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Hou P, Besenhard MO, Halbert G, Naftaly M, Markl D. A continuous micro-feeder for cohesive pharmaceutical materials. Int J Pharm 2024; 662:124528. [PMID: 39069146 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2024.124528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2024] [Revised: 07/24/2024] [Accepted: 07/25/2024] [Indexed: 07/30/2024]
Abstract
Over the past decade, continuous manufacturing has garnered significant attention in the pharmaceutical industry. Still, numerous continuous unit operations need developments, such as powder blending and feeding at low and high throughputs. Especially the continuous and consistent feeding of solid drug substances and excipients at low feed rates remains challenging. This study demonstrates a micro-feeder capable of feeding poorly-flowing pharmaceutical powders at low feed rates. The system performance was investigated using three grades of pharmaceutical powder: croscarmellose sodium (cohesive), magnesium stearate (very cohesive), and an active ingredient, paracetamol (non-flowing). The results show that the micro-feeder can continuously and consistently feed powders at low flow rates (<20 g/h) with low variability (<10 % for non-flowing materials and < 5 % for cohesive materials). Notably, the micro-feeder achieves these results without any feedback control and remains unaffected by refilling, making it a truly versatile and industry-relevant solution. The study's results demonstrate that this micro-feeder system effectively tackles the challenge of consistent and accurate powder feeding at low rates.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Hou
- Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XQ, UK; Centre for Continuous Manufacturing and Advanced Crystallisation (CMAC), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1RD, UK
| | - M O Besenhard
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 7JE, UK
| | - G Halbert
- Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XQ, UK; Centre for Continuous Manufacturing and Advanced Crystallisation (CMAC), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1RD, UK
| | - M Naftaly
- National Physical Laboratory, Teddington TW11 0LW, UK
| | - D Markl
- Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XQ, UK; Centre for Continuous Manufacturing and Advanced Crystallisation (CMAC), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1RD, UK.
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2
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Hou P, Besenhard MO, Halbert G, Naftaly M, Markl D. Development and implementation of a pneumatic micro-feeder for poorly-flowing solid pharmaceutical materials. Int J Pharm 2023; 635:122691. [PMID: 36764420 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2023.122691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023]
Abstract
Consistent powder micro-feeding (<100 g/h) is a significant challenge in manufacturing solid oral dosage forms. The low dose feeding can well control the content consistency of the dosage forms, which improves drug efficiency and reduces manufacturing waste. Current commercial micro-feeders are limited in their ability to feed < 20 g/h of cohesive (i.e. powders of poor flowability) active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and excipients (e.g. lubricants) with low fluctuation. To breach this gap, this study presents an advanced micro-feeder design capable of feeding a range of pharmaceutical-grade powders consistently at flow rates as low as 0.7 g/h with <20 % flow rate variation. This was possible due to a novel powder conveying concept utilising particle re-entrainment to minimise flow rate variations. This work details the design of this pneumatic micro-feeder and its excellent micro-feeding performance even for cohesive powders. The experimental studies investigated the influence of the process parameters (air pressure and air flow rate) and equipment configurations (insert size and plug position) on the feeding performance of different pharmaceutical-relevant powders, i.e., microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), croscarmellose sodium (CCS), crospovidone (XPVP) and paracetamol (APAP). It was shown that the system is capable of delivering consistent powder flow rates with good repeatability and stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Hou
- Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XQ, UK; Centre for Continuous Manufacturing and Advanced Crystallisation (CMAC), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1RD, UK
| | - M O Besenhard
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 7JE, UK
| | - G Halbert
- Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XQ, UK; Centre for Continuous Manufacturing and Advanced Crystallisation (CMAC), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1RD, UK
| | - M Naftaly
- National Physical Laboratory, Teddington TW11 0LW, UK
| | - D Markl
- Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XQ, UK; Centre for Continuous Manufacturing and Advanced Crystallisation (CMAC), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1RD, UK.
