Titanium in Pharmaceutical Industry

The pharmaceutical industry, which includes pharmaceuticals, medical machines, health materials, and many more sectors, is a significant industry relating to people’s physical and mental health. Titanium is frequently employed in the pharmaceutical sector due to its non-toxicity, safety, and compatibility with the human body. Pharmaceutical equipment is easily corroded in pharmaceutical manufacture because medications cannot be separated from acids, alkalis, and salts. Steel equipment cannot solve the problem of severe corrosion of equipment, and it will also result in significant human, material, and financial losses, interfering with normal production. The use of titanium equipment is a great way to overcome this problem. Titanium-based equipment has shown to be corrosion-resistant and cost-effective in the manufacture of several key pharmaceuticals.

Production of Vitamin B1

To generate vitamin B1, China mostly used the hydrogen chloride conversion process. The finished product has been cyclone dried and separated twice. Its medium is thiamine hydrochloride, with a PH of 2.5 and a temperature of 110 °C. The medium is extremely corrosive. The previous drying equipment was stainless steel. After more than a year of use, the inner wall had deteriorated andperforated, severely polluting the drug. The certified rate of Vitamin B1 production improved from 95% to 100% after the use of titanium equipment. Meanwhile, the equipment has been in service for almost 7 years with no signs of rust.

Production of Vitamin C

Vitamin C is made from sorbitol, which is fermented with black vinegar bacteria into sorbitose and then fermented with pseudomonas to produce a low concentration of gulonic acid, which is then concentrated by hydrogen chlorideconversion of completed products.
Titanium corrodes relatively slowly in high-temperature gulonic acid. Titanium tube heat exchangers, GR.5 titanium casting impellers, and other components have been utilized in this manufacturing process for many years without corrosion.

Production of Antimicrobial

Methyl dichloroacetate, which includes around 2% chlorinated alkene and trichloroethylene, is the principal raw material used in the chemical production ofchloramphenicol (an antibiotic). Steel equipment used in the refining process is prone to extensive corrosion. It has not been damaged since it was replaced with titanium equipment.

Production of Anaesthesia

The raw material utilized in the manufacturing of procaine hydrochloride for local anaesthetic is p-nitrotoluene, which is highly corrosive during the entire process of oxidation to produce p-nitrobenzoic acid, acetic acid washing, and mother liquor recovery.

Production of Anthelmintics and other pharmaceuticals

Stainless steel equipment was originally employed in the production of this product, resulting in product contamination owing to corrosion.
Nitrochlorophenol is a veterinary medication made from sulphuric acid, nitric acid, glacial acetic acid, and chlorinated solutions that is used to treat liver flukes in cattle and sheep. A titanium pinning tank agitator was employed, and it is still operational. Furthermore, activated carbon decolorization is often employed in pharmaceutical manufacture, and the stainless steel suction filter was replaced with a titanium suction filter that has stayed intact for 9 years.

Titanium equipment is required for the production of malaria drugs from quinoline derivatives, anti-bilirubin drugs in contact with chloride ions, contraceptives, and rheumatic drugs in Zhongguo. Titanium reactors are used in the production of brominated amino acids abroad for the bromination, separation, salting, extraction, and evaporation processes. Other items that could potentially and absolutely be manufactured with titanium include pharmaceutical liquid filters, dimethyl sulfate coolers, anandamide reactors, saccharification tanks, chloramphenicol film evaporators, mithril filters, and kettles for the esterification of penicillin.