Particulate Operations with Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Applications

制药、化肥/农业、洗涤剂和食品工业都严重依赖颗粒加工来制造其产品。在许多加工步骤中的颗粒行为是复杂的，因此关于这些过程的知识仍然有限。因此，这些工艺的设计和规模扩大往往是凭经验完成的。此外，监测和控制策略通常不足以确保最佳和/或连续操作。提出了两个研究项目：（i）混合颗粒和（ii）疏水性粉末及其造粒。 片剂生产途径中的最后一个步骤包括将颗粒或丸剂与任何剩余的所需辅料混合。混合是一个关键步骤，因为混合物必须均匀，以确保每片片剂含有正确量的每种成分。不均匀的混合物可导致活性成分的过度施用，具有不期望的副作用，或导致期望的治疗效果丧失的施用不足。然而，产生和维持颗粒或丸剂与赋形剂的均匀混合物是一个挑战，因为这些成分在其性质上具有很大的差异，因此表现出分离或分层的自然趋势。该研究将调查被动振动测量的应用，以确定混合物内的离析。这些测量将允许在线和实时地提取关于混合的信息，而无需产品接触或设备修改。该研究还将着眼于将这些测量应用于连续搅拌机。 生物炭是热解的固体残渣。它具有复杂的性质，包括疏水性。拟议的研究将调查影响生物炭的生物质原料和热解条件，重点是其疏水性。疏水粉末的造粒仍然知之甚少。因此，进一步的研究，建议调查造粒机制的生物炭，并确定工艺参数，提供特定属性的颗粒。将生物炭制成颗粒将改善其作为土壤改良剂的应用;有害粉尘排放将最大限度地减少，营养物质和细菌可被纳入颗粒中，以进一步刺激植物生长。 拟议的研究将为四名MESc，一名博士和五名暑期学生提供培训。预计将对制药和化肥/农业产生积极影响。进一步了解混合和开发监测方法将确保高产品质量，同时提高效率并降低制造成本。疏水粉体具有许多潜在的应用。这些粉末需要进一步研究，以了解它们的特性，以及如何加工和开发它们的特定应用，包括生物炭作为土壤改良剂。

Pharmaceutical, fertilizer/agriculture, detergent and food industries all rely heavily on particulate processing for the manufacturing of their products. The particulate behaviour during many of the processing steps is complex and therefore knowledge about the processes still remains limited. As a result, the design and scale-up of these processes are often accomplished empirically. In addition, monitoring and control strategies are usually insufficient to ensure optimal and/or continuous operation. Two research projects are proposed: (i) mixing particles and (ii) hydrophobic powders and their granulation.   One of the last steps in the tablet manufacturing pathway involves the mixing of granules or pellets with any remaining required excipients. Mixing is a critical step as the mixture must be uniform to ensure that each tablet contains the correct amount of each ingredient. A non-uniform mixture can result in over-administration of the active ingredient with undesirable side effects or under-administration resulting in a loss of desired therapeutic effect. Creating and sustaining a uniform mixture of granules or pellets with excipients, however, is a challenge as these ingredients have a large disparity in their properties and therefore exhibit a natural tendency to separate or de-mix. The research will investigate the application of passive vibration measurements to identify segregation within mixtures. These measurements would allow the extraction of information about the mixing inline and in real-time without product contact or equipment modification. The research will also look at applying these measurements to a continuous blender.   Biochar is the solid residue of pyrolysis. It has complex properties including being hydrophobic. The proposed research will investigate biomass feedstock and pyrolysis conditions that affect biochar, with a focus on its hydrophobicity. Granulation of hydrophobic powders remains poorly understood. Therefore, further research is proposed to investigate granulation mechanisms of biochar and to identify process parameters that provide granules with specific attributes. Granulation of biochar into granules would improve its application as a soil amendment; harmful dust emissions would be minimized and nutrients and bacteria could be incorporated into the granules to further stimulate plant growth.   The proposed research will provide training for four MESc, one PhD and five summer students. There is an anticipated positive impact on the pharmaceutical and fertilizer/agricultural industries. Further understanding of mixing and development of monitoring methods will ensure high product quality while improving efficiency and reducing the cost of manufacturing. Hydrophobic powders have many potential applications. These powders need further study to understand their properties and how they can be processed and developed for specific applications including biochar as a soil amendment.