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3
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Sacher S, Fathollahi S, Khinast JG. Comparative Study of a Novel Micro-feeder and Loss-in-weight Feeders. J Pharm Innov 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12247-021-09599-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
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4
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Sacher S, Heindl N, Afonso Urich JA, Kruisz J, Khinast JG. A solution for low-dose feeding in continuous pharmaceutical processes. Int J Pharm 2020; 591:119969. [PMID: 33068692 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2020.119969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Revised: 10/07/2020] [Accepted: 10/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Continuous feeding of small quantities of powder is increasingly applied in pharmaceutical manufacturing. With that regard, what is crucial is not only the feasibility, but also the accuracy and stability. To enable stable processing, low amounts of various agents, e.g., lubricants, can be used. Even more important is the exact dosage of highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), which require feed rates within the range of grams per hour. Conventional feeders cannot supply powder at such rates, especially when the material properties are challenging. In this work, a novel micro-feeder was integrated into a continuous manufacturing line and its capability to supply API at feed rates down to one gram per hour was tested. The micro-feeder system is based on the principle of active volumetric displacement: a piston pushes the powder out of the cartridge upwards to the end of a plate, where a scraper places it into the process inlet. In this study, a hot melt extrusion process was used, during which the API was dissolved in a polymer matrix. Samples of the strand were analysed with regard to their content by means of HPLC. The results showed that the novel micro-feeder system can feed powder with good accuracy and reproducibility, indicating its high potential for continuous process implementation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Sacher
- Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering GmbH, Inffeldgasse 13/2, 8010 Graz, Austria.
| | - Nikolaus Heindl
- Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering GmbH, Inffeldgasse 13/2, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | | | - Julia Kruisz
- Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering GmbH, Inffeldgasse 13/2, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Johannes G Khinast
- Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering GmbH, Inffeldgasse 13/2, 8010 Graz, Austria; Institute for Process and Particle Engineering, Graz University of Technology, Inffeldgasse 13/3, 8010 Graz, Austria
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5
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Fathollahi S, Faulhammer E, Glasser BJ, Khinast JG. Impact of powder composition on processing-relevant properties of pharmaceutical materials: An experimental study. ADV POWDER TECHNOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.apt.2020.05.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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6
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Faulhammer E, Kruisz J, Scheibelhofer O, Rehrl J, Witschnigg A, Khinast JG. Filling of lactose-based formulations in a tamping-pin capsule filler. Drug Dev Ind Pharm 2020; 46:775-787. [PMID: 32290729 DOI: 10.1080/03639045.2020.1753063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
We studied three lactose-based formulations in terms of bulk powder properties and capsule-filling behavior in a tamping-pin capsule filling system, to which several mechanical adaptions were made for process optimization in light of future continuous production. The model formulations were thoroughly characterized and filled into size 1 capsules according a well-defined design of experiments (DoE). Overall, the three entirely different formulations were successfully filled within the selected design space. The fill weight and fill weight variability can be adjusted by fine-tuning the process settings, like the pin immersion depth and the maximum compaction pressure (pneumatic or spring-controlled), and by using the appropriate powder bed height and mechanical adaptions. This study demonstrated that selection of process parameters and mechanical adaptions could enhance the filling performance, especially in continuous production, since they reduce the powder volume in the process. Moreover, we showed that a tamping-pin system is capable of successfully filling a broad range of powders with various material characteristics and can potentially be used in a continuous production mode.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Faulhammer
- Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering GmbH, Graz, Austria
| | - Julia Kruisz
- Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering GmbH, Graz, Austria
| | | | - Jakob Rehrl
- Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering GmbH, Graz, Austria.,Institute of Automation and Control, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria
| | | | - Johannes G Khinast
- Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering GmbH, Graz, Austria.,Institute of Process and Particle Engineering, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria
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Peng Y, Zhao K, Yang Y, Pu H, Sun Y, Liu N, Liu Y, Xie S, Luo J. Highly precise and efficient powder feeding system based on gravimetric feedback. POWDER TECHNOL 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.powtec.2019.06.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Wang H, Wu L, Zhang T, Chen R, Zhang L. Continuous micro-feeding of fine cohesive powders actuated by pulse inertia force and acoustic radiation force in ultrasonic standing wave field. Int J Pharm 2018; 545:153-162. [PMID: 29729402 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2018.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2018] [Revised: 04/09/2018] [Accepted: 05/01/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Stable continuous micro-feeding of fine cohesive powders has recently gained importance in many fields. However, it remains a great challenge in practice because of the powder aggregate caused by interparticle cohesive forces in small capillaries. This paper describes a novel method of feeding fine cohesive powder actuated by a pulse inertia force and acoustic radiation force simultaneously in an ultrasonic standing wave field using a tapered glass nozzle. Nozzles with different outlet diameters are fabricated using glass via a heating process. A pulse inertia force is excited to drive powder movement to the outlet section of the nozzle in a consolidated columnar rod mode. An acoustic radiation force is generated to suspend the particles and make the rod break into large quantities of small agglomerates which impact each other randomly. So the aggregation phenomenon in the fluidization of cohesive powders can be eliminated. The suspended powder is discharged continuously from the nozzle orifice owing to the self-gravities and collisions between the inner particles. The micro-feeding rates can be controlled accurately and the minimum values for RespitoseSV003 and Granulac230 are 0.4 mg/s and 0.5 mg/s respectively. The relative standard deviations of all data points are below 0.12, which is considerably smaller than those of existing vibration feeders with small capillaries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongcheng Wang
