Ozone treatment of pharmaceutical process water
Growing consumer awareness and increasingly stringent regulatory demands have resulted in renewed emphasis on the quality of water used for the production of pharmaceutical products.
To achieve these new standards of quality, improved technology must be utilised to provide water free from all bacteria and organics, and to maintain water systems free from bacteria and biofilms without the risk of disinfection products. One of the technologies used to achieve these requirements is ozonation.
Ozone is produced either in a gaseous form from the oxygen in the ambient air or through the electrolytic dissociation of water. The use of ozone does not result in the formation of chlorinated hydrocarbons or other residual byproducts as with the use of chlorine or chlorinated compounds, and is readily degraded to oxygen using UV light allowing ozonated water to be instantly deozonated ready for use. Using ozone, water can be treated to a purity unachievable by other means.
The complete water system including all distribution pipework, filters, storage tanks etc can be routinely disinfected and cleaned to remove biofilm without the need for draining down or extended shutdown.
simple installation
Once installed, ozone systems are simple and economic to operate requiring only electricity and air, or electricity and water for the electrolytic system, as consumables.
Typical process water systems in the pharmaceutical industry, incorporates a water storage tank with recirculating ring main to distribute water to the process machines and applications.
Such systems, whether using purified or untreated water, are subject to biological activity with biofilm development on plant. While UV units can control the bacteria levels in the water, bacteria such as Pseudomonas species will continue to develop, producing biofilm throughout the system and compromising the water quality. Control can only be achieved by circulating a disinfectant or biocide throughout the system.
In normal operating mode, ozone injection into the recirculating loop return prior to the storage tank provides continuous disinfection of the tank and stored water.
An ozone destruct UV on the output flow from the tank prior to the first point of use ensures that the residual ozone is destroyed. During periods when there is no production demand, switching off the UV lamp allows ozonated water to circulate freely throughout the system destroying any biofilm and disinfecting the system.
To resume production, the UV unit is switched back on, immediately destroying the ozone in the recirculating water. This allows production to commence directly without the need for the system to be drained or flushed.
The level of ozone present in water can be readily and accurately monitored ensuring effective control of water quality.