(661c) Analysis of Powder Phenomena Inside a Fette 3090 Feed Frame Using NIR Spectroscopy

Pharmaceutical Tablets are the most common solid dosage form due to its many advantages such as simplicity of manufacture, ease of dosing and stability. These tablets are manufactured using rotary tablet presses, where powder is filled into the dies with a feed frame system and then compressed with punches, decompressed and finally, the tablet is ejected. The die filling process is a complex and dynamic process and is also an essential part of controlling the final properties of tablets. Tablet characteristics are very important parameters in pharmaceutical industry. Fette 3090 tablet presses are commonly used in the pharmaceutical industry nowadays. A near-infrared (NIR) probe was successfully installed into a Fette 3090 feed frame to evaluate the die filling process in-line. The Fette 3090 mass exits contribution from the top stage to the bottom stage was measured at different paddle wheel speeds using pure lactose. It was found that the resultant amount of mass from the top stage of the feed frame vary significantly from the bottom left side to the bottom right side of the feed frame by changing the paddle wheel speed. Therefore, a second NIR probe was installed at each side of the feed frame to measure the effect of the shear applied and residence time distribution at each bottom side of the feed frame. A powder wave behavior inside the feed frame due to the paddle motion was also observed. It was found that at higher paddle wheel speed the frequency of the wave behavior increased. Differences in spectra base line are mainly affected by mass hold-up inside the feed frame and paddle wheel speed. These findings are important for the model construction of NIR inside a feed frame. Studies using blends were performed to develop a calibration model based on the feed frame system dynamic to determine acetaminophen potency variability during the die filling process. Experiments to evaluate content uniformity at the entrance and exit of the feed frame system were done and the output concentration of the feed frame versus the concentration at each side of the feed frame was evaluated.