Bulk Solids Handling & Processing Innovations
Pharmaceutical processing is the process of drug manufacturing and can be broken down into a range of unit operations, such as blending, granulation, milling, coating, tablet pressing, filling and others. The Pharmaceutical manufacturing process has precise requirements and manufacturing guidelines in terms of quality. As a result, it is crucial that pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment complies with good manufacturing practices.
Pharmaceutical process development is the process from research and development, laboratory formulation to commercial production of pharmaceuticals.
While health is a crucially important social and economic asset, both infectious and non-communicable diseases pose a major threat to the well-being and prosperity of populations. In the pharmaceutical product development process quality is essential – cutting-edge research, excellent processes, perfect products are what make pharmaceutical companies stand out. New diseases require new cures, increased competition requires faster, leaner processes in all aspects of the operations.
The pharmaceutical manufacturing process is typically made up of a combination of specific unit processes chosen according to the physical and chemical characteristics of the active pharmaceutical ingredient.
Dry granulation; Compaction of a low-density powder to a granule. The roller compaction process consists of a combination of screw feed, compaction and milling systems.
Powder blending: In the pharmaceutical industry, a wide range of excipients may be blended together to create the final blend used to manufacture the solid dosage form. The uniqueness of each individual drug formulation assures that no two blending processes can ever be identical.
High shear and wet granulation: Commonly used processes for densification, to improve flowability, content uniformity or wettability or to improve dispensing qualities.
Fluid bed granulation: Top spray, bottom spray (Wurster) and rotary (tangential spray) are commonly used in the food and pharmaceutical industries.
Hot melt extrusion: Utilized in pharmaceutical processing to enable delivery of drugs with poor solubility and bioavailability. Of particular interest is the use of HME to disperse active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in a matrix at the molecular level, thus forming solid solutions.
Drying: Understanding and controlling moisture content of powders is critical to many pharmaceutical processes. Fluid bed or laminar flow drying conditions impact on both physical and chemical characteristics of powder and granules.
Pharmaceutical milling: The process of using rotary cutters in pharmaceutical equipment machinery to remove materials from a workpiece by feeding in at an angle with the axis of the tool.
Compression of powder or granules into tablets: An efficient process for producing a solid dose medication.
Tablet coating equipment: Options include batch process coating pan, off-press continuous coating or continuous processing.
Pharmaceutical encapsulation: The containment of a solid or liquid dose of a drug in a soft shell or hard pre-formed capsule.
Micronization: The process of reducing the particle sizes of pharmaceutical products, under very high pressures, sheer, turbulence, acceleration and impact, to make them more stable and clinically effective.
Pharmaceutical processing equipment includes a wide variety of equipment for specific unit processes, such as:
In order to guarantee precise manufacturing and formulation development, nearly every pharmaceutical process can be automated. As a result, there is a piece of pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment involved in every processing step.
Pharmaceutical process engineering is at work during all stages of a continuous manufacturing process. Pharmaceutical process engineers are responsible for designing, implementing, controlling and optimizing pharmaceutical processes. Within pharmaceutical equipment manufacturing, the processes involved can be chemical or biochemical. These engineers can be designing innovative processes and equipment for a new facility or they can be involved in the modification and optimization of pharmaceutical equipment and processes that are already in place. The responsibilities of a pharmaceutical process engineer may also include providing analysis of the process to ensure safety, efficiency, and compliance with relevant regulations.
Pharmaceutical processing news provides in-depth coverage and actionable examples of how pharmaceutical professionals are tackling the most pressing challenges in the evolving pharma landscape. A pharmaceutical processing magazine focuses on the journey from end-stage development, through scale-up, to commercial manufacturing, providing strategies and best practices for facilities whose goals include reducing risks, improving product quality and increasing efficiencies.
Engineers in the pharmaceutical industry are creating modular, continuous, and scalable processes and manufacturing environments to meet cost and quality challenges head-on.
