Case study: Tightening the particle size distribution

A pharmaceutical manufacturer experienced difficulties in optimizing milling systems Making a powder to a required specification entails monitoring regularly the product produced. If the product is monitored using manual methods, the product must be ground finer to prevent any powder to be made at the incorrect specification.

High value products

In high value materials, e.g. pharmaceuticals or toners, yield becomes very important. Wastage is principally due to grinding too fine. In some cases, the superfines can be reworked, blended in with the product, or sold at a lower price. In other cases, none of this can be done, and so the superfines must be disposed of. In all of this, extra costs are incurred. The objective is therefore to get the process into specification as soon as possible at startup, maintain the coarsest specification possible for the duration of the batch and then minimize wastage whilst shutting the process down.

With Malvern Process Systems analyzers, pharmaceutical manufacturers have reported being able to move their yields beyond 90%.