QbCon® 1: Continuous granulation and drying

All developments start in a lab. Lab-size equipment that can manage even extremely modest throughputs and compact footprints is also necessary for continuous manufacturing.

Continuous wet granulation and drying have long been discussed in pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) of oral pharmaceutical solids.

Continuous granulation and drying with QbCon^® 1 by L.B. Bohle

Granulation and granule drying have also been found to play an important part in continuous manufacturing. QbCon^® 1 is the world’s first research and development system that fulfills pharmaceutical manufacturing quality standards.

First and foremost, to eliminate defective products in a targeted manner without having to reject a significant amount of the batch, the granules in the dryer must have a short residence time with a limited residence time distribution.

Narrow residence time distributions also facilitate material traceability in the continuous process, which reduces complexity and eases the process of tracking finished tablets back to the basic products or subsequently tracing them from the basic products to the finished tablet.

Other crucial standards for a dryer’s quality include:

• The even, reproducible drying of all granules – especially of different sizes – over the entire process duration.
• A small process chamber to minimize the volume during the drying process.
• A long service life of the exhaust air filters eliminates the need to change or even halt the drying process.

The QbCon^® 1 is ideal for the lowest throughputs (nominal throughput: 0.5–2.5 kg/h) because of its compact footprint.

Benefits of the continuous wet granulator and dryer

• Completely automated filter cleaning while the process is drying
• Mild, consistent drying by gentle fluidization and transport
• Granules are uniformly conveyed from charging to discharge
• Comfortable handling and simple cleaning
• Granules of various sizes have an extremely limited residence duration
• Rapid creation of new products and secured scale-up

Variation and technical features

The list below offers an initial overview of the research and development system.

Source: L.B. Bohle Maschinen und Verfahren GmbH