petfoodpro 3/2023

PROCESSING
Efficient Process Technology for
Dogs and Cats
The demand for veterinary products is increasing worldwide – and with it the need for particularly efficient, hygienic
manufacturing processes. As the example of chewable tablets for dogs and cats shows, Ploughshare® Mixers can meet the
specific requirements particularly well in several respects.
Pet owners worldwide spend over 135
billion euros on their pets. In the USA
alone, the figure is almost 60 billion, in
Western Europe around 30 billion – per
year and rising. Veterinary medicines
account for a significant proportion of
this expenditure.
Specialized manufacturers are
responding to this growing demand
by expanding their capacities, not only
with additional equipment, but above
all with increasingly efficient production
processes. How this could look in practice
is shown by a particularly widespread
form of administration: Chewable tablets
for dogs and cats.
Raw materials and process
From a technical process point of view,
such chewable tablets mainly consist
of dry raw materials: In the basic recipe,
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)
or other additives, such as vitamins or
flavors, are added to a basic product (e.g.
corn starch or protein powder). The first
intermediate product is thus a powdery
dry mixture.
After this premixing, liquid components,
e.g. liquid polymer (PEG or macrogol) or
oils (e.g. soya oil, fish oil) are added and
incorporated in a second step. At room
temperature, however, these liquids can
harden or crystallise in contact with the
mixer or the mixed material before they
are completely distributed. Therefore,
both the mixer and the dry mix must
be tempered beforehand. Usually it
is heated to around +50 – 60 °C to
optimise distribution of the added liquid
components in the dry mixture.
After another mixing process, a highly
pasty, marzipan-like dough is formed.
After emptying the mixer, the mixture is
transferred to a moulding machine as a
lump or dough strand. Finally, the formed
tablets are baked through and packaged.
Ploughshare®
Mixer FKM as
a particularly
efficient
solution
Both mixing steps
take place one after
the other in the
same machine and
in batch operation.
Ploughshare®
Mixers FKM from
Lödige Process
Technology with
600 to 3000 l
nominal volume have already proven
themselves many times over. They operate
based on the mechanically generated
fluid bed that ensures a very good mixing
performance and was introduced to
industrial mixing technology by Lödige:
the specially developed shovels rotate
close to the wall inside a horizontal
drum, creating the fluid bed. The process
enables a high degree of homogeneity
and constant reproducibility.
Treatment inside a Ploughshare® Mixer
brings multiple advantages over other
mixing methods: Intensive forced mixing
combined with short process times
ensures the highest mixing qualities and
particularly efficient operation. Holding
times, duration of treatment and other
process variables can be modified
depending on the characteristics being
sought.
As a further advantage, the FKM enables
precise temperature control of the raw
materials by means of an insulated
temperature control cover on the drum.
The horizontal arrangement offers
significantly more contact surface than a
vertical system, ensuring fast and efficient
heat transfer. The cover of the insulation
to the outside made of welded stainless
steel guarantees the machine design
according to Hygienic Design.
In addition, the FKM allows liquid
components to be added via mixer lances
in the effective range of special choppers
which rotate at up to 3000 rpm and
ensure ideal distribution of even higherviscosity
liquids in the mix. The sturdy
design of the mixer ensures long service
lives of 25 years and more and minimises
maintenance.
Hygienic design
Ploughshare® Mixers come in various
different sizes and are also available
in an explosion protected version for
specific applications. The customerspecific
design of machines and
machine lines is just as much a matter of
course as strict adherence to all current
GMP directives and FDA regulations,
which also apply to the production of
veterinary pharmaceuticals. In close
cooperation with the representatives of
major manufacturers of pharmaceutical
products, Lödige has realized far
more than 1000 systems according to
requirements in the last few decades.
Automatic WIP systems for reliable and
reproducible cleaning of the mixer are
an essential element of hygienic design.
The cleaning process itself comprises the
residue-free removal of any remaining
product and material build-up in the
entire inside of the machine. For this
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Technology & Marketing