The Importance and Challenges of HVAC systems in the Pharmaceutical Industry.
According to a UN expert, better access to drugs, especially in poor countries, could save 10 million lives each year, four million of them in Africa and Southeast Asia.
The pharmaceutical industry is one of the world’s more crucial and dynamic sectors, isn’t it? They manufacture and distribute life-saving drugs, medications, and vaccines, after all. But do you know that to ensure employees’ safety, quality, and efficiency of the drugs, the industry has to maintain and adhere to strict working and storage standards and regulations?
The fact that pharmaceutical products keep us healthy or cure us from possible diseases shows us how important it is that those products are of the highest quality. For the pharmaceutical industry to do this, there must be an efficient HVAC system that controls and monitors elements like temperature, humidity, and pressure of various areas of pharmaceutical facilities, including production areas, laboratories, and storage areas.
What is the importance of HVAC in the Pharma Industry?
HVAC systems play an important role in keeping workers safe and products high in quality. The HVAC systems do this by controlling the environment inside the facility. They maintain a specific temperature range, humidify or dehumidify, and filter and ventilate the air. They can also control the temperature to create negative or positive pressure in certain zones, depending on their needs. HVAC systems are the climate control systems for pharmaceutical facilities, like we have in our cars.
HVAC systems can:
- Heat or cool the air to maintain a desired temperature range
- Humidify or dehumidify the air, and maintain the moisture in the air.
- Filter the air to remove dust, microbes, and other contaminants
- Ventilate the air to ensure adequate air exchange and prevent stagnation
- Control the pressure to create positive or negative pressure zones for different areas
- Monitoring and regulating the environmental parameters
The two roles where HVAC control is most important are manufacturing and storage.
Drug manufacturing needs a specific temperature to ensure chemical reactions and processes happen as required. Suppose the chemical process of creating a vaccine requires a certain temperature. If the temperature is too high, the reaction will occur too quickly, damaging the vaccine. If the temperature is too low, the reaction will occur too slowly for the vaccine to be effective.
In the case of storage, let’s take an example.
The COVID-19 vaccine needs to be stored in an ultra-cold freezer between -80°C and -60°C before vial use. If the temperature is too high, the vaccine will be ineffective.
Temperature control also deals with preventing contamination. Since pathogens thrive in humid conditions, if in a container the humidity is high, bacteria can grow on antibiotics. The bacteria can render the drugs ineffective and make them dangerous to take.
That’s how important it is for pharma facilities to ensure proper temperature, air filtration, and maintenance. They also need to adhere to regulatory guidelines. For example, as per WHO guidelines, pharmaceutical products need to be stored in ventilated and dry environments with temperatures in the range of 15 to 25 degrees Celsius.
What are the challenges of implementing HVAC Tech in Pharma?
Despite its crucial role in pharma, implementing HVAC tech in pharma is not without challenges. Some of the challenges are:
I. Meeting diverse and changing requirements:
In Pharma, more often than not, a new procedure, technology, or product is introduced. As a result, the HVAC system must meet their diverse requirements and evolving criteria. Some items, for example, may demand low temperatures or low humidity, whereas others may require high temperatures or high humidity. Some procedures may necessitate sterile or aseptic conditions, while others may necessitate controlled or categorised conditions. Some legislation may require precise environmental standards or norms, whereas others may differ from country to country.
II. Balancing quality and cost:
Efficient energy management boosts processes, quality, and production, and cuts costs by up to 30%.
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In the case of pharma, balancing quality and cost can be a little complicated. On one hand, pharma facilities need to maintain high-quality standards to ensure product safety and performance. On the other hand, the HVAC systems should also be efficient in their energy use and minimalism cost variables like capital investments, separating experiences, maintenance fees, and compliance checks. And that’s why balancing the quality and cost in the case of HVAC systems is a little difficult here.
III. Integrating with other systems:
In the pharmaceutical facility, HVAC needs to integrate and connect with other systems as well. The other systems include process equipment, fire safety, utility systems, etc. On top of that, to ensure smooth functioning, the HVAC system needs to adhere to standards and norms like GMP (good manufacturing practice), GLP (good laboratory practice), GAMP (good automated manufacturing practice), and GxP (good x practice).
While challenges exist, investing in advanced HVAC systems and proper maintenance is important for pharmaceutical manufacturing. By doing so, you can ensure the quality and safety of the products and protect the health of your employees. HVAC technology, after all, is designed to control temperature, humidity, air filtration, ventilation, pressure control, efficiency, and dependability.
And we at Climaveneta, are at the forefront of HVAC technology and services.
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