Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu)

The Indian pharmaceutical industry is forecasted to grow at 22.4 per cent annually to $ 100 billion by 2025; addressing over 50 per cent of the global demand for vaccines, 40 per cent of generic demand in the US and 25 per cent of all medicine requirements in the UK. Amid stringent regulatory scrutiny, continuous supply of impurity-free air is critical for smooth manufacturing processes in the Indian pharmaceutical industry. With Elgi AB series range of oil free screw compressors, Elgi Equipments Ltd - one of the leading global air compressor manufacturers - offers pure, clean, class “0” oil free air to India’s leading pharmaceutical companies.

Dr Jairam Varadaraj, Managing Director, Elgi Equipments Ltd, elaborated, “In light of the pandemic, India’s pharmaceutical industry has a tremendous opportunity to play a pivotal role in global healthcare. With growing FDA scrutiny, strict warnings over toxic impurities and delicate pharmaceutical manufacturing processes, the quality of compressed air meeting the highest standards, is of quintessential importance. On the other hand, continuous air supply must be guaranteed, since a disruption can lead to an immense loss of production. At Elgi, we endeavoured to address the needs of the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in a new way. The Elgi AB ‘Always Better’ series is a disruption in oil free compressed air technology, and we’re delighted to witness its growing adoption as the customer’s choice for sensitive pharmaceutical applications.” 

With high reliability, consistent air quality, better return on investment, lower cost of ownership, and fast, efficient service support for sensitive applications with moisture content between +3°C, to -20°C PDP; the AB series range of air compressors meets the ISO 8573–1 compliance requirements. In addition, the Elgi AB Series delivers unmatched air quality in line with the ISO8573-Class 7 compliance norms ensuring zero traces of microbial contaminants. With the IS:10500:2012 certification for water quality, the AB series also guarantees the safest pneumatic air for the pharmaceutical industry. 

“The sheer performance of the Elgi AB Series, coupled with its compelling value proposition has resulted in India’s leading pharmaceutical companies replacing existing machines with the AB series, while successful installations, have prompted pharmaceutical companies, across the country, to revisit their entire fleet of air compressors,” said the Elgi in a press release.

Traditionally, pharmaceutical customers buy oil lubricated compressors for requirements below 500cfm (90kW) owing to low capital investments, and conventional oil free compressors, to meet stringent air quality requirements. The flip side of using lubricated screws is the multi-layer filtration systems which increase pressure drop and cause down time due to the replacement of oil filters resulting in increased lifecycle costs. On the other hand, conventional oil free compressors in this range, are normally air-cooled and also face reliability issues and temperature trips at high ambient temperature conditions (above 45°C), resulting in significant downtime and operational losses, in addition to excessive initial and running costs.

The Elgi AB Series offers pharmaceutical manufacturing customers reliability and high performance at temperatures beyond 50°C due to the water injection inside the compression chamber. The AB Series delivers Class ‘0’ quality air, while the water in the closed circuit is insulated with proprietary material to ensure zero contamination due to corrosion. 

The Elgi AB Series has a unique air-cooling system which ensures ample condensation of water from air particles, aiding the self-replenishment of water in the closed loop. This eliminates the need for external water top-up and also reduces the load on the driers and the water management system. The in-built microbial inhibition system prevents microbial growth, across all scenarios of operation, thereby ensuring microbe free air.  

The Elgi AB Series operates with a single airend, as opposed to conventional oil free machines that operate with dual airends. This results in lower foot print, fewer rotating components and lower maintenance costs. Fitted with stainless steel rotors for better performance, every Elgi AB series air compressor comes with standard bearings for ease of maintenance. Additionally, the AB series range operates at a lower RPM, resulting in less wear and tear of rotating parts, low noise levels and reduced power consumption. Additionally, the low noise levels ensure the AB series does not require a dedicated compressor room and can be placed right next to the application area, thereby reducing costs involved with the build-up of additional infrastructure and compressed air supply systems.

 

Rajesh Premchandran, Director, ISAAME (India, South Asia, Africa and Middle East), said, “The AB Series is a disruption in oil free compressed air technology, offering customers in pharmaceutical industry a no-compromise, oil free solution at reduced lifecycle costs when compared with prevailing oil free technologies. With the AB Series compressors, pharmaceutical installations get the purest form of compressed air with higher efficiency, increased reliability and quicker return on investment.”

Elgi Equipments Limited is a global air compressor manufacturer with a broad line of innovative and technologically superior compressed air systems. The company offers a complete range of compressed air solutions from oil lubricated and oil free rotary screw compressors, oil lubricated and oil free reciprocating compressors and centrifugal compressors, to dryers, filters and downstream accessories. Elgi’s portfolio of over 400 products has found wide application across industries.