Tablet maker keeps the dust out

Manufacturer upgrades waste disposal system

An Australia-based contract manufacturer of generic prescription pharmaceuticals has contracted Donaldson Australasia to upgrade its waste disposal system.

With more than 500 people in a round-the-clock operation five days a week, the plant was revamped with new-generation technology to handle dusty waste from tableting and capsulation.

Within six processing rooms where compression or blending takes place, the company had been running a dust extraction unit in each room, but now a single, integrated system handles all extraction and provides an added benefit by safely collecting and storing all waste in an externally located unit.

The greatest challenge was to modify the new standard Donaldson collector to fit an existing externally located waste compressor. Engineers from Donaldson did this so that it integrated perfectly and created a scenario where internal operations are virtually free of any major dust build-up.

Now the employees have far more space in which to work, an even better environment, and no further need to manually transport powder to the waste compressor.

The system installed is a Dalamatic DU30 dust extraction and containment system capable of extracting 24,000 m³ per hour simultaneously from the six tableting and blending rooms. More than 50 m of durable ducting was used to connect the extraction between these rooms and through to the external collection point.

Eventual disposal of powder is also simplified. Whereas the previous system relied on relatively frequent disposal of powder collected in cardboard boxes, now it is all pneumatically carried to the externally located waste compressor and easily transported by forklift to an incinerator where an operator deposits the unwanted material simply and evenly.