A new eBook from Freeman Technology explores the application of powder flow measurements for monitoring and optimizing granulation processes. Granulation is a vital unit operation for many industries, notably the pharmaceutical sector, but endpoint detection and scale-up remain a challenge.

‘Powder Flow Testing for Granulation Processes’ focuses on the value of bulk powder characterization within this context, notably dynamic powder testing, and includes a number of experimental studies highlighting the benefits it delivers. This addition to the Freeman literature library will be of interest to any scientist or engineer looking to apply granulation more efficiently, to manufacture products with the characteristics required for commercial success.

“Granulation underpins the performance of many commercial products, including foods, fertilizers and detergents,” said Jamie Clayton, operations director, Freeman Technology, “and important intermediates such as pharmaceutical tableting blends. However, optimization remains a challenge for many powder processors. A defining distinction of dynamic testing is that it characterizes granules via properties that correlate directly with performance, for example in a tablet press. It can therefore be used to set granule specifications that are independent of scale. This is an important benefit when it comes to scale-up and commercialization."

Containing a wealth of information and presented in an easy-to-digest format, the complimentary eBook includes:

• A discussion of motivations for granulation and how they affect which properties are most relevant for process monitoring.
• A review of alternative testing techniques for characterizing granules, their strengths and limitations.
• Experimental studies highlighting the value of multi-faceted powder characterization based on dynamic, shear and bulk powder property measurement.