They say you can watch two things forever — fire and water — and, as the joke goes, other people working. I would add a third: an ampoule filling and sealing line at work. It is a mesmerising sight when this “miracle machine” fills 12 ampoules at once (about 18,000 ampoules per hour). Three well-known methods are used to fill ampoules: vacuum, syringe and steam condensation.
The syringe method is widely used abroad and is carried out by machines with a special dosing unit (piston or diaphragm). Thanks to a number of advantages it is the preferred method:
- filling and sealing can be performed in a single machine;
- accurate dosing of the solution (±2%) and a short interval between filling and sealing (5–10 s), which extends the product’s shelf life;
- the ampoule capillary is not wetted by the solution and stays clean, improving sealing conditions — especially important for thick and viscous solutions.
How the process works: several hollow needles descend into the ampoules on the conveyor. First, inert gas is fed into the ampoule to displace the air, then the solution is dispensed by a piston doser, followed by another jet of inert gas, after which the ampoule immediately moves to the sealing station.
AT Engineering repairs production lines for the pharmaceutical industry and supports machines and installations at every stage of their life cycle — from planning and commissioning to routine repair and modernisation.