Selected articles on the issue of applications with IPI Mass Spectrometers
Mass-spectrometric on-line gas analysis ensures better process understanding, simplifies monitoring and reduces drying times
The PAT Initiative of the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that manufacturers of pharmaceuticals incorporate and maintain systems for the continuous monitoring and control of production processes.
The mass spectrometric determination of solvent concentrations or solvent partial pressures in the gaseous atmosphere of a drying apparatus provides data sets that are very suitable for optimising drying processes.
The drying curve may be tracked and documented online with the mass spectrometer. As soon as the correlation to the Loss-On-Drying (LOD) values has been determined, the end of the drying process can be immediately identified through the mass spectrometric data. The resulting time savings allows for an improved plant utilisation and reduces energy costs. The redundance of unnecessary offline analyses also contributes to cost reduction.
The mass spectrometric data gives important information for optimisation of the temperature, pressure and carrier gas parameters in process development, particularly with regard to influencing the sequence of individual drying steps if these involve several solvents. It is also easy to detect critical dryer conditions (leakages, starting disintegration of the product, etc.).