Reducing API in wastewater stream
- Client Name
- Pharmaceutical production sites
- Location
- Hull and Nottingham, UK
- Process engineering
- Water & wastewater engineering
Challenge
The wastewater discharge from two production sites in Nottingham and Hull contained quantities of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) utilised in the manufacture of their products.
The project aimed to reduce the quantity of APIs in the wastewater stream to improve process cost efficiency on-site and aid improvement in the quality of emissions discharged to the environment.
Solution
SLR's contribution involved conducting an analysis to determine the route taken by these APIs as they entered the wastewater stream. This research identified specific stages within the Cleaning In Place (CIP) process where a significant quantity of API was identified as being lost to the waste stream. Furthermore, SLR's work highlighted a few potential mitigation processes that could be employed to reduce the presence of residual API in the waste stream.
Impact
The volume of product entering the wastewater stream was successfully reduced at the end of the project, with further development continuing.