A model for the fluid dynamic behavior of a film coating suspension during tablet coating

Abstract

This work models the behavior of a liquid-particle suspension on the surface of a tablet during the pharmaceutical film-coating process. The model uses the “mixture modeling” approach and the lubrication approximation method to simulate how the suspension moves and dries on the surface of a tablet, considering how important physical properties of the suspension, such as the density and viscosity, change when the carrier fluid evaporates. The model also accounts for the absorption of the coating suspension inside the core of the porous tablet, yielding the tablet water content, a key quantity characterizing the coating process. The numerical results, obtained with the gPROMS Modelbuilder platform, agree with experimental data taken from the literature and Volume-Of-Fluid CFD simulations.