Dust Management Strategies for Solid Dose Manufacturing Processes

By James Ellis, Director, Hanningfield Process Systems

The growing use of high-potency APIs has led to an increasing need for total process containment. Ingredients are often hazardous and can be dangerous to both the environment and personnel if mishandled – this is a particular concern during milling, a process often associated with dust generation. To protect both the operator and the process environment, it is important to consider how to overcome this problem, preferably without restricting throughput.

Whilst there are a number of ways to achieve containment during milling, this article shall primarily focus on:

• In-line vacuum transfer
• Container-to-container milling
• Milling inside an isolator