Twin-screw granulation: Mechanistic understanding of the effect of material properties on key granule quality attributes through the analysis of mixing dynamics and granulation rate mechanisms

Kotamarthy, Lalith; Dan, Ashley; Karkala, Subhodh; Parvani, Sania; Román-Ospino, Andrés D.; Ramachandran, Rohit

doi:10.1016/j.apt.2023.104137

Cited by 4 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…The heat loss in zone 5 was higher due to the presence of kneading elements, which promote mixing and granulation. The heat loss was highest in zone 4 due to large amount of back-mixing which occurs because of the proceeding kneading element zone . The heat loss values are also an indication of the amount of frictional losses by the screws.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The heat loss was highest in zone 4 due to large amount of back-mixing which occurs because of the proceeding kneading element zone. 9 The heat loss values are also an indication of the amount of frictional losses by the screws. The heat loss is also affected by the amount of fill within the barrels, as the higher fill levels require higher torque, resulting in higher heat loss.…”

Section: Heat Lost During the Tsg Experimental Runsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These corotating screws help convey the material along the length of the granulator while also imparting shear onto the flowing powders. This applied mechanical energy aids conveying the granulating mixture, liquid distribution and mixing in the different zones in the granulator. , The screws of the TSG are modular due to the usage of smaller individual screw elements . Three commonly used screw elements are (i) conveying elements which help in the transport of the material, − (ii) kneading elements which help in both liquid mixing and imparting shear on to the powders, and (iii) comb-mixer elements which aid in liquid distribution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Optimizing Energy Efficiency of a Twin-Screw Granulation Process in Real-Time Using a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) Network

Sampat,

Ramachandran

2023

ACS Eng. Au

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Traditional pharmaceutical manufacturing processes for solid oral dosage forms can be inefficient and have been known to produce a large amount of undesired product. With the progressing trend of achieving carbon neutrality, there is an impetus to increase the energy efficiency of these manufacturing processes while maintaining the critical quality attributes of the product. One of the important steps in downstream pharmaceutical manufacturing is wet granulation, and within that, twin screw granulation (TSG) is a popular continuous manufacturing technique. In this study, the energy efficiency of the TSG process was maximized by combining a long-term memory (LSTM) model with an optimization algorithm. The LSTM model was trained on time-series process data obtained from the TSG experimental runs. The optimization process, with the objective of maximizing energy efficiency, was performed using a stochastic optimization algorithm, and constraints were enforced on the process parameter design space. Experimental runs at the optimal process parameters were conducted on the TSG equipment with updates occurring at predefined intervals depending on the optimization scenarios. The purpose of these experimental runs was to validate the capability of increasing the overall process energy efficiency when operating at the optimized process parameters. A maximum increase of 27% was obtained between two tested optimization scenarios while maintaining the yield of the granules at the end of the twin-screw granulation process.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Heat Lost During the Tsg Experimental Runsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Optimizing Energy Efficiency of a Twin-Screw Granulation Process in Real-Time Using a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) Network

Sampat,

Ramachandran

2023

ACS Eng. Au

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“…As explained in the previous study by the authors [ 29 ], the selection of appropriate materials is crucial for conducting residence time distribution (RTD) experiments. It is important that the flow properties of the tracer material and the components in the formulation, particularly the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), are similar [ 30 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a wet granulator, which is a multi-phase system, the solubility and wettability of the powders are two key factors influencing the flow properties of the system. In this study, ibuprofen was chosen as the tracer material, because it exhibits similar wettability characteristics to dense APAP [ 3 , 29 ]. A quantity of 200 mg of ibuprofen was introduced as a pulse to capture the RTD, and this procedure was repeated three times for each experiment.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Effects of Mixing Dynamics on Twin-Screw Granule Quality Attributes via the Development of a Physics-Based Process Map

Kotamarthy,

Karkala,

Dan

et al. 2024

Pharmaceutics

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Twin-screw granulation (TSG) is an emerging continuous wet granulation technique that has not been widely applied in the industry due to a poor mechanistic understanding of the process. This study focuses on improving this mechanistic understanding by analyzing the effects of the mixing dynamics on the granule quality attributes (PSD, content uniformity, and microstructure). Mixing is an important dynamic process that simultaneously occurs along with the granulation rate mechanisms during the wet granulation process. An improved mechanistic understanding was achieved by identifying and quantifying the physically relevant intermediate parameters that affect the mixing dynamics in TSG, and then their effects on the granule attributes were analyzed by investigating their effects on the granulation rate mechanisms. The fill level, granule liquid saturation, extent of nucleation, and powder wettability were found to be the key physically relevant intermediate parameters that affect the mixing inside the twin-screw granulator. An improved geometrical model for the fill level was developed and validated against existing experimental data. Finally, a process map was developed to depict the effects of mixing on the temporal and spatial evolution of the materials inside the twin-screw granulator. This process map illustrates the mechanism of nucleation and the growth of the granules based on the fundamental material properties of the primary powders (solubility and wettability), liquid binders (viscosity), and mixing dynamics present in the system. Furthermore, it was shown that the process map can be used to predict the granule product quality based on the granule growth mechanism.

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Optimizing the Recycling Process of PP Plastics from Waste Washing Machines: Sustainable Strategy for Environmentally Friendly Reutilization

Dong,

Zhi,

et al. 2024

ACS Sustainable Resour. Manage.

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The resource utilization of waste plastics is an inevitable trend toward achieving sustainable social development. The plastic in waste washing machines is a highly potential source of recycling. This study developed a strategy for effectively regenerating PP plastics from waste washing machines. The optimal process parameters of friction alkali washing were determined through response surface curve analysis. Under the conditions of 280 rpm, 10 min, and pH = 12, the proportion of black spots and impurities decreased to the lowest amount of 11.69 × 10–3 wt %. Additionally, a physical sorting, granulation, and regeneration process was constructed. Large-scale data statistical analysis indicated that recycled PP plastics exhibited excellent stability of physical performance and impurity content. Meanwhile, different formulations were designed to modify and improve the physical properties of the recycled PP. This study achieved the regeneration of PP plastics from waste washing machines and provides theoretical and practical guidance for the environmentally friendly reutilization of waste plastics.

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Twin-screw granulation: Mechanistic understanding of the effect of material properties on key granule quality attributes through the analysis of mixing dynamics and granulation rate mechanisms

Cited by 4 publications

References 77 publications

Optimizing Energy Efficiency of a Twin-Screw Granulation Process in Real-Time Using a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) Network

Optimizing Energy Efficiency of a Twin-Screw Granulation Process in Real-Time Using a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) Network

Investigating the Effects of Mixing Dynamics on Twin-Screw Granule Quality Attributes via the Development of a Physics-Based Process Map

Optimizing the Recycling Process of PP Plastics from Waste Washing Machines: Sustainable Strategy for Environmentally Friendly Reutilization

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