Synchrotron Based X-Ray Imaging Technique for Understanding of Pharmaceutical Powder Granulation

Fluidized beds are widely used in many unit operations. In the pharmaceutical industry, fluidized beds have been intensively used for granulation, coating, and drying. Due to the complexity of the granulation process in fluidized beds, observing and measuring the granulation process are challenging with conventional experimental methods. In this study, synchrotron-based X ray imaging techniques were for the first time applied to capture the dynamic granulation process with a single drop impacting method in pharmaceutical powder beds. Five common pharmaceutical excipients and two active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) were used as static powder beds. The dynamic interaction between the liquid binder (water) and solid powders was observed from X-ray images collected. In addition, porosities and morphologies of the final granules were investigated by X-ray computed tomography (CT). Primary results show that pharmaceutical powder properties, including particle size and hydrophilicity, have a significant impact on water penetration, dynamic granule growth, and the final granular product. Moreover, the present results also demonstrated that X-ray imaging techniques could be employed as powerful tools for advancing understanding various powder handling processes including granulation, drying and coating.