Hosokawa Micron has supplied a nitrogen-purged milling system for delumping an API prior to packaging to AstraZeneca.
Designed with AstraZeneca engineers to provide integrated safety features and superior cleaning procedures, the milling system demonstrates best operating practices for handling potentially explosive fine powder APIs, the company says.
The milling process has been introduced to the production line to deliver a homogenous free flowing, lump free product of consistent particle size.
The system incorporates the Bepex Bexmill with a low energy, gentle action suited to handling sensitive products such as pharmaceuticals.
The Bexmill has a single vertical rotor, which rotates close to a conical screen mesh and by careful selection of screen mesh size and adjustment of rotor speed lumpy materials can be rendered free flowing and of a consistent particle size. The company says airflow through the unit is minimal and the temperature rise insignificant, ensuring gentle size reduction with minimum fines.
The AstraZeneca material is transferred from a pressure filter dryer into a receiving vessel and then metered via a rotary valve.
After milling the product falls into a receiving hopper and is then transferred to the packaging drums using an inclined screw conveyor.
The whole system is operated under a positive pressure of nitrogen and has an integrated self-leak test facility. The system is pressurised to 0.1 bar and once the system has passed the leak test the milling
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