(349f) Monitor and Optimize Emulsion Droplet Size with Real-Time in Situ measurements

Emulsions play a critical role in many unit operations and affect product quality in many industries, including the production of liquid formulations in personal care, pharmaceutical and agrochemical products, as well as in the production of many foods, flavorings, and polymer products. Designing a robust process that delivers the required droplet size distribution in a suspension or emulsion is a common challenge for scientists and engineers who are tasked with optimizing product quality and process efficiency.

Characterizing emulsion droplet size effectively allows scientists and engineers to more effectively solve process bottlenecks and improve product quality and consistency. Traditionally, scientists and engineers have relied on off-line particle size analyzers, to perform emulsion characterization. Off-line analysis methods typically require sample preparation and sample dilution, which in the case of emulsions, often causes changes in the droplet system that make it difficult to relate the off-line results to real-time, dynamic changes in the droplet system that can impact process efficiency and product quality.

The emergence of PAT technologies for particle and droplet system characterization allow scientists and engineers to track the rate and degree of change of particles and droplets in suspensions and emulsions as they naturally exists in process without the need for sampling or sample preparation. In-process measurement of particles and droplets can provide real time information about how droplets behave under changing process conditions, which can directly relate Critical Process Parameters such as stir/shear rates, surfactant selection and dosage, and temperature; to Critical Quality Attributes including droplet or particle size and product stability, for better holistic achievement of Quality by Design.

This presentation will review case studies demonstrating the use of a Design of Experiments in combination with common in-situ PAT tools, including FBRM and PVM technologies, to develop detailed process understanding and enable process optimization of emulsion-based products.