Melt pelletization with polyethylene glycol in a rotary processor

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the airflow, the binder concentration, the massing time, the friction plate rotation speed, and the surface structure of the friction plate on melt pelletization in a laboratory scale rotary processor. Lactose monohydrate was melt agglomerated with polyethylene glycol (PEG) 3000 as meltable binder. The study was performed as a full factorial design. An increase in agglomerate size was found when the binder concentration, the massing time, or the friction plate rotation speed was increased. The agglomerate size was also increased when increasing the shearing forces by using a friction plate with a different surface structure. The size distribution of the agglomerates was significantly narrowed when the binder concentration or the shearing forces caused by the friction plate were increased. An increase in the adhesion of material to the friction plate was found when the shearing forces of the friction plate were increased either by the rotation speed or by the surface structure. Generally, the rotary processor was found to be a suitable alternative to melt pelletization in a high shear mixer.