A review of regime maps for granulation

Area of Science:

• Pharmaceutical Technology
• Chemical Engineering
• Materials Science

Background:

• Granulation is a key size enlargement technique for producing solid dosage forms.
• Various granulation methods exist, including roll compaction, drum granulation, high shear, twin-screw, and fluid-bed granulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically discuss proposed regime maps for different granulation processes.
• To highlight the importance of fundamental knowledge on granule growth mechanisms for process design.
• To explain how dimensionless correlations can define scale-independent operation windows.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on granulation processes and regime maps.
• Analysis of dimensionless correlations for granulation process physics.
• Discussion of the relationship between input variables, granule attributes, and growth behavior.

Main Results:

• Dimensionless correlations can define operation windows with distinct regime areas.
• Regime maps facilitate the prediction of granulation system behavior under changing parameters.
• The use of dimensionless numbers reduces experimental workload and parameter dependency.

Conclusions:

• A thorough understanding of granule growth mechanisms is crucial for effective granulation process design.
• Regime maps, based on dimensionless correlations, offer a powerful tool for scale-independent process definition.
• This approach enables better prediction and control of granule attributes in solid dosage form manufacturing.