Objective
To study and understand fundamentally the different phenomena involving
the processing of powder and granular materials.
- Cohesive vs non-cohesive materials
The interest is to understand how the different materials properties affect the ability of the these materials to move at different operating conditions
- Confined vs open spaces
There are set ups where the movements of the powders or the granular materials are restricted by the shape and size of the set up while in other cases the space is open providing a larger freedom of movement.
- Simulation and experimental data
Experimental data from different set ups are compared to DEM simulation results for the same set ups. The scale is an issue necessary to be accounted for.
This phenomenon is involved in many different industries. Its good understanding will have a major impact on those industries since its performance will impact many downstream processes. The studies are focused on:
- Materials properties effect
The objectives is to study different formulations, hygroscopic vs non-hygroscopic for example, and how its properties impact the growth rate and mechanism.
- Operating conditions
The interest is to determine how the different operating conditions affect the growth rate and the final characteristics of the granules.
- Mechanism
To understand how the different factors affect the fundamental properties of the granulation process; how these factors affect the contact angle, the liquid bridge between the colliding particles and as such the probability of a successful collision.
- Modeling
To improve the modeling capabilities to predict granulation behavior. These models can be used for many different tasks including prediction at new conditions, granulator designs and improvement, control, etc.
This phenomenon is involved in many different industries, too.Hence, its good understanding will have also a major impact on those industries since its performance will impact many downstream processes.The studies are focused on:
- Materials properties effect
The objectives is to study different formulations, hygroscopic vs non-hygroscopic for example, and how its properties impact the drying rate, energy consumption, and final properties.
- Operating conditions
The interest is to determine how the differentoperating conditions, especially air flow and temperature, affect the drying rate.
- Modeling
To improve the modeling capabilities to predict the drying dynamics. These models can be used for many different tasks including prediction at new conditions, dryer design and improvement, control, etc.
The interest here is to understand the process and its different variants. Here, the operation is looked at a macro level and how the operating conditions, the materials properties and the equipment design affect the final performance. This information is used collectively to develop macro data driven models.
Mixing
- Batch (low and high shear)
- Continuous (low and high shear)
- Cohesive vs non-cohesive
Granulation
- Batch vs Continuous
- Formulation types
- Experimental and simulations
Fluid Bed Drying
- Batch vs continuous
- Formulation types
- Experimental and simulations
Most of the studies concerning PAT have been performed offline but there is a great need of understanding how all these sensing technologies behave in the process at real time. The interest is to understand how the estimates by the sensors are affected by operating conditions and unit designs with the purpose of improving the predicting capabilities of the sensors.
Inline NIR
- API concentration, humidity content
Vision system
There are many automation developments in the industry, however the control and optimization of individual units or integrated units has received too little attention. It is well known that the control and optimization of processes results in more efficient operations and cheaper manufacturing. This is a major focus of CPEDaL since control and optimization is looked at as a black box. Our objective is to demonstrate that it is readily applicable to real manufacturing. The components of our research are described below:
Data driven modeling
To develop models that represent the actual dynamics of the processes and that can be readily used in control algorithms or techniques.
Inline sensing
Every single control solution needs reliable sensing techniques. Our focus is to understand how the available inline sensing techniques can be incorporated to control and optimization solutions.
Control algorithms
To apply available control theory to powder/granular processing units incorporating the real nature of the processes.
Optimization
The objective is to look at the process or processes as a whole and use the knowledge from each one to design a control strategy that will insure the best possible performance for the system. There are many optimization techniques already published therefore our interest is to demonstrate the performance of these techniques at different scenarios.
Optional control of a continuous tumble mixe
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Optional control of a fluid bed granulator/dryer
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Optional control of a spray dryer
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Basic understanding and modeling of wet granulation
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Development of a continuous fluid bed granulator
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Supervisory control of a continuous direct compression line to produce tablets
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