Drying of Pharmaceuticals & Medical Technology

  • Up to 45% subsidized acquisition costs

  • Save up to 75% on energy costs

  • 100% planning reliability thanks to premium after-sales service

Packaged and unpackaged pharmaceuticals and medical products are highly sensitive goods, requiring optimal and, above all, stress-free treatment during manufacturing or further processing. High-quality drying of pharmaceuticals/medical technology leads to increased quality and safety. Heat pump-based drying is the solution – also for your pharmaceutical drying needs. Medical technology products are dried using exhaust-free condensation drying, which, through its physically alternative approach, combines seemingly contradictory attributes such as low temperatures, short drying times, and optimal results.

If you would like to learn why our drying method is beneficial for you or your customers, how it works, and which drying systems we implement, you will find all important information here.
Our drying solutions are also suitable for the controlled drying of medical cannabis – efficient, safe, and GMP-ready. For high-quality results and consistent processes.

Bags and Bottles for Infusion and Injection Therapy

After hot water sterilization, for example, your products are hot and wet. With our low-temperature drying, you can gently and safely dry your bags or bottles, made of plastic or glass, and, if desired, cool them immediately afterwards. Our drying or dry-cooling solutions are flexible and therefore suitable for both continuous processes and batch procedures – in manual or fully automatic operation. The drying temperature is typically between 40 °C and 75 °C.

Ampoules and Vials

Whether the products to be dried are made of glass, plastic, or other materials makes no difference when using our dryers. In any case, drying takes place at low temperatures. Regardless of the containers or the number of your ampoules or vials, our solution ensures they are safely and completely dry.

Containers, Baskets, and Trays

After cleaning, washing, or sterilizing – the goal is always to generate absolutely dry goods to prepare them for immediate further processing. For particularly demanding applications, as is often the case with containers, we combine our drying with a preceding compressed-air-free blow-off device. Our drying system is flexible in every respect and can be integrated into any existing or planned process type.

Blister Packaging

For pharmaceutical blisters, the focus is generally on drying surface water while simultaneously protecting the contents. You can read more about our drying solutions in the packaging sector here.

Grasses, Herbs, and Much More

Through our gentle low-temperature drying, we assist you in the production or further processing of your products. Applications in this area are highly diverse and individual. So are our drying solutions. You can learn more about food drying in general here.

Medical Cannabis

Gentle drying is crucial for the quality, active ingredient content, and aroma profile of medical cannabis.
With HARTER AIRGENEX® technology, you can dry in a controlled, hygienic, and reproducible manner – completely without thermal stress.
Perfect for GMP-compliant production processes and the highest pharmaceutical requirements.

Viscous Materials / Viscous Fluids / Pasty Substances

For these applications, continuous drying on a belt (e.g., after extrusion) is ideal. With our low temperatures, typically between 40 °C and 75 °C, the materials are gently dried to the desired degree of dryness. Our dry air, combined with customized air guidance, ensures homogeneous and precise drying results.

Lozenges and Tablets

In the production of lozenges and tablets, drying is also an important component. It completes the quality of your products. In addition to the aforementioned advantages, our drying offers a bonus: since drying takes place in a closed circuit, valuable ingredients and important flavor components of your products are preserved. Furthermore, drying in a closed system proceeds independently of climatic conditions and other external influences.

Implants, Biomaterials, as well as Diagnostic and Surgical Instruments

Implants and instruments undergo surface finishing during manufacturing and therefore require subsequent spot-free, safe, and complete drying. Our experience shows that hot air blowers are often used in this area, which do not deliver the desired results and also operate energetically inefficiently. Here, our low-temperature dryers with dry air offer a perfect alternative. You can learn more about the drying of surface-finished products here.

Do you require a custom solution and/or would you like to test the drying process beforehand?

Development with practical tests in our in-house development center

We are an innovation-driven team and welcome new challenges. HARTER tests your custom solution in the technical center under realistic conditions, optimizes the parameters, and documents the results transparently. Please contact us – we would be pleased to provide you with a non-binding consultation!

Contact our experts now +49 8383 9223‑210 or submit the contact form
2000

Drying systems

in over 20 countries stand for our quality

100

Employees

from all areas ensure a high level of vertical integration

+ 35

Years of experience

in the development of innovative drying systems

Your benefits

Your product is sensitive. It requires extremely gentle treatment. In the area of drying, we achieve this through highly efficient dehumidification at low temperatures between 20 °C and 90 °C, depending on the application. Any unwanted heating of materials and products is prevented by absolutely stress-free drying at low temperatures.

Drying with Airgenex®med in a closed system guarantees consistent parameters such as temperature, time, humidity, air speed, and air volume flow, thereby making your process independent of climatic conditions. The drying functions safely, stabilizes the manufacturing process, and thus optimizes the process. Airgenex®med thus becomes the answer to all quality questions in the drying process.

