(223f) Pervaporation as A Green Drying Process for Solvent Recovery in Pharmaceutical Production

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Rowan University are partnering through the US EPA Region 2 Pollution Prevention program to explore green engineering approaches in pharmaceutical production. Rowan Chemical Engineering faculty and students are using their ?engineering clinic? program to examine an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing process for pollution prevention opportunities. The group is investigating the use of pervaporation technology as a green drying process for solvent recovery. The goal is to examine how membrane technologies can be integrated into the API production process to decrease solvent waste and improve efficiency. Bristol-Myers Squibb scientists and engineers are working with the Rowan clinic team to evaluate a new oncology drug production process as a case study. Bristol-Myers Squibb is supplying its expertise to the clinic team; guiding them in evaluating the major factors to consider when adopting new technologies for solvent recovery. It is hoped that these developments will be applicable to multiple solvent systems and other projects, providing a new greener platform technology for manufacturing facilities. Using the case study, an analysis of pollution prevention savings using pervaporation technology to reduce solvent use and waste generation in one step of the API synthesis are shown. The broader environmental impact achieved by not having to use the solvent is shown through a life cycle assessment. Projected savings upon scale-up are described. This paper will focus on the role of Rowan and Bristol-Myers Squibb in the partnership and engaging a student clinic team in thinking ?green? and assessing the outcomes of the green drying process.