(54ax) Bi-Directional Thermal Control of Twin Screw Granulation Process Via a Specialised Annular Heat Pipe

The continuous process of twin screw granulation forms a hotbed in pharmaceutical research as it is expected to succeed the current batch production of granules. In essence, the scale up of the material output is a function of production time, instead of equipment size (for batch granulators). This way, a “just-in-time production” of the desired amount of material can be performed according to specific needs. In this work, a twin screw granulator was utilised in the granulation of both the placebo and active pharmaceutical formulations. Subsequently, the same equipment was used in granulating ceramic raw material powders for tile pressing. During processing, the spatial constraint in the barrel and screw compartments caused friction, resulting in excess heat generation. For the thermally-sensitive pharmaceutical formulations, this must be controlled to avoid denaturation of the granule products. A common solution is by using flowing cool water, but a good control has been proven to be difficult to achieve as different granulation zones generate different heat levels (kneading blocks > conveyer blocks). Heat pipe is a passive and highly effective thermal conductor and stabiliser. A carefully-designed annular heat pipe, filled with a small amount of methanol was successfully employed to stabilise the temperature in the barrel space, cooling the granulating material before it reached its critical temperature. For the ceramic powders, the methanol filling of the heat pipe was replaced by water and it was then heated up to provide an in-situ drying operation as the powders granulating. The in-situ drying in this instance, reduces energy consumption for the downstream drying processing as the product granules contain less moisture to be removed. The annular heat pipe, with its bi-directional operation of heating and cooling is a technically viable temperature controller for twin screw granulators. Compared to the established active cooling methods, the heat pipe provides a passive alternative, with only a discreet amount of fluid required to last its operational lifetime, thereby providing an economic thermal control solution.