Scale-up strategy for continuous powder blending process

Continuous powder mixing has attracted a lot of interest within the pharmaceutical industry. Much work has been done recently that targets the characterization of continuous powder mixing. In this paper, a quantitative scaling up strategy is introduced that allows the transition from lab to industrial scale. The proposed methodology is based on the variance spectrum analysis, and the residence time distribution, which are key indexes in capturing scale-up of the batch-like mixing, and scale-up of the axial mixing and motion, respectively. Our simulation results are used as preliminary guidance for scaling up different powder mixing cases.

Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights
► A quantitative scale-up strategy is developed for continuous powder blending.
► The method is based on analysis of the variance spectrum decay and the RTD.
► We apply the Lomb-Scargle Periodogram to capture the spectrum decay.
► The effect of constant sample size on the scale-up is clarified.