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Nozzle's Recirculating Feature Designed for High Viscosity Solution

Coating of pills, granules and tablets is a common application in the pharmaceutical industry. But providing a precise, uniform coat is a universal problem. And, since most coatings involve viscous liquids, maintenance is also a troubling concern.

PROBLEM: This French OEM was looking for a way to improve its pill coating equipment. The nozzles they had been using did not allow for separate set-up of the atomizing air and fan air controls. The result was nozzle clogging and poor spray pattern distribution.

SOLUTION: The company replaced the existing nozzles with Spraying Systems Co.'s VAU variable spray nozzles. The unique external mix design of these nozzles enables independent adjustment of the atomizing air, fan air and liquid flow, which means the capacity, drop size and spray pattern can be fine-tuned for precise coverage.

The nozzles were also specified because of their ability to solve the frequent clogging problems. The VAU variable spray nozzle's built-in orifice clean-out needle is automatically activated between each spray cycle. A second inlet port can be used for spraying two liquid solutions or as an outlet in recirculating systems. This recirculation feature was particularly important in this application, helping avoid solution degradation. Plus, the nozzles cost 50 percent less than the previous nozzles.

Another advantage of using VAU variable spray nozzles on this pill coating equipment is that one nozzle can deliver a variety of spray distribution patterns. Now rather than changing out nozzles for each batch of tablets, pharmaceutical companies have the ability to adjust the liquid flow and spray for each batch. And since there are so many different shapes, quantities and compositions of pills being coated with this equipment, this is a real advantage. As a result, maintenance time has been reduced by 30 percent.

Finally, VAU variable spray nozzles are constructed of stainless steel - a requirement in this application and most pharmaceutical applications.

Click here to download the Optimizing Your Spray System Handbook.