The following Technical Papers are a small sample of the hundreds
of papers we have written.
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Tablets & Capsules, March 2007. www.tabletscapsules.com |
Manufacturing tablets and capsules involves several powder handling steps, including blending, transfer, storage, and feeding. This article identifies powder handling problems, discusses the powder and equipment properties that cause problems, and offers some solutions. |
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In tabletting processes, production rate limitations can develop when feeding fine powders (median particle diameter less than 100 microns), regardless whether it’s a direct-compression blend or a granulation. Similar rate limitations can develop when feeding into capsule filling equipment, granulators, or mills. This article focuses on diagnosing and rectifying feed rate limitations in tablet presses. |
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Chemical Engineering Progress (CEP), April. 2008. Copyright © 2008 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). |
Scale up of solids handling processes should be done on the basis of theory or bench scale testing. This article presents mathematical models used for bulk solids and also describes bench scale tests. |
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Flow problems often occur because of poorly designed equipment. This article explains a methodical approach for designing, installing, and starting up equipment to achieve reliable flow. |
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This article describes various types of feeders commonly used in bulk handling systems, and provides criteria for feeder selection and guidelines for design to ensure reliable operation. The article also includes case histories. |
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Quality of products composed of mixtures of particles can suffer when particles separate or segregate. This article discusses various segregation mechanisms as well as techniques to solve segregation problems. |
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Fine powders when handled in bins and processing vessels, can experience complex problems like flooding, discharge rate limitations, and unsteady flow. These phenomena are explored and solutions to minimize if not eliminate these problems are discussed. |
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Maintaining Product Uniformity and Uninterrupted Flow to Direct Compression Tablet Presses
Pharmaceutical Technology www.pharmaportal.com |
Production of quality tablets requires consistent delivery of well-blended materials. The problems resulting in downtime and lost production when transferring the material from a blender to a tableting press are discussed, as well as practical, cost-effective, and reliable solutions. |
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On Powder Flowability
Pharmaceutical Technology www.pharmaportal.com |
The flow of powder in pharmaceutical processes dictates the quality of the product in terms of its weight and content uniformity. This article connects typical handling processes to flow property measurements that are essential to diagnose and avoid quality problems. |
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- Hundreds of silos, bins, and hoppers fail in one way or another each year. This paper discusses failure mechanisms, as well as methods to estimate material-induced loads on a silo structure during initial filling and discharge conditions.
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Silo Failures: Case Histories and Lessons Learned
Presented at the Third Israeli Conference for Conveying and Handling of Particulate Solids, Israel |
A number of case studies involving silo failures are presented. Case studies include failures due to errors in design, construction, and usage, as well as improper maintenance. Lessons learned are detailed. |
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Solve Solids Flow Problems in Bins, Hoppers, and Feeders
Chemical Engineering Progress, June, 2001. Copyrights © 1992 and 1998 (respectively) American Institute of Chemical Engineers. All rights reserved. Not to be uploaded to any other site without written permission from the AIChE. Individual downloads are permitted so long as a fee of $15 per article is paid directly to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923. |
The basic concepts of solids flow are discussed. Flow patterns (mass flow and funnel flow), and obstructions to flow (arching and ratholing) are described. Wall friction, cohesive strength, and permeability test results are used to design vessels for reliable flow. |
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Solve Solids Handling Problems by Retrofitting
Chemical Engineering Progress, June, 2001. Copyrights © 1992 and 1998 (respectively) American Institute of Chemical Engineers. All rights reserved. Not to be uploaded to any other site without written permission from the AIChE. Individual downloads are permitted so long as a fee of $15 per article is paid directly to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923. |
Solutions to solids handling problems in existing systems are described. Some problems are solved by modifying the hopper or feeder to convert the flow pattern from funnel flow to mass flow. In other cases, chemical or mechanical flow aids are used. |
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Improve Solids Handling During Thermal Drying
Chemical Engineering Progress (CEP) November 2004 Copyright © 2004 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). |
This paper describes the challenges of handling pastes and other wet granular materials and provides recommendations for handling wet solids in drying processes. Keys to ensuring uniform gas and solids velocities in gravity dryers are highlighted. |
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Best Technical Article Bronze Award from the Minnesota Magazine & Publication Association