Vacuum Tray Drying made Easy

Vacuum tray dryer technology remains an essential method with processes/products that are delicate or fragile when exposed to mechanical forces.

Our CakeStand™ vacuum tray dryer technology relies on a fully sealed vacuum chamber and direct heating shelves for optimum drying conditions and uniformity.

PSL tray dryers can operate in downflow booths, clean rooms or in conjunction with PSL containment isolators. A number of design features have also been incorporated into CakeStand™ for ease of use and product protection.

CakeStand™ Vacuum Tray Dryers - Front

Features and Benefits

An All-In-One Solution

With drying uniformity being critical to a consistent high-quality end-product, PSL’s CakeStand™ Tray Dryers feature a vacuum chamber combined with direct heated shelves – with validated uniform heating of +/-1°C across the shelves to ensure you meet even your most stringent batch processing requirements.

  • Direct Tray Heating

  • Enhanced Ergonmics
  • Cleaning Simplicity

Vacuum Tray Dryer

cGMP Design

Initially designed for the pharmaceutical industry, our Cakestand™ Tray Dryers carry features which comply with cGMP.

  • Suspended shelves to avoid creating product trap or product “pockets” which are difficult to clean.

  • Full metallic internal product contact parts with controlled surface finish and edge and corner radiuses for easy cleaning validation.
  • Front Flat Metallic Door for easy clean down in Cleanroom / Isolator Environments.

  • Utility connection points suitably located to be excluded from the Process Room are mounted as a through-wall configuration, thus allowing easy maintenance.

Batch Reproducibility & Data Recording

Our Cakestand™ Tray Dryers can be provided as stand-alone equipment for client/third-party integration or in combination with a Software and Automation package.

The PSL Automation Platform allows drug manufacturers to pre-design and also pre-load software process recipes incorporating the relevant process parameters suitable for their specific production requirements, hence adding speed and flexibility to their manufacturing processes.

PSL can comply with major international practices and regulations for Software Automation, including GAMP5 (Good Automated Manufacturing Practice, version 5 by ISPE) and 21 CFR Part 11 established by the US FDA for electronic records and signatures.

  • PSL Software Automation Options
  • Temperature Control System – Stand Alone or integrated to PSL Control/Software System
  • Vacuum Pump and Solvent Recovery Skids Available

Be Containment-ready

Although the drying phase within a Vacuum Tray Dryer will require no physical operator intervention, the loading and unloading of the product trays remains manual. If the product is potent/toxic as it is often the case within pharmaceutical applications with API or HPAPI, these steps need to be contained.

Several containment measures can apply depending on the product classification and our Cakestand™ Tray Dryers are versatile enough to be integrated with most of them:

  • Stand-alone within downflow booth

  • Integrated to the back wall of a downflow booth to minimise the footprint into the valuable air-swept area.

  • Integrated to the back wall of a glove-box / isolator – in this configuration, Tray Dryer size restrictions may apply due to the ergonomic challenges of working through gloves. PSL’s expertise in designing containment isolators will guide you through these aspects.
Tray Dryer integrated in Isolator

Technical Overview

Sizes and Materials of Construction

  • Available in a range of sizes up to 13 m²
  • Each chamber size can accommodate different numbers of shelves to suit process needs
  • Typical cake thickness in the trays ranges from 1 cm – 5 cm
  • Standard MoC: 304L Stainless Steel, 316L Stainless Steel, Alloy C2. Alternative options are available. Please contact PSL for further information.

Resources & Articles

CakeStand Brochure Cover 2024

CakeStand™ Brochure

Vacuum Tray Dryers in PSL Assembly Area

How A Vacuum Tray Dryer Works

CakeStand Vacuum Tray Dryer

How Vacuum Tray Dryers Can Enable Efficiency Gains