Pharmaceutical industry, membrane application

In this chapter, the use of membranes in medical devices is reviewed briefly. In terms of total membrane area produced, medical applications are at least equivalent to all industrial membrane applications combined. In terms of dollar value of the products, the market is far larger. In spite of this, little communication between these two membrane areas has occurred over the years. Medical and industrial membrane developers each have their own journals, societies and meetings, and rarely look over the fence to see what the other is doing. This book cannot reverse 50 years of history, but every industrial membrane technologist should at least be aware of the main features of medical applications of membranes. Therefore, in this chapter, the three most important applications—hemodialysis (the artificial kidney), blood oxygenation (the artificial lung) and controlled release pharmaceuticals—are briefly reviewed. 

Alginate is another biopolymer extensively studied for its gel formation property with applications in the food packaging and pharmaceutical industries as well as for membranes and as biosensors. Such LDH hybrid assemblies were recently used for the detection of cations such as Ca [HO]. 

Our Investigation on durability and membrane characteristics changes under adverse conditions have much contributed to development of RO applications. Among these applications are those for ultra-pure water in electronic and pharmaceutical industries. Even under the circumstance of pH 7 and with 2 to 4 times per year of sterilization by H2O2 of as high as 1 %, the cellulose acetate membrane proved to show membrane life of more than 3 years. 

Drioli, E. and Giorno, L. (1999) Biocatalytic Membrane Reactors Application in Biotechnology and the Pharmaceutical Industry, Taylor Francis Publisher, Padstow, UK. 

Membrane polymeric materials for separation applications are made of polyamide, polypropylene, polyvinylidene fluoride, polysulfone, polyethersulfone, cellulose acetate, cellulose diacetate, polystyrene resins cross-linked with divinylbenzene, and others (see Section 2.9) [59-61], The use of polyamide membrane filters is suggested for particle-removing filtration of water, aqueous solutions and solvents, as well as for the sterile filtration of liquids. The polysulfone and polyethersulfone membranes are widely applied in the biotechnological and pharmaceutical industries for the purification of enzymes and peptides. Cellulose acetate membrane filters are hydrophilic, and consequently, are suitable as a filtering membrane for aqueous and alcoholic media. 

Inorganic membranes have been mentioned in other usage in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. For example, ziiconia and alumina-based ceramic membranes have been incorporated in the following operations [Cueille and Ferreira, 1989] purification and concentration of antibiotics, vitamins, amino-acids, organic acids, enzymes, biopolymers and biopeptides for the fermentation steps in the more conventional applications human blood derivatives, vaccines, recombinant proteins, cells culture and monoclonal antibiotics in newer applications and pyrogen lemoval for ultrapure water. 

I Membrane Applications in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries and in Conservation of Natural Resources Introduction... 

This introductory section outlines several established applications of membranes in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, reviews the membranes and membrane processes available in this field, and discusses the huge potential of these technologies. In addition, other important topic dealing with conservation of natural resources (zeolite membranes) is also presented in this section. Each chapter has been written by a leading international expert with extensive industrial experience in the field. 

The actual interest for ceramic membranes in many applications dealing with the treatment of liquids results from an increasing demand for secure and reliable membrane processes. In the food and pharmaceutical industries for which sanitary requirements are of the utmost importance, ceramic membranes afford a very good reliability in terms of cleaning and... 

Improving and reducing the price of membrane film or hollow-fiber production will definitely speed industrial application of the OHLM technologies, especially in gas, pharmaceutical, and bioreactor applications. 

Sirkar KK. Application of membrane technologies in the pharmaceutical industry. Curr Opin Drug Discov Devel, 2000 3(6) 714-722. 

From the Foreword) comprehensive discussion of membrane applications in the chemical, food, and pharmaceutical industries, in biotechnology, and in the treatment of toxic industrial effluents. The applications of membranes in different areas are described by scientists and engineers who not only are experts in membrane science and technology, but also have extensive experience in the specific field of membrane application... ... 

Reverse osmosis membrane is widely used in seawater and brackish water desalination processes. Compared to traditional distillation, there is no energy-intensive phase change involved in membrane processes. Therefore, desalination with RO membrane is more energy efficient. In addition to the traditional desalination processes, RO membranes have also found wide application in industrial and municipal wastewater treatment, in pure water production for the electronic and pharmaceutical industries, and in the food industries. 

Membrane-based separation processes are recognized as environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional separation techniques such as distillation or extraction. The field of large-scale applications covers the range of drinking water processing, potable water production, waste-water treatment, application in the food and pharmaceutical industries, recovery of aroma and active substances as well as sterile filtration of pharmaceuticals and clarification of beverages. 

---