Pharmaceutical, Life Sciences & Biotech Industries
LEWA supplies pumps and systems for the pharmaceutical, life sciences, and biotech industries that comply with all hygienic requirements. We're happy to help you with advice!
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Solutions
For the production of gelatine products, LEWA provides a series of solutions for various process steps:
- By using multiplex pumps for recipe metering or complete systems, LEWA provides hygienic alternatives in the entire process for producing gelatine.
- For each component of the recipe metering (sugar and gelatine solution, color, flavor, acid, etc.) a metering unit is used that consists of at least one LEWA metering pump and a downstream static mixer.
- As early as the project stage, calculations are carried out for optimizing the suction side conditions.
- LEWA multiplex process pumps with a hygiene-compliant diaphragm pump head are the tried-and-tested solution for sterile metering of gelatine into a cooler.
- LEWA multiplex pumps always convey with the greatest precision, even at a counterpressure from 20 to 50 bar, which can arise during the drying process.
- Sanitary/hygiene-compliant design of the pumps used with the least dead space
- Wetted parts are FDA-compliant as well as tested and documented for USP Class VI
- Material certificates in accordance with EN 10204 3.1
- Surfaces of the pump polished mechanically (316/316L-1.4401/1.4404: RA < 0.8µm) or polished mechanically and electro-polished (1.4435: RA < 0.5µm).
- Easy to clean in accordance with recognized industrial standards (EHEDG, QHD, FDA and USP Class VI-compliant)
- The pumps can be sterilized with hot water or steam at up to 150 °C.
Background
How is gelatin produced?
There is a distinction made between bone gelatin, which is obtained from long bones of the legs of calves and cattles and dermic gelatin, which is derived from tanneries waste, pork rind and cows’ and cattles’ heads.
The bones are cleaned, shredded and macerated. The tricalcium phosphate in the bone tissue is removed with dilute hydrochloric acid. Then, it is multiply watered and treated with lime water (“liming”). The next steps are the neutralization of the acid and further washing procedures.
The gelatin is extracted from the washed-out bone collagen in multiple steps, pre-cleaned in separators and afterwards filtrated.
The filtration is a typical application for metering pumps: Diatomaceous earth or perlite slurries are added to the alluvial filter. Flow rates are below 360 l/h and pressures are below 8 bar.
The separation yields an aqueous gelatin solution with a concentration of approximately 6 %. The gelatin content is increased to approx. 30 % in a single or multi-stage vacuum evaporation column. The viscosity goes up to 1500 mPa∙s. This solution now is fed to a drying process.
This is the main application area for multiplex pumps. The task of these pumps is the germ-free metering of the gelatin into a cooler with subsequent fragmentation and drying. The transition from gel-type state to solid state leads to back pressures from 20 to 50 bar.
