L.B. Bohle will showcase a first-of-its-kind truly continuous granulator and dryer at INTERPHEX NYC, 1-3rd April.
At Booth 1519A, the company will offer technical overviews of its QbCon1, a three-in-one module providing continuous raw material dosing, twin-screw wet granulation and drying in one compact, mobile machine. The machine’s patented continuous drying process guarantees flow from raw material to dried granulation in a closed, truly continuous operation for improved product quality, increased flexibility and enhanced operator safety.
The QbCon1 can handle throughputs from 0.5-2.5 kilograms per hour (up to 5 kg per hour for certain products), making it suitable for research and development phases involving exceedingly small quantities of active pharmaceutical ingredients; at the same time, the versatile module affords efficient scale-up to commercial-level batches. QbCon1 configurations for high-containment applications up to OEB 5 also are available.
Drying capabilities in pharmaceutical applications have historically been limited to semi- or quasi-continuous units operating on a per-batch basis. Unfortunately, many units in this category are prone to filter blocking, a drawback that can necessitate untenably frequent interruptions, cleaning or filter replacement. By contrast, L.B. Bohle’s QbCon1 employs a novel filter cleaning technique that keeps the filter surface for the exhaust air permanently clear. This allows the machine to exhibit the primary pharma sector quality requirements for continuous manufacturing, including:
- Short residence times for granules in the dryer, with simultaneous narrow residence time distribution – i.e. “plug flow” with extremely low back-mixing of particles
- Traceability of all excipients and active ingredients in a continuous process
- Uniform, reproducible drying of all granule particles, regardless of varying sizes
- Exhaust air filters with lengthy lifespans, substantially mitigating drying process interruptions or filter changes
Operations for all three process stages are controlled via a single, integrated HMI system. For plug and play convenience, assembly and disassembly can be completed nearly tool-free in just 10 minutes, as can wash-in-place (WIP) cleaning with water or detergent solutions. The QbCon1 also can be outfitted for data acquisition systems, yielding detailed process insights for optimised performance.
A technical edge for efficient drying
Each of the QbCon1’s three critical process parameters – dosing, granulation and drying – remain constant throughout processing runs. Among other benefits, this setup significantly minimises the number of granules in the exhaust air filters, due to the extremely low fluidisation of granules in the dryer. This results in filters completely free of product residue during cleaning.
Impressively, in certain tests the QbCon1’s drying has proven so effective that some processed granules showed moisture content below that of the initial raw material. The machine’s truly continuous operation also yields consistent granule size distribution, another critical aspect of optimised pharmaceutical processing.