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Design Considerations For WFI Distillation Systems Part 2

WFI design considerations part 2

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Jason Wang
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209 views

Design Considerations For WFI Distillation Systems Part 2

WFI design considerations part 2

Uploaded by

Jason Wang
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Design Considerations for WFI

Distillation Systems Part 2


ISPE April 28, 2016 Design Considerations for WFI Distillation Systems Part 22016-0526T10:02:46+00:00 Knowledge, Pharmaceutical Engineering Magazine No Comment
Design Considerations for Water for Injection (WFI) Distillation Systems for Improving
Quality, Project Performance, and Equipment Life Cycle Cost Reduction was featured
in the September/October 2015 issue of Pharmaceutical Engineering magazine.
This four-part series presents and discusses a number of key requirements and
design, quality, and engineering considerations that have high importance in end-user
usability, cost control and end-product quality that help manage risks in Water for
Injection production and processes. Part two reviews:

WFI hot or cold loop or storage

Temperature of feed and cooling water

How the WFI distillation systems integrate with the storage tank and loop

WFI Hot or Cold Loop or Storage for WFI Distillation Systems


When comparing WFI production equipment to the required storage temperature in a
cold loop (20 C to 30 C) or hot loop (80 C or higher), there is a difference in the
energy consumption and the selection of the type of WFI production equipment. The
benefit of a low-temperature output WFI system, such as a vapor compression
system, is lower energy consumption. This type of system is not widely available for all
applications. The hotloop and tank WFI applications benefit from WFI supplied at an
already high-temperature output of 85C or even higher that is produced by multipleeffect distillation. Low-temperature output distillation systems are typically intended
for immediate use without storage, and these systems require periodic sanitization at
high temperatures to reduce bioburden.

Establish a solid and realistic calculation for the equipment based on


realistic utility costs, performance values, and available quantities and
conditions. Always compare apples to apples.
The best way to estimate these utility costs is by cooperating with utility design
engineers and end users of the equipment. Knowing the goal truly helps in making

the right decision about the type of equipment needed for the facility today and in the
event of a future expansion. Be sure to include the realistic washing, cleaning, and
service and maintenance costs at realistic intervals. In addition to the running costs,
the service costs play a significant role in the entire life cycle. There is always a risk of
malfunction when it comes to complex processes and numerous moving parts; critical
part maintenance and replacement costs can be significant, and production downtime
is very expensive.

Temperature of Feed Water and Cooling Water for WFI


Distillation Systems
For multiple-effect units, feed-water temperature has a major impact on the required
flow rates of cooling water. Additionally, it is required to consider the size of heat
exchangers in order to work with higher-temperature cooling water. For example,
inlet temperatures can be up to 35C in southern regions compared to 5C to 10C in
the northern regions. The higher inlet temperatures of feed water and cooling water
to the WFI system lead to a smaller temperature differential in the cooling water
available for heat transfer. This impacts the flow rate of cooling water, as colder water
has more temperature differential. Its important to consider whether the cooling
water supply temperature has seasonal variations, as this may cause other
considerations for the capability of controlling the process under different conditions.
Multiple-effect distillation systems need to be evaluated to determine how many
effects are optimal for utility use as well as the overall energy consumption of the
respective vapor compression system. Individual and project-specific parameters
should define the most appropriate system. Include the round-table review of the
entire life-cycle cost of equipment, which encompasses energy consumption over the
target operational life of equipment (typically 15 to 20 years), service costs, and
investment cost.
In todays world of increasing energy costs and sustainability concerns, it is advised to
look at multiple-effect distillation units with enough columns, or any other means of
heat recovery, to save in heating- and cooling-water costs. In an MWS, for example, six
to eight effects typically means that little to no cooling water is needed to produce WFI
and save the most in heating costs, as an increasing number of effects significantly
reduces the consumption of heating steam.

How the WFI Distillation Systems Integrate with the Storage


Tank and Loop

Communication signals between the WFI tank and the distillation equipment can
provide a proportionally controlled capacity. This means that the distillation
equipment can automatically adjust to the current demand of WFI consumption
based on the direct demand (level of the WFI storage tank). To achieve proportional
capacity control, the water still needs to be equipped with a proportional control valve
or valves for plant steam and feed-water control, utility measuring instrumentation, as
well as a PLC control sequence for running the operation automatically. Feed water
can also be controlled by motor inverter control. Eliminating the starts and stops of
the WFI still also reduces the time and energy spent on the running up, cooling down,
or sanitization period of the units as per the current capacity needs. It may be difficult
to think of these savings in numbers, but there is a way: Simply evaluate the number
and duration of running cycles and peaks of WFI consumptions put in the simple
spreadsheet of a daily schedule. Instead of five daily starts and stops, there may only
be two, for example, as the distillation capacity is adjusted according to consumption.
It is surprising how much time, energy, and money can be spent annually on ramping
up and down the system. It can easily be proved that the payback time of proportional
capacity control that has been implemented in a new or existing WFI distillation unit is
short enough to justify investment. (See Table A.)

By: Juha Mattile, Sr. Product Manager for Steris Finn-Aqua High Purity Water & Team, VHP
Sterilization and Effluent Decontamination systems and Mike Parkka, Project Manager for
Steris Finn-Aqua

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