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PAT Instrumentation of a Suspension Dryer for Dynamic Inline Monitoring of Solid-Liquid Separation, Washing and Thermal Drying

Hendrik Schneider, Gabriele Reich

Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics, IPMB, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

Corresponding author: Dr. Gabriele Reich, Abteilung Pharmazeutische Technologie und Biopharmazie, Institut für Pharmazie und Molekulare Biotechnologie, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany, e-mail: gabriele.reich@urz.uni-heidelberg.de

Solid-liquid separation by centrifugation, washing and thermal drying are common unit operations. In the following study, a suspension dryer, which combines all three in one filter basket, was used exemplarily. Critical parameters of the different process steps were identified. To gain important inline information various analytical instruments have been evaluated and successfully integrated in the suspension dryer:
• probes for measurement of pressure, gas flow and temperature
• an ultrasonic sensor to measure the fill level of suspension and solid material
• a near-infrared system for contact-free, dynamic measurements of content of water and organic solvents
• an imaging system for visualization of all process steps and image analysis to numerically describe process characteristics.
Different material characteristics and the demands of the unique process, such as high velocities during rotation, presented major challenges. The information gained by the analytical instruments can help to ensure product quality, understand and control the process and finally reduce costs. The proposed approach and instrumental design may be transferred to other applications with similar requirements.

Key words Drying • Dynamic inline monitoring, instrumentation • Near-infrared spectroscopy, low integration time • Process Analytical Technology (PAT) • Solid-liquid separation • Washing