Bosch Packaging Technology, one of the leading suppliers introduce the new granulation unit, GranuLean at Achema 2015 to be held in Germany from June 15 to 19, 2015. It ranges from filling, processing, and packaging technology for piece goods and bulk items in the food, pharmaceutical, and confectionery sectors as well as for health and hygiene products.
This unit include combined process steps of mixing, granulating and drying for the manufacturing of pharmaceutical granules. The name GranuLean stands for a lean and compact machine, which can be easily integrated into production rooms and focuses on the basic requirements of pharmaceutical producers. The unit covers 6 meters length and 3.4 meters height. The operator interface is a 21-inch touchscreen with user-friendly navigation.
The process for manufacturing pharmaceutical granules begins by pneumatically filling the high-shear mixer. The mixing device Gentlewing, which is driven from below, mixes and granulates the active ingredients and excipients. The highshear mixer is emptied via the equally newly developed, integrated wet mill. Communication between mill and Gentlewing ensures that only as much product is emptied as the mill is able to process, which prevents the mill from clogging. A pneumatic transfer pipe subsequently transfers the wet product to the GranuLean fluid bed module, where it is dried through the inflow of the proven Diskjet distribution plate. The function of process filters is crucial to obtain high yields: for this reason, Bosch has developed a new process filter, where the elements are serially cleaned with compressed air pulses. At the end of the drying process, the product is emptied by a dry mill.
Apart from the high-shear mixer, granulation can also take place in the fluid bed by using a tangential or top spray process. GranuLean is available for a containment level of up to OEB3 (Operational Exposure Band). The machine remains closed during operation, while inflatable seals on the product containers provide for an optimum draughtproofing. Moreover, the integrated cleaning system ensures an even easier handling.
Suitable handling equipment makes it possible to combine the new granulation unit to a compact line. Alternatively, the granule can be filled into stick packs or capsules, for example with the new GKF 2600 capsule filling machine from Bosch.
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