Development of a Robust, Scalable Process for the Manufacturing of Organogels

Mahesh Sawant, The Dow Chemical Company

The manufacturing of organogels requires precise control of process parameters such as dispersion, agitation, heat transfer, and packaging in order to achieve a gel product with consistent/repeatable properties required to impart desirable features (e.g., soft, smooth, spreadable, etc.) to the formulations of our customers.  Deviations from ideal processing conditions may result in the formation of gels which are hard, lumpy, tacky, oily, or otherwise unacceptable.  In addition, cGMP or other regulatory requirements often place constraints on the process equipment selection (materials of construction, cleanability, environmental controls, etc) for the production of such gels, frequently necessitating the employment of different unit operation designs that are volume or scale dependent, requiring careful analysis and modification of the process at each stage of development from laboratory scale through pilot scale to full scale production to ensure success.

In order to support the effective development of this class of products, Dow’s unique collaborative engine of Research and Development, business, and manufacturing expertise brings the processing and product capabilities and know-how needed to develop robust scalable process designs to facilitate the economical production of organogels that provide the innovative solutions our customers demand.

Utilizing a combination of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), laboratory experiments, and pilot plant trials, the Dow team have developed and effectively implemented process technology which has facilitated the successful advancement of such organogel materials  to full scale production.