Powder Handling Systems for Pharmaceuticals

The success of a pharmaceutical manufacturer hinges on their ability to produce their product efficiently and cost-effectively.

YOUR CHALLENGES

? Product won’t flow out of the IBC, so constant operator intervention is required

? Lack of flow control, starving or flooding the ?tablet compression machine leading to poor quality tablets & reduced compression machine efficiency

? The recipe segregates as it discharges out of the IBC and into the tablet compression machine resulting in content uniformity issues in the final product

? Product losses as the product sticks to the IBC walls resulting in a poor yield

? Lengthy or unsuccessful cleaning of IBCs due to excessive and sticky residuals

? Excessive dust generation and the consequent need for extensive cleaning of production areas

While the R&D team faces minimal challenges handling powder in small quantities during formulation development, transitioning to production scale often reveals flow issues like bridging, rat holing, containment, and powder mix segregation.

The above issues, absent during R&D but appearing once the commercial production starts prompt the production team to seek solutions from R&D, leading to time, manpower, and cost-consuming re-formulation or processes that become huge unforeseen costs for the company as a whole and generally lead to decrease in operational efficiency and lower yield. Instead of straight jumpin on re-formulating, it’s worth approaching powder handling experts at Matcon which has rich global experience of 44 years to help customers with its unique Cone Valve technology IBCs to tackle powder handling challenges at every stage, streamlining operations, improving product quality, and boosting margins.

All solid dosage facilities will at some time have to deal with ‘difficult’ or cohesive powders that require operator intervention, such as opening the bin and ‘rodding’ or ‘hammering’ the sides of it. Do you know how much valuable time is lost because of that? And, following the opening of the bin, there’s the extra required cleaning of the room to consider, not to mention the GMP risks involved!

Similarly, it is not accurately known how much valuable medicine is wasted each year, simply due to the loss of blend uniformity during the manufacturing cycle. This is often directly linked to segregation or ‘de-mixing’ effects at several stages of the solid dosage process.

This costly problem can be reduced significantly selecting the right materials handling system. Here, Matcon’s expert team will help you find the root cause of the problems and give you the solutions to solve them.

HOW MATCON CAN HELP

With 40+ years’ of experience and technology, Matcon has specified, designed, engineered, and installed powder-handling systems for clients across the globe.

At the heart of our Powder Handling System is an IBC fitted with our patented Cone Valve Technology, a unique automatic and controlled discharge valve that eliminates typical powder flow problems.

The lifting action of the cone breaks up bridged products and prevents materials from rat-holing and causing material segregation & thereby maintaining their integrity and quality.

Matcon IBCs are fully contained throughout the filling, mix, and packing processes, eliminating any risk of cross-contamination, perfect for factories that face challenges handling allergens.

Matcon IBCs can be manufactured from 316L stainless steel or 304 stainless steel and are available in a range of sizes and capacities. Suitable for blending, storage, and transportation of powder mixes, the range offers contained dust-tight powder handling.

Each IBC is manufactured with no enclosed crevices or hollow sections that could trap products or contaminants, which enables them to meet the highest hygiene and safety requirements.

The range of stainless-steel IBCs includes:

200- 300 Litres - Small IBC for smaller batch sizes or testing purposes.

500 - 2,000 Litres - Most commonly used range of IBC batch sizes.

2,500 - 3,500 Litres - Large scale IBC to match larger batch requirements

Matcon’s IBC is the best choice when the application calls for the production of multiple recipes, or when users want to increase productivity or improve product quality and process efficiency.

CONCLUSION

By examining the root cause of typical powder handling problems such as blocking, bridging, segregation, and dust, it is easier to find and understand available solutions.

These powder flow problems can be addressed completely using Matcon Cone Valve IBC Systems, all the way from feeding granulators (cohesive powders and blends) through tumble blending (no discharge needed out of the blender – no rolling segregation) down to the tablet presses as well as capsule and sachet fillers.