Archive for the News Category

Flying the Flag for British Manufacturing

We are very proud to announce that UK Gas Technologies, which includes Puretech Process Systems, Medical Gases and Micro Gas, has achieved Made in Britain accreditation. The Made in Britain collective mark unites the British manufacturing sector and helps consumers, buyers and specifiers identify products that are made in Britain.

UK Gas Technologies’ high-quality water, steam, gas and clean utility systems are already commissioned globally by clients in pharmaceutical, biopharma, hospital and healthcare facilities and laboratories, in regions including South East Asia, Africa and South and Central America. Britain has an enviable reputation for quality of design and manufacturing, and we are proud to be ‘flying the flag’ for British manufacturing on a global stage. We believe that by marketing our products as accredited British built systems we will improve and increase our global opportunities.

Laboratory water generation solutions

Puretech Process Systems is proud to partner Evoqua Water Technologies, enabling us to add high purity laboratory water generation solutions to our product range.

Evoqua is a leading provider of water treatment solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products, services and expertise to support industrial, municipal and recreational customers.

The collaboration with Evoqua extends our product range to include easy to install benchtop units to provide Type I (ultrapure), Type II (pure) and Type III laboratory water that complies with all relevant international standards.

Puretech and Evoqua offer a variety of industry-leading purification solutions to meet the standards required for your application.

Find out more

Water for injection using membrane technology

We are all aware that in April 2017 the European Pharmacopeia’s (EP) revised monograph for Water for Injections (0169) became effective.  This moved the EP closer to the US Pharmacopoeia (USP) and Japanese Pharmacopeia to allow the use of other methods for production of WFI, no longer specifying distillation as the only means of production.

What has changed, and is this a “new” way of producing WFI?

When the EP introduced the water quality specification of “Highly Purified Water” (HPW) in 2005, we were permitted to produce HPW via membrane technology. HPW has the same quality attributes as WFI, so in fact, we have been producing WFI via membrane technology under the guise of HPW since 2005.

This said, there still seems to be a reluctance amongst many organisations to “take the leap” and adopt membrane technology as a way of producing WFI, as there is a common assumption that this is a new methodology and more evidence is still required to prove that it is a safe and reliable method.

The topic has been discussed for many years and it continues to be discussed, it was and it still is believed that there is insufficient evidence, the fact is though, we have credible evidence available from 2005 that does provide solid proof that membrane technology is safe, reliable and an effective way of producing WFI with very little risk.

The new monograph also states that whatever method of production is used, validated procedures and in-process monitoring of conductivity, along with regular monitoring of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and microbial contamination should be applied.

We are fortunate that we live in an era where online monitoring is more reliable than ever, and we can monitor more parameters in “real time”. TOC online monitoring is commonplace these days, and online microbial monitoring technology is also now readily available, giving additional security for any system.

Users are now able to select a method of production to suit the requirements of their manufacturing process, but how does a user choose the correct system?

There are many points that need to be considered when choosing a system, and drivers will differ vastly depending on the type of company and their location. Considerations such as cost of utilities, water, steam etc. are obvious things to look at, but also, what temperature is the WFI being used? Hot, cold or a mixture of both? Is CAPEX more important than OPEX or vice-versa?

The decision could be as simple as, if the WFI is needed hot, then produce it hot, in which case a multi-effect still like a Puretech AquaZero still will be the solution, but if cold WFI is required, then a Puretech GENESYS WFI system, which uses membrane technology, could be the preferred solution.

Whether the choice is AquaZero or GENESYS, it will be coupled with a WFI storage and distribution system, using either regular hot water sanitisation or a continuous ozone sanitisation system, providing robust production of WFI and the appropriate online monitoring equipment to give peace of mind that the quality is of the required specification.

Support and advice are available, and at Puretech Process Systems we have the knowledge and expertise to support and assist you in making the right decision for your specific requirements. To discuss your requirements please contact us.