A Sustainable Future – Water and Energy Conservation in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Related Vendors

EDL Anlagenbau Gesellschaft mbH

Italvacuum, Srl

ProMinent GmbH

Siemens AG

Technology developments reduce energy and water consumption

Recent technology developments for pharmaceutical water systems eliminate the need to continually re-circulate water. The S3 system – a new technology provided by Siemens Water Technologies – uses a sanitise/start/ stop approach rather than a re-circulating water system design. A traditional water system constantly re-circulates water, which consumes electricity for pumps, ultraviolet lights, instruments and other devices. Often the water must be heated or cooled to maintain adequate water temperature specifications.

Additionally, certain unit processes such as reverse osmosis produce a waste stream during operation. A re-circulating water system, even if it is not currently producing water for production, is producing waste that must be discharged or treated prior to discharge.

These systems can quickly consume valuable raw water, consume electrical and steam utilities and produce a wastewater stream even if the water system is not being used in the production process.

A sanitise/start/stop design eliminates most of this waste by shutting down the water system when not needed. While in the standby mode, the system will briefly turn on and receive periodic heat sanitisation during extended periods of non-use.

These sanitisation periods are quick and relatively low temperature (typically 60°C) rather than the more typical 80–85°C. The brief but frequent sanitisation periods are very effective at challenging microbial proliferation within a water system. When the pharmaceutical production requires water, the system performs a brief pulse sanitisation just before water is sent to the manufacturing process. This ensures the water system is freshly sanitised for optimal water quality when it is needed. Standby or redundant trains can now sit relatively idle, receiving periodic pulse sanitisations to maintain water quality. Just like conventional water systems, the sanitise/start/stop design can be combined with chemical cleaning, chemical sanitisation and conventional heat sanitisation to address microbial contamination and bio-film formation within the water system.

The Savings Can Be Dramatic

The economic and water volume savings from the sanitise/start/stop approach can be dramatic, sometimes saving millions of gallons of water per year. Large water systems, redundant trains, high raw water costs, high discharge water costs, and water discharge limitations can greatly impact the total savings.

While the savings are greater on larger systems, even single-train, relatively small water systems with moderate water costs still result in rapid payback and significant savings. For example, a healthcare products manufacturer in Southeast USA is a major manufacturer of vision care products. Like most companies, they evaluated solutions for reducing water consumption and optimising the production of their products. The company required a 150 gallon-per-minute treatment plant producing United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Purified Water quality water. System validation was unnecessary for this application.

The Specifics for This Example Water System Include:

• 150 GPM make-up water requirement

• Operation: seven hours/day, five days/week, 350 days/year

• Feed water cost: $1.33 / 1,000 gallons

• Wastewater discharge cost: $2.77/1,000 gallons

• Electrical cost: $0.05 kWh

The cost saving analysis in Table 1 includes an annual savings and 10-year projection with projected utility cost increases. The total water system cost is less than the 10-year projected savings. The uniquely designed system can quickly pay for itself, typically with a payback period of six to 24 months after which the savings drops immediately to the bottom line of the manufacturer.

But remember, the water system was required, regardless of the savings.

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