrogen is also readily available for use! In fact, the atmosphere is composed of 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, with the remaining percentage being divided among a few other trace gases. Finally, nitrogen can help maintain sterility and cleanliness of pharmaceutical products.

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How the Pharmaceutical Industry Uses Nitrogen Gas

Examples of nitrogen gas used in pharmaceutical manufacturing processes include:

  • Blanketing. Nitrogen blanketing reduces the presence of oxygen by replacing it with nitrogen. This prevents rapid oxidation, corrosion, and rust; suppresses fire; helps prevent combustion; and otherwise ensures that that high purity pharmaceutical ingredients remain pure during manufacturing.
  • Nitrogen Purging. This is a widely used technique that removes oxygen from packaging before sealing to help preserve and protect the product during transport, as well as protects again airborne contamination. Examples of items frequently packaged with nitrogen gas include blister packaged pharmaceutical products, test kits for physician offices, blood supplies, specimen containers, and sterile medical devices.
  • Product Transfer. In pharmaceutical manufacturing, nitrogen is frequently used to move a reaction mixture from one vessel to another. Using a safe, inert gas to transfer liquid or powder pharmaceutical materials is crucial as they can be hazardous if improperly handled. Many pharmaceutical ingredients can be damaged or even explode if allowed to contact oxygen or water vapor.

Nitrogen Generators for the Pharmaceutical Industry

Shifting to on-site nitrogen generation of nitrogen gas can help pharmaceutical facilities achieve significant cost savings—from 40 to 80 percent, depending on current liquid nitrogen market prices. Generating nitrogen on-site enhances production flexibility by ensuring that a company has the nitrogen they need, at the purity level they need and when they need it. Generating your own N2 also frees up space otherwise needed to store nitrogen bottles (both full and empty) and can lower a company’s carbon footprint. It is very simple to financially compare generating your own nitrogen vs. purchasing liquid or high pressure vessels filled with N2.

Technology Advantages Disadvantages
Liquid Bulk Nitrogen
  • Since the nitrogen you have is readily available, peak flows are allowed.

  • It is, in most cases, more cost effective compared to bottled nitrogen.

  • Small capacity adjustments are relatively easy should your production and nitrogen requirements increase (if your evaporator can handle them without freezing)

  • Tank insulation is never perfect. This means the liquid gas will heat up, evaporate in the tank itself and pressure will rise until the safety valve opens and blows part of the gas off. These losses are called boil-off losses.*

  • Long term contracts with the gas company are common practice (typically 5-7 years).

  • Besides the tank you also need special foundation (which can withstand the extreme cold temperatures in case of a leak) and an evaporator.

  • Not environmentally friendly.

  • Safety concerns (liquid nitrogen is -196°C, there is a frostbite risk when working with liquid nitrogen)

  • The evaporator can freeze up when your nitrogen consumption is higher than nominal or when it’s cold outside.

On-site Nitrogen Generator
  • In a lot of cases, generating your own nitrogen is the solution with the lowest total cost of ownership.
  • Purity can be set according to your needs, the cost goes down together with N2O2 purity.

  • You are independent from any gas suppliers.

  • The gas price is very stable, you are only susceptible to changes in the price of the electricity to run your installation.

  • It is a safe option (no low temperatures or high pressures).

  • There is no waste (no returning of gas to the supplier, no boil-off losses), you produce what you need.

  • Environmentally friendly compared to other options.

  • Special measures have to be taken to allow for peak flows (e.g. buffer tank, high pressure buffer tank, liquid gas buffer).

  • A slight increase in gas consumption, above the nominal capacity of the installation, will have a bigger impact compared to liquid or bottled nitrogen.

  • If the different components in the installation come from different suppliers, it might make communication & service more challenging.

 

 

 

Nitrogen Generation in the Pharmaceutical Industry

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