What is a Pharmaceutical Oven?
Pharmaceutical ovens (or pharma ovens) offer a quick and economical means of drying materials in both laboratories and pharmaceutical preparation facilities. Developing pharmaceuticals involves an extensive period of research and testing before a product is ready to be manufactured. Research laboratories and production facilities that are part of the pharmaceutical market use sterilizers, dryers and pharmaceutical ovens to produce and test medication.
The Importance of Pharmaceutical Ovens
Between the manufacture and distribution of pharmaceuticals, there is a large amount of issues that can arise, resulting in products being contaminated before they reach the user. A substantial number of base chemicals and components need to be treated carefully in order to meet FDA regulations. They must be heated in custom-built pharmaceutical ovens to stop the risk of contamination from hazardous pyrogens.
Types of Pharmaceutical Ovens
Pharmaceutical ovens come in a range of capacities, sizes, designs and capabilities and they are usually categorized by such characteristics. Most pharmaceutical ovens will have an option to control and change the temperature which helps with the rapid drying of materials by forced convection.
How Pharmaceutical Ovens Work
The most important attribute of any oven is its heat source, as this is what is used to dry the contents of the oven. Pharmaceutical ovens can use electricity, infrared or vapor as a heat source and typically reach temperatures of up to 340°C.
They also have pharmaceutical oven trays on which all materials for drying are placed. Ovens may have one or more trays depending on the size and scale.
A key element of pharmaceutical oven design is the safety features, this includes an LED alarm system which is activated when the oven reaches certain operating conditions. They may also have automated shut-off and over temperature protection devices which stops the chamber from overheating and guarantees that the specimen inside the oven is not negatively impacted by excess heat.
Pharmaceutical ovens work by drawing air from the operating room to dry out products inside the chamber. This process does not impact the key properties of the materials. Warm air is directed into the chamber by an air blower and displaces the cold air into the heating chamber until the entire chamber is warm. Throughout the process, air circulates above and beneath the oven trays which allows for uniform drying and as the temperature is uniformly distributed in the oven.
Pharmaceutical Ovens from Thermcraft
At Thermcraft, our ovens are perfectly-sized to be set up on a laboratory or pharmacy counter. Our table top shelf is well-suited for all pharmaceutical oven-heating procedures. We realize that the necessary specifications of a pharmaceutical oven are constantly changing and we are able tailor our ovens to meet specialist needs. If you would like to find out more about our pharmaceutical ovens, contact us today.