A pharmaceutical manufacturer approached Quadro Engineering with an application to break open powder filled gelatin capsules then extract the expensive powder contained within.
The powder inside the gelatin capsule contained an active drug that needed to be reused, whilst the broken capsule outer could be discarded. It was important that the 5/8 inch by 1/4 inch capsules (16 x 6 mm) were broken into large pieces without shredding, in order to facilitate easy powder separation and avoid product contamination. Another stipulation was that a minimum amount of equipment be used due to space constraints, and that the drug-laden powder be completely undamaged.
The small Model 197 Quadro® Comil® was proposed as it could accept a choke (flood) feed of capsules and was able to process 75 pounds per hour (35kg/hr) of off-spec gelatin capsules.
The Comil step produced the ideal material for the sifting operation, which easily removed the large gelatin capsule pieces. The valuable powder was then fully reused.
This application easily demonstrated the versatility of the Quadro® Comil®. The manufacturer was able to not only perform the desired capsule-powder reclaim, but with quick changes to impellers and screens, they were able to convert the unit for tablet reclaim and dry granulation without the need for multiple pieces of equipment.
Solid stainless steel construction, cleanability, ease of disassembly, and versatility, make the Comil® ideally suited to the Pharmaceutical industry.
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(Ref: AP7 Gelatin Capsule reclaim)