The Application of Microwaves in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Mainly used for drying and sterilizing various oral liquids, Chinese and Western medicinal materials, such as pills (water pills, dense pills, water dense pills, etc.), tablets, powder, granules, etc. For a long time, China's pharmaceutical processing industry has adopted traditional heating, drying, and sterilization methods, such as using hot air and far-infrared to dry drugs, and using high temperature and high pressure, cobalt 60, and other sterilization methods. They not only have low thermal efficiency utilization, long heating time, and large footprint, which is not conducive to environmental protection. At the same time, sterilization should be carried out at a high temperature of 120 ℃ under pressure and kept for 20-40 minutes, which will inevitably damage the efficacy and nutritional components of the medicine to a certain extent. The use of microwave drying and sterilization can fully utilize the characteristics of microwave drying and sterilization, which can solve the drawbacks of traditional heating. Using a carefully designed pill microwave dryer, the processed pills do not crack, have good consistency, maintain their original state, and extend their shelf life. Equipped with a 5KW microwave oral liquid sterilization device, it can process over 5000 bottles of 10ML oral liquid per hour. Its sterilization temperature is only around 80 ℃, and the time is less than 1 minute. Not only does it meet hygiene standards, but it also has a clear color, maintains the original nutritional components of the oral liquid, has no sediment, and has a good taste.

The application of microwave energy technology in the pharmaceutical industry is mainly in the following aspects: rapid drying, insecticidal, and sterilization of traditional Chinese medicinal materials; Drying and sterilization of traditional Chinese patent medicines and simple preparations, tablets and pills; Drying and sterilization of powdered pharmaceuticals; Sterilization of oral liquid, etc. For example, Chinese medicinal materials must be dried during storage and transportation to prevent mold growth or during pre-processing. When drying different raw materials using traditional heating methods, the heating inside and outside the raw materials is uneven, energy consumption is high, time is long, and the drying effect is not ideal. By using microwaves for processing, the material directly absorbs microwave energy to achieve heating, resulting in uniform heating inside and outside the material, fast speed, short time, high medicinal grade, and low energy consumption.

The characteristics of microwave heating:

  Short time and fast speed. Microwave heating is a process in which the heated object itself becomes a heating element without the need for thermal conduction. Microwaves penetrate the material from all directions, causing the object to achieve uniform heating in a short period of time, greatly reducing the time required.

  2. Heat evenly. To increase the drying speed using conventional drying methods, it is necessary to raise the external temperature, which can easily create a hard shell on the outside of the pill. Microwave heating is a method of heating both inside and outside simultaneously, without the need for thermal conduction. Typically, it can uniformly penetrate electromagnetic waves and generate heat, thus greatly improving uniformity.

  3. Low temperature sterilization to maintain medicinal ingredients. Microwave sterilization is the result of the combined action of microwave thermal and non thermal effects. Compared with conventional thermal sterilization, it can achieve the desired disinfection and sterilization effect at lower temperatures and in a shorter time. Microwave thermal effect mainly plays a role in rapid heating and sterilization, while non thermal effect causes protein and physiological active substances in microorganisms to mutate, lose vitality or die. The combined action of thermal and non thermal effects greatly shortens the treatment time. Practice has shown that the general sterilization temperature can achieve the effect at 70-80 ℃, and the sterilization effect of various materials is generally within 3-5 minutes. Therefore, the internal and external quality of processed Chinese herbal medicines, as well as the color, taste, and efficacy of Chinese herbal medicines, are not greatly affected.

  4. Energy saving. Conventional thermal sterilization often results in heat loss in the environment and equipment, while microwave directly processes materials without additional heat loss. Therefore, the working environment for workers is good, and compared with far-infrared heating, it can save 30% electricity.

  & nbsp; 5. Easy to control and process. Compared with conventional methods, the device can be turned on and used immediately, without thermal inertia, and is flexible and convenient to operate. The microwave power can be adjusted, and the transmission speed can also be adjusted.