Back to results
US 11,338,228 B2Granted
Continuous rotary plate filter and methods of use thereof
AssigneeContinuus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
InventorsStephen C. Born, Joshua Dittrich, Bayan T. Takizawa, Salvatore Mascia
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure provides for a continuous rotary plate filter apparatus and a method of using the apparatus to separate slurries into liquids and solids. The methods and apparatus are useful for the production of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals, particularly using Integrated Continuous Manufacturing (ICM), but can also be integrated with other manufacturing processes, such as batch and semi-continuous processes.
Claims16
An apparatus for continuously processing a pharmaceutical slurry comprising:
- a housing;
- a slurry feed and solvent wash assembly (1300) comprising a slurry feed block (1301) and a slurry distributor (1304) configured to deliver said pharmaceutical slurry onto the surface of a removable rotatable filter plate (1101) having a porous surface with a pore size D90 of 0.01 microns (μm) to 100 μm;
- a rotatable vacuum filter assembly comprising
- said removable rotatable filter plate (1101) secured by a filter plate retaining ring (1103) to a rotatable filter support plate (1104), said rotatable filter support plate (1104) comprising a plurality of holes adapted to convey a filtrate onto a rotatable bottom vacuum plate (1105), and
- a filtrate outlet (1107) adapted to convey said filtrate from said rotatable bottom vacuum plate (1105) through a center shaft (1106) and out of said housing under vacuum,
- wherein said rotatable vacuum filter assembly forms a sealed inner space between said rotatable filter support plate (1104) and said rotatable bottom vacuum plate (1105) that is in fluid communication with said filtrate outlet (1107);
- an inner plate rotator for rotating said rotatable vacuum filter assembly;
- a filter cake outlet (1102) located at a center of said removable rotatable filter plate (1101) and held in place by a filter cake outlet nut (1109);
- and
- an auger subassembly comprising an auger (1402) enclosed in an auger housing (1401), and a scraper (1403) attached to said auger housing (1401) and secured by a scraper holder (1404), said scraper (1403) and said auger (1402) configured to remove a solid filter cake from said surface of said removable rotatable filter plate (1101),
- wherein said pharmaceutical slurry comprises an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) or a pharmaceutical intermediate.
8 more elements
A method of continuously filtering a stream of a pharmaceutical slurry comprising:
- a) providing said stream of a pharmaceutical slurry to an apparatus, said apparatus comprising:
- a housing;
- a slurry feed and solvent wash assembly (1300) comprising a slurry feed block (1301) and a slurry distributor (1304) configured to deliver said pharmaceutical slurry onto the surface of a removable rotatable filter plate (1101) having a porous surface with a pore size D90 of 0.01 microns (μm) to 100 μm;
- a rotatable vacuum filter assembly comprising
- said removable rotatable filter plate (1101) secured by a filter plate retaining ring (1103) to a rotatable filter support plate (1104), said rotatable filter support plate (1104) comprising a plurality of holes adapted to convey a filtrate onto a rotatable bottom vacuum plate (1105), and
- a filtrate outlet (1107) adapted to convey said filtrate from said rotatable bottom vacuum plate (1105) through a center shaft (1106) and out of said housing under vacuum,
- wherein said rotatable vacuum filter assembly forms a sealed inner space between said rotatable filter support plate (1104) and said rotatable bottom vacuum plate (1105) that is in fluid communication with said filtrate outlet (1107),
- an inner plate rotator for rotating said rotatable vacuum filter assembly;
- a filter cake outlet (1102) located at a center of said removable rotatable filter plate (1101) and held in place by a filter cake outlet nut (1109), and
- an auger subassembly comprising an auger (1402) enclosed in an auger housing (1401), and a scraper (1403) attached to said auger housing (1401) and secured by a scraper holder (1404), said scraper (1403) and said auger (1402) configured to remove a solid filter cake from said surface of said removable rotatable filter plate (1101);
- b) rotating said removable rotatable filter plate (1101);
- c) filtering said pharmaceutical slurry through said removable rotatable filter plate (1101) to form said filtrate and said solid filter cake;
- d) passing said filtrate through said filtrate outlet (1107);
- e) removing said solid filter cake from said removable rotatable filter plate (1101) through the combined action of said scraper (1403) and said auger (1402);
- and
- f) passing said solid filter cake through said filter cake outlet (1102),
- wherein said pharmaceutical slurry comprises an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) or a pharmaceutical intermediate.
14 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.