Focus on Process Control Ensures High Tablet Coating Uniformity

Gebr. Lödige Maschinenbau has developed the new LC coater series especially for the coating of tablets. According to the company, during the designing stage, optimum process control was priority and applied to all three sub-processes — spray coating, mixing and drying of tablets.

The LC coater series is characterised by a new nozzle arm concept to spray on the coating, which allows the nozzle position to be perfectly adapted to the tablet bed. This makes it possible to easily adjust the correct spraying distance and angle at any time in order to achieve an outstanding result. The arrangement and number of nozzles accelerate the process.

The applied high-performance air system also ensures short processing times. A fully perforated drum, with a free area of more than 40%, allows for a very high air flow. Therefore, an excess of energy is available for the coating process, ensuring a smooth and reliable process.

Efficient mixing elements also contribute to excellent product quality. They allow uniform and gentle mixing of tablets, even with variable degrees of filling from 30 to 100% — an absolute prerequisite in order to achieve the extremely high coating uniformity required by the pharmaceutical industry.

The drying process has also been improved. The drying energy applied is used effectively by guiding the drying air flow directly beneath the spraying zone onto the tablet bed. In this manner, the airflow ensures fast drying of wet surfaces. The air supply is extracted through the tablet bed.

Due to their sophisticated processing technology, the coaters of the LC series operate up to 40% faster than conventional devices, while saving roughly 20% on costs. The coaters also collect plus points in terms of their ease of operation. When designing the new Lödige LC coater series, emphasis was placed of comfortable loading, unloading and maintenance.

Gebr.Lödige Maschinenbau GmbH, +49 5251 309 208, spittka@loedige.de, www.loedige.de.