2.25 million order for Hosokawa Micron Containment Division

The Containment Division of Hosokawa Micron has been chosen to supply a range of containment equipment for the new Bristol-Myers Squibb bulk pharmaceutical processing plant in Cruiserath, Ireland. With an order value in excess of £2m the equipment offers low operator exposure levels of below 1µg/m3 during sampling, subdivision and reactor charging operations. Specialist equipment designers and manufacturers Hosokawa Stott and Hosokawa Vitalair worked closely with the project team from Bristol-Myers Squibb and engineering contractors Kvaerner to develop contained powder and liquid handling equipment and systems which offers low operational exposure levels of below 1µg/m3 in some. The combination of barrier and directional airflow technology maximised the benefits of both technologies and enabled the transfer of dry powder products from and to a variety of small, medium and large containers in the most appropriate contained environment, safeguarding operators and protecting the product. Hosokawa Vitalair also manufactured and supplied 13 separate liquid handling booths to safeguard operating personnel from potentially hazardous vapours. There are a number of novel features within this installation, including the automatic sampling device and twin chamber design of the IBC loading isolator, both of which have been designed by the design engineering teams at Hosokawa Stott to meet the customer's specific first line containment requirements. All equipment was modelled in wood prior to confirmation of design and completion in stainless steel. This enabled accurate assessment of the ergonomic design of equipment and the interface between different system components and ensured that all manual operations were possible. On completion each individual type of isolator and booth underwent extensive factory acceptance testing and rigorous independent testing by occupational hygiene and environmental specialists to ensure that containment level requirement of 1µg/m3 and 50µg/m3 were achieved for the isolators and downflow booths respectively. Paul Gurney-Read, Kvaerner's Global Director of Containment Technology, says 'Hosokawa were chosen because they offered high quality equipment at a competitive cost and provided engineering teams that were willing to listen and discuss the end user's requirements and tailor their designs accordingly. Their approach has produced equipment which is easy to use and that will achieve the desired containment levels with greater assurance than this technology has in the past.'