Various pharmaceutical processing innovations are fueling a fresh wave of pharmaceutical manufacturing innovation. Continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing offers potential flexibility, quality, and economic advantages over batch processing, both in process development and manufacturing for the pharmaceutical sector. Over the past decade, there have been significant advancements in science and engineering to support the implementation of continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing.
NÜRNBERG – At POWTECH 2019 from 9 to 11 April in Nuremberg, trade visitors will experience the entire range of innovations in mechanical processing technology. This also makes this international trade fair the leading forum for decision-makers involved in the development, manufacture and analysis of pharmaceutical, cosmetic, dietary and health food products.
Read moreThe handling of highly active substances in the pharmaceutical industry requires special facilities, sophisticated equipment and systems as well as trained operators. Pharmaceutical substances are increasingly effective and require high protection for operators and the environment.
Read moreInnovative drug development in the 21st century is a long, laborious process. From concept to counter, many complex steps are involved in identifying, developing and integrating a new active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) into a suitable dosage form (mixture with excipients). This must then be thoroughly tested for patient usage. Certain physical characteristics of API’s determine their applicable properties. Particle size is arguably the most important of these variables.
Read moreUTICA, NY – A new pharmaceutical-grade Pin Mill, model CIM-18-S316 from Munson Machinery, grinds friable powders, flakes and granules into controlled particle sizes ranging from coarse to fine. Unlike conventional Pin Mills in which the static outer disc is removable but the inner rotating disc is not, the outer and inner discs can swing away from the unit on cantilevered arms, providing full access to both sides of both discs and the mill housing for rapid cleaning and sanitizing.
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Designers and manufacturers of magnetic separation equipment for metal fragment control and food safety. Certified by HACCP International.
SPEC Engineering offers custom, turnkey engineering solutions, providing the latest technology to manufacturers in the food, beverage, plastics, and chemical industries. SPEC is ‘Process Engineering Simplified’.
For over 60 years we have provided protection solutions that can suppress, isolate and vent combustible dust or vapor explosions in process industries.
Progressive Products specializes in abrasion resistant products. Stop Wear
Rotolok are global leaders in the manufacture of Rotary Valves and other high quality engineered powder processing & bulk materials handling equipment.
Process automation systems for receipt-to-process bulk material transfer and Industrial Vacuum Cleaning Systems for high volume recovery of many materials including combustible dusts.
Individual advice and efficient solutions for the whole weighing technology process
Newson Gale; Manufacturers of static control equipment and solutions for hazardous area explosion protection in industrial processes.
WAMGROUP offers the one-stop-solution for Bulk Solids Handling & Processing and Waste Water Treatment Equipment.
We have successfully provided bulk material engineering solutions for over 55 years
Sturtevant, Inc. is the leading family-owned manufacturer of material processing equipment.
High-performance rotary valves and airlocks for metering, feeding, and airlock in bulk material processing and pneumatic conveying applications. Fully NFPA and OSHA compliant.
Eastern Instruments feeders allow for both accurate, real-time flow measurement, as well as very precise control of flow rate and total for nearly perfect batching or blending.
REMBE® is a safety specialist in explosion safety and pressure relief. It provides customers in all industries with safety systems for their plants and equipment.
Coperion and Coperion K-Tron are system and equipment suppliers, including extruders, feeders, pneumatic conveying and components, who understand the importance of process efficiency.
Klinkenberg BV is specialized in internal transport and bulk handling using screw conveyors
International specialist in the world of bulk materials and process technology
Flexicon equipment conveys, conditions, discharges, fills, dumps and/or weigh batches powder and bulk materials dust-free.
Dec is a leading global provider of powder handling systems and process containment technologies. It has been supplying the pharmaceutical, chemical, food and cosmetic industries for over 30 years.
Spiroflow, a global leader in powder handling and dry solids processing and an emerging leader in control systems integration.
