Omega tackles dosing dilemma

13 May 2008

Omega Engineering has upped reliability and reduced costs for a major pharmaceutical company. The manufacturer, which has its UK base in Manchester, supplied its LVUN-600 level switch to ensure the smooth operation of peristaltic pumps that dose ingredients into batches.

To ensure a quality product these units have to be accurate and reliable. However, since they work on the principle of squeezing a plastic pipe, wear takes place and leakage occurs.

When the liquid, this pharmaceutical company deals with, contacts air it begins to crystallise and can eventually block the tube. The pump then just delivers air and a very expensive product has to be destroyed.

The company needed to reliably detect when there was an absence of product in a small bore pipe and the installation had to be totally hygienic.

Since the company’s process ran continually, installation had to be kept to a minimum or production would be lost, potentially costing thousands of pounds an hour.

Launched in January 2008, the LVUN-601 provided a suitable solution.

The level switch is Omega’s first to operate on the speed of sound. It is easier to propagate sound through solids than air, therefore when there is no liquid between the walls of the pipe or vessel the unit detects this and switches a relay.

Omega proved the switch’s operation in a workshop and fitted it outside the pipe so there was no loss of production and no contamination of the product. This resulted in cost savings for the company as no plant procedures had to be rewritten and submitted to the FDA.


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