MU 2017 November December

48 MACHINERY UPDATE november/december 2017 www.machineryupdate.co.uk
Feature: Pharmaceuticals
How-to video
of titanium
dioxide uses
Silverson Machines has released a
‘how-to’ video demonstrating methods
of easily and efficiently dispersing
titanium dioxide, solving an ongoing
need for the chemical, personal care
and pharmaceutical industries.
Titanium dioxide comes in
pre-micronised powder form, but the
particles tend to reagglomerate when added
to water. Conventional mixers cannot break
these agglomerates down and therefore
cannot obtain the fine particle size needed
to give products such as pill coatings or
lotions, maximum opacity and gloss.
Silverson says its precision-engineered
mixers offer positive high shear mixing that
will rapidly disperse the pigment to give a
uniform, agglomerate-free dispersion.
OUTLINING OPERATIONAL GAINS
First, the mixer’s rotor/stator workhead
draws the powder and liquid into the centre
of the workhead at high speed. Centrifugal
force then drives the materials to the
periphery of the workhead where they are
subjected to a milling action in the precision
clearance between the tip of the rotator
blade and the inner wall of the stator.
“That intense mechanical shear breaks
down any agglomerates, and then projects
them back into the body of the mix in a
circulatory pattern,” says Matt Smith,
international sales director at Silverson.
“With each successive pass through the
workhead, their size is progressively
reduced, and the result is a fine, uniform
and agglomerate-free dispersion.”
The company offers a number of
solutions for titanium dioxide dispersion:
high-speed batch mixers for small
volumes such as tablet coatings and
other specialist products, and in-line
mixers that can be used in a self-pumping
recirculation system for intensive and
targeted high shear on larger batches.
To showcase these mixers and other
precision-engineered solutions the
company offers, Silverson has created
a series of ‘How-To’ videos. These videos
including the high-speed dispersion of
titanium dioxide can be viewed in the
How-To Video Library on its website.
T 01494 786331
W www.silverson.co.uk
This filling and closing machine was part of an exclusive machine presentation in Crailsheim
Glass vials are
handled faster
The system can accurately fill both large and
small amounts of pharmaceutical powders
Bosch Packaging Technology has
introduced the latest addition to
its AFG series.
“During development of this
filling and closing machine for
pharmaceutical powders, our main focus
was on flexibility,” explains Dieter Bandtel,
product manager at Bosch Packaging
Technology. “With the AFG 5000,
customers can choose between several
different versions and various features.”
Based on a single machine platform, the
system can accurately fill both large and
small amounts of powder. Customers have
the choice between one filling point for an
output of 160 containers per minute through
to three filling points for up to 480 vials per
minute. Thanks to the vacuum-compressedair
filling system, the output remains high
even when filling small amounts.
For all versions, customers can choose
between statistical or 100% in-process
control of dosing weights.
“To optimise efficiency, we have
developed a new, flexible transport system
for the AFG 5000,” says Bandtel. “While
the vials are continuously fed into the
machine, the transport system adjusts
the speed of the following processes
to precisely match the rhythm of the
individual work stations.”
Whether filling, weighing or closing
vials, the new vertical transport system
was designed to prevent idle time or
bottlenecks. Rotating carrier systems,
known as shuttles, transfer the vials
quickly and safely to the respective work
station. Once the vials have been sealed
and taken out of the system, the shuttles
quickly return to the infeed, ready for the
next transport run.
In addition to flexibility, the AFG 5000
is compact as powder filling takes
place in class B cleanrooms, where every
centimetre counts in terms of operating,
maintenance and cleaning costs.
T 01332 626262
W www.boschpackaging.com