Valves keep the happy pills rolling

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Feb 5, 2003

Flowserve Flow Control has provided 1500 Worcester valves and Gestra check valves to Lundbeck the global pharmaceutical manufacturer.

Flowserve Flow Control has provided 1500 Worcester valves and Gestra check valves to Lundbeck the global pharmaceutical manufacturer.

Flowserve's distributor, BSS, supplied the units to the new state-of-the-art Lundbeck plant based in Seal Sands Middlesbrough.

The Lundbeck Group is a modern, research-based pharmaceutical company with a strong presence worldwide and is a world leader in producing and marketing products for the treatment of disorders of the central nervous system.

The organisation, which was founded in Denmark in 1915, is now one of that country's top exporters and acquired the Seal Sands site in 1993, where it produces intermediate and final compounds for the manufacture of preparations for mental illnesses.

The Flowserve valves are incorporated into a new facility that produces bulk API, Cipralex, an antidepressant intermediate that is shipped to Denmark and Ireland for conversion into tablet form.

Worcester and Gestra valves were specified by Lundbeck to handle water, steam, thermal fluids, glycols and similar media, and include certain high-specification valves such as the P221 for use on the thermal fluids.

Norbro actuators, which are a Lundbeck standard, are used throughout the plant.

The facility, which incorporates the largest SMB chromatography unit in the world, forms part of a new self-sufficient plant built on the site next to the existing installation.

It has enabled Lundbeck to double the size of the operation and increase its local workforce to 128.

"Worcester and Gestra valves are site specified as they conform to the stringent demands of the FDA, under which Lundbeck is approved to operate, and have been supplied for many years to the site through BSS.

Lundbeck knows the reliability of the products and that BSS and Flowserve both provide excellent local service and technical support", said Iain Symington of Flowserve Flow Control.

"BSS and Worcester have a proven track record of reliability and performance.

We have worked closely with them for many years.

Flowserve valves were selected for their good design characteristics and ease of maintenance", said Phil Baines, Engineering and Operations Manager of Lundbeck.