Pharmaceutical Plant Design: Safety, Efficiency, and Control for Reliable Fluid Management

progettazione impianti farmaceutici

The construction of pharmaceutical processing plants requires advanced engineering expertise and highly specialized systems. Design must meet stringent requirements for sterility, operational safety, batch traceability, and process repeatability.

Table of Contents

Fluid Handling in the Pharmaceutical industry 

Fluid handling is one of the most critical operations in the pharmaceutical sector, especially when dealing with reactive, flammable or toxic substances. This includes processes involving formaldehyde, xylene, acids, and highly volatile alcohols.
To ensure operator safety and product quality, plant must provide:

  • leak proof circuits
  • automation and safety
  • ATEX compliance

Leak proof circuits

through welded joints and high-performance seals such as EPDM, PTFE, or FKM O-rings, compliant with FDA and USP Class VI standards, resistant to aggressive substance and CIP/SIP cycles. 

Automation and safety

through PLCs and SCADA system for remote monitoring, ATEX-certified safety valves, integrated pressure and temperature sensors for automated emergency response.

ATEX compliance

with certified components for explosion-risk areas, including flameproof motors for pumps and agitators.

Do you want to implement a new automation system in your pharmaceutical plant?

Request a consultation with Granzotto Impianti.

Piping Systems: Liquid Transfer, Distribution and Dosing

Granzotto’s piping systems are engineered to ensure safe and hygienic fluid transfer, minimizing pressure loss, preventing contamination, and maximizing production flexibility.
Each solution is custom-designed based on the client’s specific needs, the chemical-physical and rheological properties of the fluids, and the configuration of any existing systems.

Each plant includes:

 

  • Stainless steel piping and fittings, internally electropolished and joined with closed-chamber orbital welding under inert atmosphere, with surface roughness below 0.4 µm to prevent residue buildup and facilitate sanitization. 
  • Valves, with pneumatic actuators and double-barrier seals, ideal for separating sterile and non-sterile environments. 
  • Pumping systems, tailored to fluid viscosity: lobe pumps, screw pumps, or pneumatic diaphragm pumps for highly viscous additives. 
  • Process instrumentation, including magnetic flow meters. conductivity sensors, digital pressure switches, level transmitters, temperature and pressure sensors.

 

The entire plant layout is developed to ensure accessibility, CIP (Clean in Place), SIP (Sterilize – in – Place) and fully traceability of fluid flow.

kpis pharmaceutical plant design

Control of Critical Process Parameters: Dosing, Mixing and Temperature

The performance of pharmaceutical plant depends on precise control of critical process parameters.

Volumetric and gravimetric dosing

Volumetric and gravimetric dosing using piston pumps, peristaltic pumps, or mass flow systems, with typical tolerances below 0.1% to 1%.
Dosing valves are often integrated with high-resolution load cells and PID feedback control systems to improve accuracy and batch repeatability.

Controlled mixing

Controlled mixing achieved with magnetic agitators, axial or radial stirrers, selected based on fluid rheology.

Advanced thermal control

Advanced thermal control using heat management and transfer units such as refrigeration units, heat generation systems, a range of heat exchangers, and sensors.

Each system is fully customized to the client’s requirements, ensuring temperature stability during all process phases, optimizing thermal exchange efficiency, and minimizing energy consumption.

Operational Efficiency and Advanced Process Control 

Pharmaceutical plant design must aim to optimize production efficiency by reducing operating costs, improving product quality, and ensuring regulatory compliance. 

A key enabler is data analysis which identifies inefficiencies and bottlenecks – such as supply chain delays – and enables targeted actions to improve continuity and overall performance. 

Another key factor is advanced process control for fluid handling and treatment.
Granzotto’s Automation Division provides both hardware and software solutions for plant monitoring, including remote supervision. Our system integrates each section of the plant into a centralized control hub, fully compatible with leading commercial PLCs. It also connects to after-sales service, enabling predictive maintenance and reducing the impact of unplanned downtime on production.

Customized Plant Design and Technical Consulting 

Granzotto designs custom industrial plants, including pharmaceutical systems, following a detailed engineering phase, analysis, and 3D modeling.
Customization includes: 

  • Optimized layout and footprint, tailored to the actual space available in the facility;
  • Modular skid group configuration (CIP, dosing, mixing) enabling easier maintenance and future expandability; 
  • Material and component selection based on the chemical and physical characteristics of the processed substances.

 

In addition to supply, the company offers commissioning, dedicated operational training, IQ/OQ/PQ validation, technical support, and planned maintenance programs, both standards and custom.

Granzotto: A Reliable Partner in Pharmaceutical Plant Manufacturing 

Choosing Granzotto means equipping your operations with a plant platform designed to meet the challenges of modern pharmaceutical manufacturing. With an integrated and multidisciplinary approach, Granzotto delivers turnkey solutions – from conceptual design to commissioning and post-sales support. 

In a sector where every detail can affect product safety and efficacy, the reliability and build quality of process systems are critical success factors. Granzotto is your technical partner for delivering safe, efficient, and future-ready  pharmaceutical plants – built to support industry 4.0 and transition to industry 5.0.

Do you want to design a new pharmaceutical plant or expand an existing one?

Request a specialized consultation for your facility.

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Industrial plants and systems for the complete management of liquid products in the food, chemical, and oenological sectors.