Real-Time Cone-Growth Model for Determination of Pharmaceutical Powder Flow Properties

Abstract

The flow properties of pellets or granules are crucial for further processing drug dosage forms. Optimal compression or filling of multiparticulate dosage forms into capsules is influenced by forces between discrete particles, which could be partially characterized by flow properties. Several techniques have been developed to examine flowability, including static and dynamic methods applying empirical studies and up-to-date chaos theory; however, the newest methods seem only to be powerful with the supplementation of empirical principles. Our experiments try to refine both the technique of analysis and the methods, by finding new, alternative ways. Our approach to the flowability measurements was to set up a dynamic time-dependent model that combined empirical observations and chaos theory on a geometrical basis, thus finding new characteristics regarding the flow properties of pellets and granules that could be relevant for drug developers. Our findings indicate that sphericity and particle size are the most significant factors influencing the flowability of pharmaceutical multiparticular preparations. Furthermore, this study confirms that integrating chaos theory and empirical observations in a time-dependent dynamic model provides a comprehensive understanding of particle flow behavior, pivotal for optimizing manufacturing processes.