Granulation and Agglomeration: Optimizing Powder Flow and Reducing Production Dust

Enhancing Manufacturing Performance

Granulation and agglomeration are particle engineering techniques used to bind fine powder particles into larger, denser, and more free-flowing structures called granules or agglomerates. This process is critical for overcoming common handling issues in large-scale production.

Key Operational Improvements:

• Improved Flowability: Granules flow more uniformly and predictably than fine powders, guaranteeing precise delivery to your tableting presses or high-speed mixing equipment.
• Dust Reduction: Significantly reduces dust during handling and blending, creating a cleaner work environment and minimizing the risk of cross-contamination.
• Preventing Segregation: By binding particles of different densities together, these processes prevent separation during transport or storage, ensuring dosage uniformity in your final product.
• Increased Bulk Density: Compacted particles take up less space, optimizing storage, reducing packaging size, and making raw material transfer more efficient.

Technical Process and Control

We tailor the granulation method based on the specific chemistry of your premix and its intended final application.

Our Core Granulation Methods:

• Wet Granulation: Uses a liquid binder to form adhesive bonds between powder particles. The resulting granules are dense and durable, ideal for tableting or capsule filling.
• Dry Granulation (Compaction): Avoids moisture entirely by using high pressure to compact powders into dense sheets or slugs, which are then milled into free-flowing granules. This is essential for moisture-sensitive ingredients.
• Fluid Bed Agglomeration: Fine powders are suspended in air and sprayed with a binder, creating porous, instantly soluble agglomerates. This is perfect for quick-dissolving drink mixes and RTM products.

Applications and Product Suitability

Granulated and agglomerated premixes are vital for high-volume, automated production where speed and precision cannot be compromised.

Ideal Applications Include:

• Capsule and Tablet Filling: Ensures the powder flows smoothly and consistently into molds or capsule shells, maximizing fill uniformity and minimizing machine downtime.
• Ready-to-Mix (RTM) Beverages: Provides excellent, immediate dispersibility in water or liquid, eliminating clumping and improving the consumer mixing experience.
• Extruded Products: Guarantees uniform distribution of nutrients in high-shear processes like cereal or protein bar manufacturing.

Quality Assurance for Granular Structure

Our quality protocols ensure the physical properties of the granules meet the tight specifications required by your manufacturing systems.

Granular Quality Metrics:

• Particle Size Distribution (PSD): Granules are tested to ensure a narrow, consistent PSD, preventing segregation and optimizing flow rate.
• Friability & Hardness: Durability tests are conducted to ensure granules withstand handling without breaking down into fine, problematic dust.
• Flow Testing: We measure angle of repose and compressibility to predict precisely how the premix will perform in your production hoppers.

Ready to optimize your manufacturing efficiency? Request a Technical Consultation.