Granulation

About us

In the Granulation technical group, excellent granulation technologies in various industrial fields are mainly introduced, and technical discussions are planned and carried out with the expectation that they can be applied to technological innovations in other fields. In particular, since granulation technology depends on human sensibility in many areas, we plan to introduce the “technology and operation methods” established based on the difficulties in actual operation, empirical methods and theoretical analysis.
We work with Mr. Ikeda (Kaken Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.), Mr. Teruo Yoshida (Yoshida Consulting office), Mr. Isao Sekiguchi (Emeritus Professor at Chuo University) and Mr. Ichiro Yoshihara (Yoshihara Ichiro Consulting office) to do our group activities.

Current level of technology, trend and activities in future

Granulation operation is a unit operation aimed at improving bulk handling (segregation, consolidation, flow, dissolution, disintegration, transport, preservation, etc.) and adding new functionalities by controlling the morphology of powder materials. Generally, it is a build-up type growth process of aggregates in a wet state where the interparticle interaction force is controlled by a binder, but it is a complex phenomenon of multiphase flow of solid-liquid-gas three phases. It is necessary to select equipment and binders according to the functionality of the granules, including biomimetic multifunctional powders and granules with intelligent and biological functions such as self-repairing properties, nanoparticulation of powder materials, and soft matter raw materials such as polymers, liquid crystals, colloids, and biomolecules. Multi-functionalization requires a wide variety of manufacturing technologies, from powder fluidization methods such as rolling, stirring, extrusion and fluidized bed to soft matter dispersion methods such as spraying and in liquids, and new granulators has been developed. In addition, as process control such as continuity, compounding, and recirculation becomes more sophisticated in order to improve granulation quality and productivity, advances in in situ measurement and soft sensor technology are accelerating in the introduction of simulation and IoT technology and in the evaluation and measurement technology of granulated materials. With the introduction of AI, IoT and MI technologies, process optimization and complexification are expected.

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