Sterile Filling Equipment is a machine dedicated to the manufacture of sterile materials or processes, where a filling needle transfers the sterile drug to a sterile container; stoppering or closing of the container occurs immediately after a fill.
According to MicroThermics, the areas where equipment is placed are called Controlled Unclassified Areas, Classified Areas, and Aseptic Processing Areas, where staff, visitors, and contractors entering the Areas are to be gowned into protective apparel, such as head, face, hand, and body coverings (gowning), which shall be worn as necessary to protect drug products from contamination.
Furthermore, personnel adheres to acceptable behavior standards in cleanrooms to minimize microbial contamination in the cleanroom suites, including gowning, hygiene practices, restriction of the number of personnel in the sterile suite, and minimizing movements.
Here are some of the sterile filling equipment that you should know about.
Liquid Bottle Sterile Filling Machine
A liquid bottle sterile filling machine is generally used in the pharmaceutical and food industry. Bottles and containers are passed on the conveyor belt and filled with the liquid through nozzles. These machines come in different variants with different mechanisms. They can be of manual, semi, or fully automatic types. With advanced technology, automatic liquid bottle sterile filling machines can give maximum productivity and are durable for a longer period. Variable speed and height-adjustable nozzles make it suitable for different types of bottles.
Digital Liquid Filling Machine
The digital liquid filling machine is a semi-automatic machine that fills an exact amount of liquid in bottles and containers. These machines work on the principle of gear pump filling. It is a compact machine with an attached silicone pipe. These machines have low power consumption and are easy to operate. Suitable for all types of liquids with various densities, these digital liquid filling machines can fill 100 to 500 bottles per hour. The tank is attached at the rear end while bottles are filled from the front. The quantity of liquid that needs to be filled and the time gap between each bottle are punched through the digital keypad.
Aseptic Liquid Filling Machine
Aseptic filling machines are used for storing sterilized liquid products, especially medicines, in previously sterilized containers under sterilizing conditions. This process needs a clean and contamination-free environment so that product is shelf-stable and does not need refrigeration. Tubes that need to be filled are lined and stacked together. Then a nozzle fills them one by one. After filling the tubes, a stopper is pushed on the mouth of the container almost instantaneously. It makes sure that there is no entrance of any particle from outside. With innovations in technology, the running cost of aseptic liquid filling has been reduced.
Servo Based Linear Piston Sterile Filling Machine
Servo-based linear piston sterile filling machine is a volumetric filling machine suitable for filling various viscous fluids. The number of filling nozzles in these machines can be custom-made according to your need. A servo motor and piston system drive it says, Microthermics. It is easy to operate through a digital panel. The digital panel also helps in applying force with variable magnitude. This servo-based piston sterile filling machine has a high rate of accuracy.
Single Head Piston Filling Machine
A single head piston filling machine is an auto manual machine. This machine is more suitable for foamy, thick liquids like liquid handwash. The piston is the main part responsible for taking liquid from the tank and pushing them towards the nozzle where containers are filled. Multiple valves are present on different parts of the machine, which control the movement and speed of liquid.
Monoblock Bottle Filling & Capping Machine
The Monoblock bottle filling & capping machine is fully automatic. Here, the capping and sealing machine is attached to the filling machine itself. This machine is preferably used for round and oval-shaped bottles. Its production capacity depends on various factors like the nature of liquids, bottle diameter, bottle height, etc. It works on a rotatory bottle system. With flow meter technology, the volume of the liquid that needs to be filled can be changed easily without changing any part of the machine. It is compact, which means it can work more efficiently without acquiring much space, unlike traditional inline systems. This machine does not need constant human control and is self-sustainable whatsoever.
These machines also have some common features like no fill sensor, speed control conveyor belt, and easy cleaning parts that can be removed individually. Also, some of them have nozzles for pre-cleaning the container with a nitrogen flush. After filling, bottles are capped, sealed, and labeled. These machines are a boon and the future of the sterile filling equipment industry.
