(328o) Study of the Lubrication Effect on the Feedframe

The interest on granular material behavior has been growing in the last years especially for understanding and prediction of powder flow, mixing, and compaction. The advance obtained from these processes let us focus in one problem the pharmaceutical industry is facing. This is the mechanical properties of tablets and their final composition. When processing tablets, lots of them are destroyed because of mechanical failures. Some of the variables that can affect the final properties of a tablet may be present when feeding the die. Feedframe is a common way used to feed the powder to the tablet press dies. There exist different designs of feedframes between manufacturers. These equipment variations can make a difference in the powder flow into a die. The filling of the dies also is an essential part to control the final properties of tablets. Because of the complexity of powder flow through the feedframe there is no actual model or principle to describe it. To understand the causal effect, this project focuses on studying the lubrication effect on the feedframe. Also examine the powder flow through it varying revolutions per minute (rpm). These variables have a strong effect on the compression of powders and thus in the final properties of tablets.