July 7, 2021: Pharmaceutical Interview Questions and Answers

1. Issue that may arise after prolonged use for punch set/ tablet tooling.

i. Tablet weight difference          

ii. Tablet hardness difference    

iii. Powder leakage from lower punch or collar formation

iv. Twisting of small size punch tips

2. Commonly used material of construction in the pharmaceutical industry for equipment manufacturing?

i. Commonly used material of construction in the pharmaceutical industry for product contact parts are Stainless steel 316, 316 L, Toughened glass, Silicon, Food grade Teflon etc.

ii. Commonly used material of construction in the pharmaceutical industry for product contact parts are Stainless steel 304, 304 L, Teflon, Anodized or powder coated aluminum, brass etc.

3. Explain characteristic of different grade of stainless steel material.

Following are the different types of types of Stainless and similar material with its characteristics.

Stainless and similar material	Application for the different types of environment
Hastelloy C276	Excellent corrosion resistance in a wide range of severe environments
316, 316L	Chemical corrosion
304, Custom 450	Medium Corrosion
430, 431, Custom 455	Industry polluted air
405, 410, 420, 440	Clean air

4. Explain most commonly used stainless steel for pharmaceutical industry and its attributes.

Following most commonly used stainless steel for pharmaceutical industry and its attributes.

Commonly known names	UNS	EN	Attributes
304	S30400	1.4301	Good at general corrosion resistance to acidic as well as caustic material
304L	S30403	1.4307	Good at general corrosion resistance to acidic as well as caustic material with low carbon and improved performance
316	S31600	1.4401/ 1.4436	Improved corrosion resistance to most acidic as well as caustic material with high temperature or chloride present
316L	S31603	1.4404/ 1.4432	Improved corrosion resistance to most acidic as well as caustic material with high temperature or chloride present with low carbon and improved performance

5. How to distinguish SS 202, SS 304 and SS 316 grade stainless steel?

Using molybdenum detection electrolyte kit. To know how to perform the test, Click Here.