Jenike & Johanson Exhibits Patented Anti-Dusting Product at Interphex 2000
PharmaSok was developed to remedy dusting segregation—to prevent dusting during transfers from blenders to bins. Dusting during powder transfer causes segregation and product loss to the dust collection system. Losses in turn can lead to failed production runs, wasted product, delayed time-to-market, and excessive equipment down-time. PharmaSok eliminates dusting by preventing powder blends from free-falling through the air during transfer from a blender to a bin. Instead, powders flow through a tube connected to the blender. When the blender valve opens, the powder forces the tube to unfurl all the way to the bottom of the bin. As the tube automatically retracts, the bin fills and dusting is virtually eliminated.
Segregation due to dusting can cause higher-than-expected concentration of actives in the final pressed product.
By controlling dust, content uniformity in the bin is improved, increasing the likelihood of batch acceptance. "You've done a great job of mixing," says Jenike & Johanson engineer Roderick Hossfeld, "but if product segregates you've now de-mixed it. With PharmaSok what you've mixed stays mixed and goes to the tablet press."
PharmaSok also addresses some operator safety issues, although, as Hossfeld points out, most blending operations are carried out in closed systems with workers wearing full protective suits.
In addition to controlling dust during fill, PharmaSok eliminates the need for an operator to throttle manually a hanging cloth or plastic sock fixed to the blender, or to extract the cloth or sock from the bin. Doing so raises safety issues such as falls or injury due to stretching or lifting; the product may also become contaminated through exposure to operators as they lean over and into the bin. Manual manipulation of simple mechanical dust barriers is also not easy to repeat precisely.
PharmaSok is geared primarily to the pharmaceutical industry because of its high cost—anywhere from $80,000 to just over $100,000 per unit. "We've been looking at various industries where we could market it but it's a high-cost item," Hossfeld told Pharmaceutical Online. "The payback has to be there, which it is for high-value drug manufacture but not with most chemical products."
PharmaSok is sold through Jenike & Johanson's Promodus division (Westford, MA).
Visit Jenike & Johanson at booth 1370 at the Interphex Show.
For more information: Roderick J. Hossfeld, Senior Project Engineer, Jenike & Johanson, Inc., 1 Technology Park Drive, Westford, MA 01886-3189. Tel: 978-392-0300. Fax: 978-392-9980. Or call Promodus at 978-392-1863.
By Angelo DePalma