Tough but flexible

Rottendorf Pharma describes itself as a supplier of high-quality services to the pharmaceutical industry. The company was established in Berlin in 1928 and has been conducting business in Ennigerloh since 1949. Following the death of its founder, Andreas J. Rottendorf, the firm was donated to the German Jesuit Order as a charitable foundation, which in addition to protecting jobs at the Ennigerloh head office also defines its mission as supporting a variety of social and scientific projects.

Ennigerloh is the home not only of Rottendorf Pharma’s head office, comprising administration, development and production, but also of a separate packaging plant. Further production and packaging facilities are located in Valenciennes, France. The company provides employment for a total of 630 people and last year generated sales of around 80 million Euros.

López Perez sums up Rottendorf Pharma’s service portfolio as follows: “We provide simultaneous engineering for the pharmaceutical giants, who contract the production of medications in solid form out to us for cost or capacity reasons. All in all, we manufacture more than 200 contracted products. With our extensive pool of equipment, we are in a position to process solid active pharmaceutical ingredients in diverse forms. We cover a broad spectrum from pelletising and granulation through tabletting, capsule filling and sugar coating to film coating.“ Rottendorf Pharma also packages drugs in line with national regulations on behalf of its customers. Another important cornerstone of this tradition-steeped business is full-service galenical process development. Rottendorf determines the optimum raw materials, forms of administration and processing processes, carries out detailed studies and prepares dossiers ready for approval.

Rottendorf Pharma uses Protape Pur 330 MHF, Airduc Pur 355 MHF and Airduc Pur-VA 355 MHF as suction, blast and transport hoses in its tablet production process. All three hose types are made from the same material – ether-polyurethane. “This material”, Bonsiepe explains, “is FDA-compliant and characterised by a remarkably low abrasion of between 27 and 32 mm³.” López Perez continues: “That means not only minimal hose abrasion but also practically zero risk of product contamination. Together with the material’s FDA compliance, this was what swayed our decision in favour of the three Norres hoses.” What’s more tablet production involves processing very fine-grained solids and there is an inherent risk of dust explosion. Rottendorf Pharma was therefore also seeking hoses that are conductive. This requirement is fully met by Protape Pur 330 MHF, Airduc Pur 355 MHF and Airduc Pur-VA 355 MHF. As a welcome sideeffect, the ability to discharge static prevents solid particles from adhering to the hose interior and narrowing the cross-section, leading in the medium term to process disruptions.

The detailed technical documentation was another argument that persuaded Rottendorf to choose Norres hoses. “Our customers have an insatiable thirst for knowledge,” says López Perez. “They want to know whether the hoses that are used to transport their active ingredients conform to FDA standards and whether a traceability concept exists for the processed materials. They are also interested in the abrasion value and the availability of quality certificates for individual hose deliveries. Thanks to the excellent documentation, we are never at a loss to answer questions like these about Norres hoses.”

Protape Pur 330 MHF is a suction and blast hose that is suitable for solids such as dust, powder, chips or fibres. It is a film hose manufactured from smooth ether-polyurethane tape. “The hose is welded from spiral tape material,” Bonsiepe points out. “We employ a patented welding procedure to make it. A spring steel wire is embedded in the hose wall. Providing this wire is earthed, the hose is conductive according to BGR 132. Another unique feature of Protape Pur 330 MHF is its very good axial compressibility of 3:1.”

This super-flexible hose has a wall thickness of 0.6 mm and a diameter of DN 100. It can be supplied in standard lengths of 10 or 15 m. Customised lengths are available on request. It withstands any temperature from -40 to +90 °C – as well as peaks up to +125 °C – without any problems and contains neither plasticisers nor halogens. Like all ether-polyurethane hoses, Protape Pur 330 MHF is tasteless, odourless and resistant to microbes and hydrolysis. Its high resistance to chemicals, UV radiation and ozone makes it ideal for use in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries as well as in food production.

Rottendorf Pharma uses Protape Pur 330 MHF as a suction hose for its tablet presses. “The tablet presses are installed in separate cabins with a monitored air quality,” López Perez reports. “These cabins are provided with connections for the central vacuum suction unit. The Protape Pur 330 MHF links this suction unit to the tabletting chamber. It enables us to continuously remove all dust that accumulates inside the chamber when the active ingredients are pressed.”

Airduc Pur 355 MHF and Airduc Pur-VA 355 MHF are ether-polyurethane profile hoses. Since they are both made from the same FDA-compliant material, these suction and transport hoses also boast the same properties as Protape Pur when it comes to operating temperatures or resistance to chemicals, hydrolysis, micro-organisms and ozone. “The main difference, however, is that the wire responsible for discharging static is immovably cast into the 1.5 mm thick hose wall,” says Bonsiepe. “We use conventional spring steel wire for the Airduc Pur 355 MHF and stainless steel wire for the Airduc Pur-VA 355 MHF. No adhesion promoters are needed”.

Airduc Pur hoses feature a very smooth interior and high axial strength, but are nevertheless flexible. They also weigh less than other, similar rubber hoses. Bonsiepe continues: “We can adapt the hose design and thus also its properties to each user’s individual specification. This applies to the smoothness of the hose interior, the wall thickness at primary points of wear and the flow optimisation of the profile.”

Airduc Pur 355 MHF and Airduc Pur-VA 355 MHF are likewise offered by Norres in standard 10 and 15 m lengths. In this connection, Bonsiepe mentions that both Protape Pur and Airduc Pur can be easily cut to any required length and fastened to the equipment by means of hose clamps, for example. On the other hand, this connection method is not possible with Airduc Pur-VA hoses, for which special clamps are necessary. Norres can supply either single or pre-assembled hoses with steel, stainless steel or plastic fittings on request. “We always install the fittings with a collar,” Bonsiepe adds. “This has the advantage of significantly increasing the tensile strength of the hose. To guarantee absolutely smooth delivery at the transition from the fitting to the hose, the pipe end has a conical bore.”

Cleanliness and hygiene are top priorities at Rottendorf Pharma. The company uses a combination of Airduc Pur 355 MHF and a cleaning nozzle to clean its tablet presses manually.

The Airduc Pur-VA 355 MHF masters a completely different challenge. This hose transports the active ingredient mixtures from mobile containers to the tablet press with the help of a suction conveyor. Rottendorf Pharma also uses it to discharge the tabletted products. These pass through a metal detector and a deburring machine prior to ending up in a container or drum. López Perez: “The CIP capability of the Airduc Pur-VA 355 MHF is a tremendous benefit here. Each time the product is changed, the dirty hoses are cleaned and dried. When more of the same product is manufactured later, we can simply reuse the old hoses – a fine example of dedicated equipment.” (le)

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Rottendorf Pharma

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