Twin screw wet granulation: Effect of process and formulation variables on powder caking during production

This work focuses on monitoring the behaviour and the mass of the built up/caking of powder during wet granulation using Twin Screw Granulator (TSG). The variables changed during this work are; powder (α-lactose monohydrate and microcrystalline cellulose (MCC)), the screw configuration (conveying and kneading elements) and the weight percentage of hydroxypropyl-methyl cellulose (HPMC) dissolved in the granulation liquid (i.e. changing liquid viscosity). Additionally, the effect of these variables on the size distribution, of the granules produced, was determined. The experiments were conducted using an acrylic transparent barrel. A stainless steel barrel was then used to conduct the two extreme granulation liquid viscosities with two different screw configurations, using lactose only. This was done to compare the findings to those obtained from the transparent barrel for validation purpose. These variables showed to affect the behaviour and the mass of the powder caking as well as the size distribution of granules. Overall, the use of kneading element resulted in uniform behaviour in caking with higher mass. Furthermore, increasing the amount of HPMC resulted in a reduction of the mass of powder caking for lactose, while showing inconsistent trend for MCC. Furthermore, lactose showed to have a greater tendency to cake in comparison to MCC. The results, for lactose, obtained from the stainless steel barrel compared well with their corresponding conditions from the transparent barrel, as the screw configuration and HPMC mass varied.