Guest Column: Powder Characterization Techniques For Tableting Applications

By Tim Freeman, Freeman Technology

Simple to administer, tablets are a feature of every day life. Tablet production has a history dating back more than a century, but retains its ability to frustrate. The drive towards faster production speeds, increasingly potent actives and the adoption of complex tablet structures present modern day tablet manufacturers with significant challenges. Understanding how to manipulate the properties of the blend towards better processing performance and high quality of final product is essential.

The sequential stages of a tablet manufacturing process subject the powder blend to range of different conditions. Initially, the blend has to be transferred from the hopper into the feedframe, from where it is circulated on the table in order that it flows into the die. Consecutive passes of the feedframe blades encourages the powder to completely fill the die. The following "micro-process" is compression, where punches compress the prescribed volume to a defined depth within the die in order to form a stable tablet. Ejection of the tablet from the die then completes the process.