The RAYCON™ freeze drying concept is developed by GEA Niro to meet the
requirements for a fully automatic process. During the process it is
possible to run individual batches while maintaining a high hygienic standard
and the ability to clean all parts of the process equipment in an easy and
efficient manner.
Advantages
- Hygienic design
- Very cost efficient compared to traditional freeze drying technology for
pharmaceuticals
- No human intervention, which reduces contamination of product and
production costs
- Cabinet can be emptied automatically for CIP and/or SIP
- Can run as batch or continuous
- Tray filling can be done in cold room or outside
The Atlas RAYCON™ is a further development of the RAY™ -S batch freeze
drying plant and is ideal for the freeze drying of solid dosage products from
the pharmaceutical industry in form of granulates and pellets. It is a highly
hygienic version of the typical high capacity industrial freeze dryers being
used for food and coffee products based on GEA Niro Atlas RAY™ and CONRAD™
freeze drying technology with focus on efficient and industrial freeze drying
processes. RAYCON™ is the best solution for the production of large amounts of
raw materials for bulk that do not require the same level of sterilization as
products in vials. The dryer can be delivered with a full set of documentation
and certifications for components and materials used in the equipment and with
component declarations according to the relevant CE and FDA directives.
All parts of the drying process run fully automatically without human
interventions other than to adjust and verify operations parameters from the
control system. Risk of contamination of the product is minimized, production
costs are reduced, and uniformity of the product is improved.
Available sizes
| Size |
Heating Zones |
Drying Trays |
Drying surface |
| RAYCON™ 65 |
1 zone |
112 trays |
57 m2 |
| RAYCON™ 125 |
2 zones |
224 trays |
115 m2 |
| RAYCON™ 190 |
3 zones |
336 trays |
170 m2 |
| RAYCON™ 250 |
4 zones |
448 trays |
225 m2 |
RAYCON™ freezing drying
The heart of the process is the
RAYCON™ freeze drying chamber which features all the unique advantages
of Atlas freeze drying technology for achieving an efficient and uniform
freeze drying process resulting in the highest product quality. The radiation
heating plates, automated tray transport, and continuous de-icing (CDI) are
unique to the Atlas technology and offers unique advantages.
When trays are loaded one by one through a vacuum batch into the chamber,
they are stacked 14 pieces high in an elevator before they are pushed into
drying zones where the trays are suspended between heating plates that are kept
at a pre-set (low) temperature during the loading. The product is not in
contact with the heating plates but only with the freeze drying trays – made of
stainless steel or, alternatively, aluminum. Once the dryer is fully loaded
with trays holding up to 20 liters of product each, the freeze drying is
accelerated by uniformly radiating heat from the heating plates into the
product while the vacuum in the dryer is maintained at the required level
typically between 1 – 0.1 mbar.
To condense the sublimated water vapor, the cabinet is equipped with a
number of vapor condensers for Continuous De-Icing (CDI).
Batch process
In the batch
process, the cabinet is completely filled with trays before drying is
commenced. When a batch starts, the trays are unloaded from the tray storage
and filled automatically by a tray feeder before they are loaded into the
RAYCON™ cabinet through a vacuum lock. Each tray is accurately filled without
spillage and moved around in such a manner that product is not spilled out of
the trays. Furthermore, the trays are weighed before and after filling to
control and monitor the amount of product loaded into the freeze dryer in each
batch.
During the loading of the cabinet, the
heating plates and the cabinet is cooled down to avoid sublimation.Once the cabinet is fully loaded, hot
water is circulated in the heating plates so the sublimation of ice is
accelerated and runs through a predefined drying profile which ensures that the
product temperature is never too high while maintaining the highest possible
sublimation.
After 8-16 hours of drying, the product in
the trays is dry and can be unloaded. The vacuum in the chamber is broken by
injecting clean air or Nitrogen at a controlled rate and the trays are then
unloaded one by one into an emptying station. Here, they are turned upside down
into a funnel and the product can be collected at the outlet of the funnel.
After
emptying, the trays are moved into a washing machine, where they are
pre-rinsed, washed, rinsed, and then dried with hot air. Following the washing
machine, there is tray storage where all 336 trays from the RAYCON™ can be
stored until the next batch starts.
Continuous process
In the continuous process, each
tray enters the cabinet through a uniquely designed airlock system that
allows a single tray to enter the cabinet without breaking the vacuum. From the
vacuum lock the trays are pushed into an elevator with room for fourteen trays
and once the elevator has made a full stack, the entire stack is pushed forward
into the first drying zone, where the temperature of the heating plates is
adjusted to the actual product type, composition and water content.
More stacks are filled and pushed in turn through the different and
subsequent drying zones in the cabinet. In order to apply energy to the freeze
drying process, a number of heating plates made of anodized aluminum are placed
inside the cabinet. Hot water is circulated through the system to secure an
efficient heat transfer by radiation to the product to be freeze dried. The
water temperature can be regulated during the freeze drying process to achieve
the optimal evaporation laps and avoid overheating of the products.
When the trays on the stack arrive at the dryer exit, an elevator will
unload the trays and discharge them through a vacuum airlock into an emptying
station. Here, they are turned upside down into a funnel where the dry product
is collected.
After emptying, the trays can be moved through a washing machine and from
there be returned to the filling station and reloaded into the RAYCON™. The
circulation of the trays is fully automatic and continuous with very high
reliability based on GEA Niro’s experience from more than 30 years of making
continuous freeze dryers.
If the continuous cycle is stopped, the cabinet can be emptied and the CIP
process can be conducted in the same manner as for the batch setup.
The automatic CIP process
Once the cabinet has been
emptied completely, an automatic CIP (Cleaning In Place) process of the cabinet and the
emptying station can be started. This is to ensure that any remains or dust in
the cabinet are washed away.
The CIP cycle is divided into several zones where the heating plates, the
cabinet shell, condensers, and elevators are washed in a cycle to achieve the
optimal cleaning result.
After the washing process the cabinet is self
draining, but to ensure that the cabinet is completely dry, vacuum is
established in the cabinet while heating up the cabinet and heating plates.
Thus, the cabinet will have been vacuum-dried prior to the introduction of the
next batch.
Example of RAYCON™ 125 freeze drying plant
- Freeze drying pressure of max 0.3 mbar
- Heating plate temperature of max. 120 °C
- Temperature of condenser of max. – 46 °C
- Max. product temperature of 40 °C
- Total drying time of 9 hours
- Sublimation of average 100 kg/h
- Input 1200 kg/batch