The multi-purpose laboratory and pilot-scale Nutsche filter dryer is a versatile tool for pilot plants, laboratory applications, and small-scale production facilities. Key requirements for this type of equipment include broad application capability, cGMP-compliant design, containment, high efficiency and thorough cleanability, complete discharge capability, maximum drying efficiency, process safety and monitoring, straightforward validation, and a compact footprint.
In the development and improvement of new and existing products, pilot testing plays an indispensable role in the industry. To meet growing customer expectations, Longxin Drying has worked for years with partners in the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries, continuously developing its range of mobile pilot mixers and vacuum dryers. These systems are widely used in these sectors and have proven highly successful.
We have applied our integrated technologies to the design of the multi-purpose laboratory and pilot-scale Nutsche filter dryer to increase the flexibility of our pilot equipment and create clear advantages for customers. These user-friendly, self-contained systems enable multi-stage processing at technical pilot scale, including drying, mixing, wetting, coating, granulation with dust removal, and many other techniques under vacuum in a controlled, dust-free environment—all with high precision, gentle mixing action, and low energy input. They provide a realistic simulation of the physical conditions and results obtained in large-scale production facilities, helping customers qualify and optimize existing processes or develop new ones.
Multi-Purpose Laboratory and Pilot Nutsche Filter Dryer: Specifications and Options
The multi-purpose laboratory and pilot-scale Nutsche filter dryer is available with a range of alternative specifications, including a continuously variable-speed drive, closed-loop heating system, dust filter, vacuum dust collector, condenser for vapor recovery, injection device, CIP system, a sampler that allows samples to be taken while the vessel is under vacuum, heated agitator screw, and electrical control panel to meet various operating requirements.
The system is designed to operate independently of the physical constraints of the intended installation area. To optimize the plug-and-play concept, units can now be equipped with a unique system that reduces overall height and allows the equipment to be transported through doors, corridors, and elevators. For example, our 30 L working-capacity unit has an overall height of 1,850 mm and a width of 1,400 mm in transport mode. Once in position, the entire unit can be raised to its operating height. In addition, the cone section can be lowered from the fixed top head after the clamps are released, allowing the cleanliness of the vessel to be inspected after a CIP cycle. This makes it possible to test overall suitability and directly compare laboratory results obtained with one agitator design against those obtained with another.
Model 1: Laboratory Nutsche Filter Dryer
The laboratory-scale Nutsche filter and Nutsche filter dryer are designed for pilot-plant and small-scale production processes. They can be easily moved from one location to another and are equipped with the necessary instrumentation. Pilot filters with a filtration area of 0.3–0.7 m² offer customers a mobile, compact design, easy plug-and-play installation, excellent suitability for scale-up, simple operation, and CIP cleaning.
(1) The pilot agitated Nutsche filter and filter dryer are mounted on a movable base that can be lowered and moved to the side. This arrangement provides excellent access to the filter plate or dryer base for cleaning and inspection and is particularly useful for systems equipped with isolators.
(2) Laboratory-scale Nutsche filters and filter dryers meet the demanding requirements of pharmaceutical ingredient production and are designed in accordance with strict cGMP and FDA requirements.
(3) The small pilot unit is skid-mounted and includes all drives, required instrumentation, and controls.
(4) Vessel bases are interchangeable, allowing separate conversion to a conical-bottom dryer or a filter-washing dryer.
(5) The agitator is top-supported. The shaft seal uses a combined sealing arrangement; a double mechanical seal and bellows are available when organic solvents are used as washing liquids.
(6) The rotating, simultaneously vertically moving agitator provides highly effective, uniform mixing throughout the product for mixing and drying.
(7) Product-wetted surfaces are heated to provide the largest possible heat-exchange area and the lowest achievable final moisture content within a short drying time. Supplementary pulsed vacuum drying is available to further shorten the drying time.
Model 2: Conical Pilot Filter Dryer
The agitated Nutsche filter and Nutsche filter dryer—Pilot Filter Dryer—are designed for pilot-plant and small-scale production processes. They can be easily moved from one location to another and are equipped with the necessary instrumentation. Pilot dryers with nominal capacities of 15, 50, and 100 L offer customers a flexible working volume ranging from 10% to 100% of nominal capacity, a mobile and compact design, easy plug-and-play installation, excellent suitability for scale-up, simple operation, and CIP cleaning.
(1) Conical Agitated Nutsche Filter Dryer—Standard Specifications
Equipment material: 316L stainless steel or Alloy C22
Working volume: 15–100 L
Working pressure: –1.0 to 3.0 barg
Working temperature: –20 to 120°C; heating/cooling water or thermal oil at 0–6 barg
Equipment surface finish: product-contact surfaces Ra <0.8 μm
(2) Conical Agitated Nutsche Filter Dryer—Standard Configuration
Heating/cooling jacket
Thermal insulation jacket
Dust filter
Variable-speed drive
Manual ball discharge valve
Pressure and temperature sensors
Mobile frame
(3) Conical Agitated Nutsche Filter Dryer—Options
Mixing agitator with a central-shaft agitator
Vacuum system with solvent recovery
Heating/cooling system
Vacuum sampler
SPS control using laboratory software
Operation via PC or laptop
Other options available
Model 3: MiniDRY Conical Helix Dryer/Mixer
The MiniDRY laboratory conical dryer and mixer is available in three sizes with nominal working capacities of 10, 30, and 50 L. It is ideal for product development, long-term experimental trials, pre-production batches intended for quality assurance or market research, pilot-scale and small-batch production, including small pharmaceutical operations, polymer research, and many other tasks in the pharmaceutical and fine chemical fields.
The closed-loop drying system is designed to meet increasingly stringent environmental protection requirements and is continuously reviewed to remain state of the art. It is designed as a pressure vessel to prevent the leakage of toxic or hazardous substances into the environment. The heating system supplies hot water to the jackets on the cone, top lid, and filter housing, while the vacuum/condenser system recovers vapor. In other words, the entire process takes place in a completely enclosed and controlled environment.
Model 4: Tilting Multi-Purpose Filter Washing Drying System
In existing discharge systems, the three-in-one system cannot tilt. There is a 10 mm clearance between the hydraulically driven agitator and the bottom plate, leaving approximately 10% of the material unable to discharge automatically. The discharge port is located on the side, leakage can occur during repeated use, the equipment cannot be inverted, and drying efficiency is low. Its drawbacks are therefore obvious: residual material during discharge, low drying efficiency, leakage at the discharge port, and a complex three-in-one design that is susceptible to internal contamination.
The tilting multi-purpose filter washing drying system simplifies the structure of conventional Nutsche filter dryers while improving drying efficiency, preventing residual material during discharge and leakage at the discharge port, and helping eliminate internal contamination. It can be used to process active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), for which varying degrees of containment and control are required during sampling, product discharge, product packaging, bottom-plate removal, and filter-cloth handling.
The multi-purpose laboratory and pilot-scale Nutsche filter dryer is an ideal and logical evolution of the highly successful pilot-scale three-in-one dryer, with filling volumes ranging from 10 to 500 L. These equipment sizes are particularly suitable for scale-up to production equipment or for small-volume production. A broad range of materials and customized designs is also available.
When developing new products under laboratory conditions, the use of these new laboratory dryers opens up entirely new possibilities for processing and simulation. Processes involving product quantities below those used in kilogram-scale laboratory installations can now be simulated early in development, generating important findings before actual transfer to production standards and subsequent optimization.
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