Size Reduction Flashcards
What are some reasons for size reduction?
- Preliminary process in preparation of products,
- Allow better mixing or blending
- Enable rapid dissolution, especially solid dosage forms
- Increase S.A. for reaction
- Improve extraction of active principles
- Improve dispersibility in solution
Particles either fracture or abrade to give smaller particles. What is important in causing breakage of particles?
Crack initiation
From Hooke’s Law, what is required for a successful miling process?
Supplied energy exerts stress beyond material’s break or fracture point
Considerations in size reduction regarding properties of material
Size reduction generates heat hence consider:
- Thermolability
- Melting point
- Flammability
Also consider: Deformation characteristics
Considerations in size reduction redgardin type of equipment
- Impact/ shear/ pressure
- Material in contact with product
- Temperature control (e.g. via water jacket)
All size reduction equipment cause breakage by 4 basic mechanisms, which are:
- Impact: Single force (hammer)
- Compression: Two rigid forces (nut-cracker)
- Shear: Particle-to-particle interaction (scissors)
- Attrition: scraping against surface
What is wet grinding? WHat are its advantages and disadvantages?
Size reduction in liquid media, usually water
Advantages:
- Eliminate dust
- Easier to handle material
- Uses less energy (higher efficiency)
- Increase mill capacity
Disadvantages;
- Grinding medium may become part of product
- Unusable for soluble materials
- May require drying of product
Roll mill is best for _______
Soft materials
Briefly describe how hammer mill works
Materials passed into rotating impellers which gets impacted and reduced in size. Small enough particles can pass through screen. It has less precise milling
Advantages and disadvantages of hammer mill
Advantages:
- Different models and designs available
- Can impart medium to high sheer
- Blades and screens are interchangeable
- Suitable for very hard materials
Disadvantages:
- Temperature rise due to friction
- Noisy, dusty
- Cannot plug feed due to limited capacity (only gradual feed)
- Belt slip common
- High volume of air generated, rq ventilation
- Complex screen selection and installation, and not scalable
- Sifting required after milling
Compared to hammer mill, cone mills are….
- More gentle
- Make coarser particles than hammer mill, hence suitable as mid-step in granulation
Describe the principle of operation of a cone mill
- Feed into conical chamber
- Impeller imparts vortex flow pattern to material
- Centrifugal forces accelerate particles to screen surface
- Particles with reduced size instantly discharge through screen openings
Describe Ball Mills. What are the two types of ball mills
- Vibrate/rotate material with balls inside
- Balls are dense and heavy, and when colliding, crushes particles in between them
- With vibration: Very efficient, but best when materials and balls are wet
Two types: Vibratory and cascading
Advantages and disadvantages of ball mills
Advantages:
- Efficient, suitable for fine grinding
Disadvantages:
- For vibratory: Require cooling or short process time due to rapid temperature rise
Advantages and disadvantages of flud energy mill and air jet mills
Advantages:
- Very fine grinding
- Very efficient to micron size (<10 micron)
- Can mill very hard materials
Disadvantages:
- Require good process control