Study of proper placements of HEPA-filter units in order to prevent airborne contamination of autoclaves in aseptic production by using computational fluid dynamics
Journal article, 2012

Autoclaves are common process equipment used in the pharmaceutical industry. This type of process equipment can cause temperature differences relative to ambient air. During unloading autoclaves used for aseptic production, entrainment of room air into the loading chambers may occur creating contamination risks. To minimise these risks, high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter units with unidirectional flow can be used to provide the chamber openings with clean air protection. This paper describes the use of computational fluid dynamics to simulate unloading of autoclaves used for aseptic production in try to improve the understanding of contamination risks of the autoclave chamber and present solutions of proper placement of HEPA filters in order to protect the openings of autoclaves.

Airborne contamination

Aseptic unloading

HEPA-filter units

Temperature difference

Autoclave

Author

Catinka Ullmann

Ramböll AB

Bengt Ljungqvist

Chalmers, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Building Services Engineering

Berit Reinmüller

Chalmers, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Building Services Engineering

Jenny Sahlén

ÅF

European Journal of Parenteral and Pharmaceutical Sciences

17406277 (ISSN) 26336588 (eISSN)

Vol. 17 4 148-156

Subject Categories

Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics

Other Mechanical Engineering

Building Technologies

More information

Latest update

10/5/2023