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China
| | - Liqun Wu
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
| | - Ting Zhang
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China
| | - Rangrang Chen
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China
| | - Linan Zhang
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China
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Lee HJ, Lee HG, Kwon YB, Kim JY, Rhee YS, Chon J, Park ES, Kim DW, Park CW. The role of lactose carrier on the powder behavior and aerodynamic performance of bosentan microparticles for dry powder inhalation. Eur J Pharm Sci 2018; 117:279-289. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejps.2018.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2017] [Revised: 01/31/2018] [Accepted: 03/02/2018] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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Wang H, Zhang T, Zhao M, Chen R, Wu L. Micro-Dosing of Fine Cohesive Powders Actuated by Pulse Inertia Force. MICROMACHINES 2018; 9:mi9020073. [PMID: 30393349 PMCID: PMC6187270 DOI: 10.3390/mi9020073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2018] [Revised: 02/02/2018] [Accepted: 02/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Micro-dosing of fine cohesive powders is the key technology in additive manufacturing and especially in high-potency active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPI). However, high accuracy micro-dosing (<5 mg) of fine cohesive powder is less trivial and still remains a challenge because it is difficult to eliminate the aggregation phenomena caused by the strong interparticle cohesive forces (in small capillaries). This paper presents a novel micro-dose method of fine cohesive powders via a pulse inertia force system. A piezoelectric actuator is used to provide a high enough pulse inertia force for a tapered glass nozzle and drive powder particles in the nozzle to be discharged from the nozzle orifice with the help of particle self-gravity. The nozzles with outlet diameters in the range of 100–2000 µm were fabricated via a glass heating process. The α-lactose monohydrate powder is used as the micro-dosing powder. The influences of the tapered nozzle outlet diameter, amplitude of the applied pulse voltage, and angle of the nozzle axis on micro-dosing mass are researched. The minimum mean dose mass is 0.6 mg for a single pulse inertia force. The coefficient of variation of dose mass, which represents the micro-dosing stability, can be controlled below 5% when the dose mass is relatively small.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongcheng Wang
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
| | - Ting Zhang
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
| | - Miaomiao Zhao
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
| | - Rangrang Chen
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
| | - Liqun Wu
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
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11
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Performance indicators for carrier-based DPIs: Carrier surface properties for capsule filling and API properties for in vitro aerosolisation. Int J Pharm 2018; 536:326-335. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2017.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2017] [Revised: 11/30/2017] [Accepted: 12/02/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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12
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Mechanistic modeling of a capsule filling process. Int J Pharm 2017; 532:47-54. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2017.08.125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2017] [Revised: 08/31/2017] [Accepted: 08/31/2017] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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13
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Besenhard MO, Fathollahi S, Siegmann E, Slama E, Faulhammer E, Khinast JG. Micro-feeding and dosing of powders via a small-scale powder pump. Int J Pharm 2017; 519:314-322. [PMID: 27986476 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2016.12.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2016] [Accepted: 12/12/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M O Besenhard
- Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering (RCPE), 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - S Fathollahi
- Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering (RCPE), 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - E Siegmann
- Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering (RCPE), 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - E Slama
- Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering (RCPE), 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - E Faulhammer
- Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering (RCPE), 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - J G Khinast
- Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering (RCPE), 8010 Graz, Austria; Graz University of Technology, Institute of Process and Particle Engineering, 8010 Graz, Austria.
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14
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Continuous feeding of low-dose APIs via periodic micro dosing. Int J Pharm 2016; 509:123-134. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2016.05.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2016] [Revised: 04/28/2016] [Accepted: 05/17/2016] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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Faulhammer E, Wahl V, Zellnitz S, Khinast JG, Paudel A. Carrier-based dry powder inhalation: Impact of carrier modification on capsule filling processability and in vitro aerodynamic performance. Int J Pharm 2015; 491:231-42. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2015.06.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2015] [Revised: 06/10/2015] [Accepted: 06/23/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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