Berríos-Martínez, Edmarie

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    Effect of impeller speed on particle size distribution during high shear wet granulation process
    (2010) Berríos-Martínez, Edmarie; Velázquez-Figueroa, Carlos; College of Engineering; Acevedo Rullán, Aldo; Cardona Martínez, Nelson; Department of Chemical Engineering; Hajek, Darell
    Wet granulation is the process where powders are mixed with a binder agent which is agitated with a mixer and forms a granulated product. This process is commonly used to better the processing characteristics of a powdered mix, including improved flow ability, uniformity in the content and uniformity in the size of the particles. This process is commonly used in food, pharmaceuticals, minerals, detergents and in the farming industry [1]. Even though this process is highly important, little is known about predicting the effect the speed of the mixer will have on the growth of the granules, which is why the main object of this investigation is to study the effect caused by the speed in the distribution of the size of the particles during wet granulation. In this investigation the speed of the mixer was varied to obtain optimum velocity. For experiment number one it was observed that the larger particles were formed at 560 rpm. For the second experiment the same results were observed at 650 rpm. According to previous investigations this varies because it tells us that while the speed rises the breaking phenomenon will exist. For each one of these experiments we only took the growth of the granules into consideration, which is the first mechanism of wet granulation. Lastly we were able to prove the Tardos theory which tells us that smaller particles will adhere easier to larger particles, which is why in our experiments a bimodal distribution was used. Also it was proven that before starting each experiment the material must be categorized since this affects the behavior of the granules. This was proven because for each experiment two lactose agents were used for different distributors and the results varied significantly. Also we could not use the same variables such as water content for each granulation, the time taken to collect samples size ranks for the bimodal distribution among others. The economic impact is a positive motivator as to why the granulation process needs to be made more efficient at the industrial level since there are studies that try to explain the effect of the speed of agitation on wet granulation; this takes us to look at the effect on a small scale. Stokes’ number indirectly takes into account the speed of agitation therefore it is a fundamental parameter in predicting the success of granulation. This is why this study focuses on that parameter. There have been other studies that try to explain the effect the speed of agitation has on granulation but there still are behaviors that have not been considered.