Most vaccines are extremely sensitive to temperature: a strict cold chain storage is required between production and vaccination sites. In order to ensure the quality of the vaccines as well as their safety and effectiveness, special regulations are made for vaccine storage and transportation, like storage at a temperature of between 2 and 8 ℃ in this case. For any effective vaccine, the safety during storage and transportation is as important as safety during production.
Most accurate temperature monitoring in Beijing
BITZER China recently provided twelve CSH7593 screw compressors with mechanical capacity control to a vaccine manufacturer in Beijing for the storage of inactivated Covid-19 vaccines. The elevated three-dimensional storage facility measured over 46,000 m³ in volume and 16 metres in height, which is currently the largest domestic inactivated Covid-19 vaccine storage facility with the highest clear height and the most accurate temperature monitoring in China. In two central storage rooms, the involved BITZER CSH7593 screw compressors effectively ensure that the temperature of the vaccine storage is kept within the specified range of 2 to 8 ℃ with a total cooling capacity of 1,140 kW.
Breaking through traditional methods
With BITZER screw compressors and special air supply technology, the project can break through the traditional air supply method. As a result, the overall temperature difference of the cold storage can be controlled within the range of 0.5 and 1 ℃ at a minimum partial load of 50 per cent. In the installation process, the mobile refrigeration stations of BITZER partners are adopted as a whole, where the integrated skids enable a modularized, standardized and simplified system design, greatly shortening the construction time of the refrigeration system with a 30 per cent space saving and a 45 per cent noise reduction. Out of the four skids with three BITZER compressors each, each skid runs in an own refrigeration circuit. In the end, the total construction of the project only took 50 days, while the temperature verification was quickly approved and put into operation, which was highly appreciated by the end customer.
Capacity expansion in Wuhan
By providing 20 reciprocating compressors and twelve screw compressors through its partners, BITZER China also contributed to a capacity expansion project of the Sinopharm Wuhan Institute of Biological Products in the megacity of Wuhan: the project is located in Jingang Industrial Park, Jiangxia District, with a total construction area of 141,000 m2. The cold storage for inactivated Covid-19 vaccine storage after production is an important part of the project, with a volume of nearly 20,000 m3. After the project is completed, the annual production capacity will reach one billion doses of vaccines against Covid-19.
