Cyclopentane for pharmaceutical refrigerators: Safe storage

To ensure that medication remain effective, there are a number of regulations for handling them, but above all for proper transportation and storage.  In addition to safety and hygiene regulations, mandatory refrigeration is of great importance for a number of medicines and other products that are important for healthcare. Pharmaceutical refrigerators and refrigeration logistics play an important role in the medical sector. Efficient insulation and high-quality raw materials such as cyclopentane are a key component for safe cooling performance. Read more about this.

Pharmaceutical refrigerators ensure the safe and effective storage of medicines

In the medical sector, mandatory refrigeration and cold chains ensure the assured efficacy of biopharmaceuticals, such as vaccines, insulins or interferons, as well as antibiotics, special eye drops or certain aerosols for asthma, for example. Blood products and biological specimen also require cooling or freezing. 

Pharmaceutical refrigerators such as fridges and freezers play an important role in the storage of medicines. They ensure that high-quality preparations and sensitive medications remain in perfect condition and thus guarantee safe use for patients. 

Criteria for safe refrigeration when storing medications

Pharmaceutical refrigeration devices are diverse: from medicine refrigerators to blood plasma freezers and laboratory fridges to blood bank refrigerators. They all have in common the high standard that these cooling and freezing storage devices must have in order to store pharmaceuticals safely and in a usable condition for a long time.      

The European Union has declared the rules for refrigeration and refrigerated transport uniformly via the EMA (European Medicines Agency) in the → Note for Guidance on Declaration of Storage Conditions.

In addition to important standards such as a maximum noise emission of 60 dB(A), a power failure alarm or a visual and acoustic warning device for excessively high and low temperatures, the unit-specific information on energy consumption, temperature homogeneity and consistency are important criteria for safe cooling of sensitive medical goods.

Pharmaceutical refrigerators with Cyclopentane offer high-quality insulation

The insulation in pharmaceutical refrigerators plays a crucial role. Its thickness is limited in the refrigerator, yet it must provide maximum insulation performance and achieve the best results in terms of energy and temperature consistency.

→ Polyurethane (PU) insulating foam is typically used in refrigerators for this purpose. It is particularly efficient if it is produced with a so-called blowing agent → Cyclopentane. Since the blowing agent remains partly in the cells of the polyurethane foam, this leads to a → particularly good insulating property. As a result, the high requirements for the cooling of pharmaceuticals, such as energy consumption, temperature homogeneity and consistency, can be reliably met.

The world's largest manufacturer of Cyclopentane: Haltermann Carless

→ Cyclopentane is manufactured by Haltermann Carless, among others, and achieves the highest quality standards. As a strong partner of the refrigeration and appliance industry, the chemical company is the world's largest producer of Cyclopentane. The Pentanes (→ Cyclopentane, → n-Pentane, → iso-Pentane) are manufactured in → Speyer, Germany. Besides the high product qualities of Haltermann Carless’ Pentanes, manufacturers of pharmaceutical refrigerators also benefit from → comprehensive 360° services such as tailor-made Pentane blending options in all mixing ratios and customised supply chain solutions.

Find out more here:

• Pentanes for insulation materials in the cooling industry 
• Haltermann Carless: Largest Cyclopentane capacity for the world market
• Tailor-made Pentane blends from Haltermann Carless

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Conclusion

Pharmaceutical refrigerators for medications, blood products or biological samples are essential equipment in doctors' surgeries, laboratories, hospitals and pharmacies. They store drugs and medical preparations safely and effectively for the benefit of the patient. Optimum insulation contributes both to the cooling of medical products and to energy efficiency. As a blowing agent, Cyclopentane from Haltermann Carless plays an important role in the production of Polyurethane (PU) foams and is therefore a very important component in the safe storage of pharmaceutical products.

This article was first published on 06.01.2023 and revised on 06.09.2024.