blending_4 Flashcards
what is blending/mixing
produce a homogenous (ideal) mixture where all component constituents are found to be well distributed and in close contact with each other
why blend?
pharmaceutical dosage forms are produced as unit doses which are sub-units of a large production batch, each unit dose be of consistent volume with constant mass from bulk
positive mix
complete and spontaneous mix will result by diffusion, no input of energy needed (eg. miscible liquids, gases, vapors)
negative mix
phases will separate unless work like stirring is carried out (eg. insoluble particles in liquid or immiscible liquid)
neutral mix
work required to mix and when stopped, will not demix spontaneously (eg. mixture of particles)
evaluation of mix
- mixed powders will always exhibit some variation in composition of samples
- random mix will have low standard deviation, lower than mixes that have not been mixed to random state
mixing mechanism- convective
- insert a spatula into a powder bed and lifting a portion to be deposited elsewhere is a convective mixing action
- movement of a group of adjacent particles from one location to another within mixture
mixing mechanism- shear
- slip planes are formed in the powder mix as unstable fractions collapse and shear mixing occur at the interfaces
- changes occur in configuration of ingredients through the formation of slip planes in the mixture
mixing mechanism- diffusive
- occurs when body of powder is lifted beyond its angle of repose and particles avalanche, tumbling over each other (micromixing)
- difference in velocity of powder layers can help migrate particles from one layer to another
difference between diffusing and shear/convective mixing
diffusive involves individual particles, while shear and convective involves particle groups
causative factors of segregation
- difference in particle size
- difference in particle shape
- difference in particle density
challenge in achieving good content uniformity
- substantial risk of segregation at different steps of feeding process from hopper to feeder
- tendency of powder to segregate increases when there is large difference in form, size, and or density
general mechanism of segregation
- percolation
- elutriation
- projection
- feed or heap segregation
- shear segregation
percolation segregation
when a powder bed is subject to movement or vibration (eg. dilation of bed and increased particle movement), finer and/or denser powder particles will percolate to the bottom
elutriation segregation
air stream rushing through a powder bed will sift out the finer and/or lighter powder particles
projection segregation
when a powder bed is projected into the air, the heavier particles will be projected further due to inertial forces