Drying with Airgenex®med takes place without exchange with ambient air. It is emission-free and does not affect cleanroom and production conditions. Likewise, Airgenex®med drying systems are independent of operational infrastructure.

Through dehumidification using heat pump technology, Airgenex®med achieves maximum efficiency in the drying process. A combination of air treatment and air guidance perfectly tailored to the product ensures high-quality drying results with short drying times.

Test series in our technical center are part of our service offering. In doing so, we get to know your process and your product and combine our core and specialized competencies with your experience. Would you like to learn more about our technical center?

If desired or required by the process, our Airgenex®med system can also be used for cooling through minor adjustments. We have already implemented combined dry-cooling systems many times. We are happy to offer the development of energy-efficient concepts on how excess energy from our cooling can be integrated into other processes of your company.

Our GMP service is available as a complete package or as an individual service:

Creation of specific design documents for the system, including control:

  • Design Specification
  • Functional Specification
  • Hardware Design Specification
  • Software Design Specification

Execution of Qualification:

  • Design Qualification
  • Installation Qualification
  • Functional Qualification
  • FAT and SAT plus Documentation

Drying Systems for Pharmaceuticals & Medical Technology

We develop and manufacture drying systems for both batch operation and continuous processes, thus adapting our technology to your specifications. We determine all specific parameters for successful drying beforehand in drying tests in our technical center.

The basis for our successful drying of pharmaceuticals is a perfect interplay of air dehumidification and air guidance. At low temperatures, we guide extremely dry and thus unsaturated air precisely to where it is intended to absorb moisture. This process – our heat pump-based condensation drying – is implemented in various system types such as tray/chamber dryers, belt dryers, and other variants.

Hygienic Design and GMP/GAMP
Our drying systems are made of stainless steel and cleanable according to hygienic design principles. This makes them optimally suitable for drying pharmaceuticals or medical technology. We are happy to meet your individual requirements regarding GMP – available as a complete package or as an individual service. Please contact us!
Is your application different? We trust you understand that listing all our drying possibilities would exceed the scope. If you have not found your specific application here, please contact us directly. We will be happy to advise you without obligation!

The Process

We dry with dry air and deliver it to the right places: A perfect interplay of air preparation and air guidance provides you with the best possible drying result.

Interface: Airgenex® Dehumidification Technology / Dryer – Moist air is extracted from the drying chamber and supplied to the dehumidification unit.

The pre-cooler pre-cools the air in a first stage. This significantly reduces the compressor’s energy consumption.

Moisture condenses on the fins of the air cooler and drains out of the drying system via the drip tray and condensate drain.

The cooled, dehumidified air is warmed up without additional energy by means of a pre-heater.
The air heater warms the air to the required process temperature.

The process air fan ensures the necessary air exchange between the Airgenex® dehumidification technology and the drying chamber.

Now, the dry, unsaturated air is guided into the drying chamber, where it absorbs the product’s moisture. Thus, the cycle is closed.

Efficiency that pays off.

Our HARTER drying systems save up to 75% CO₂ and are up to 45% governmentally funded.

Reliable – Competent – Long-term

Service that thinks ahead – for years to come

With the HARTER After-Sales Service, you secure a reliable and efficient drying solution for the long term. Whether it’s maintenance, spare parts supply, or technical adjustments – we support your system throughout its entire life cycle and ensure that it delivers optimal results at all times.

Performance Service

Optimal performance through our “all-round carefree package”

Custom Service

Flexible for changing requirements

Expert Service

Fast assistance in case of failure

Lifetime Service

So that the quality is always right

What Our Customers Say

Not convinced yet? Our customers are thrilled!

“Sometimes it’s better to say nothing and let your customers speak for themselves.”
– Regina Mader, Managing Director

“For several decades, we have been using a Harter sludge dryer in our contract electroplating facility and are very satisfied with it. The technology and service are reliable and have helped us save a significant amount of money on disposal.”

Daniel Hutter
Verzinkerei Kriessern AG

“BK Giulini GmbH has been successfully collaborating with Harter GmbH for approximately 20 years. We are very satisfied with both the dryer technology and the reliability of the entire system. Based on these positive experiences and the excellent service, we invested in another drying system of this type in 2023.”

Dimitri Baumbach
ICL Ladenburg / BK Giulini GmbH (ICL Group)

“In our waste incineration plant, we have saved a significant amount of money by drying our heavy metal-containing hydroxide sludge. The plant technology is sustainable and maintenance-friendly. In retrospect, the investment was a very good decision.”

Stefan Ringmann
KVA Linth
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Discover more insights

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