In pharmaceuticals, chemical manufacturing, food processing, and materials engineering industries, the requirement for breaking down larger particles into smaller ones – called particle reduction – is paramount. The process helps improve final product efficiency, stability, and uniformity. In this article, we will dive deep into the process of particle size reduction, exploring its importance, techniques, equipment, and industrial applications.
Why do industries need particle size reduction?
Particle size often affects properties such as solubility, dissolution rate and flowability. Consistent particle size enhances the flow of materials, aiding in accurate filling and dosing. Reducing particle size also helps drying applications because it exposes more surface area.
In the
pharma industry, smaller particles improve bioavailability, meaning finer particles are quickly absorbed in the body. This increased surface area due to smaller particles allows for faster dissolution in the digestive tract, enabling the active ingredient to reach the bloodstream more efficiently. To put it simply, smaller particles can enhance the therapeutic effect of a drug. This is especially true for medications that need to act rapidly or at lower doses. This approach is particularly beneficial for drugs with poor water solubility, as it helps overcome absorption barriers and improve overall drug efficacy.
How does particle size reduction happen?
Dry
particle size reduction is a fairly common process in the pharmaceutical industry to reduce the size of solid particles without using liquids. This technique involves the use of mechanical methods to break down larger particles into finer ones.
One of the main advantages of dry milling techniques is that they work very well with heat-sensitive substances that are prone to degradation at higher temperatures. Particularly in the pharma industry, this feature comes in very handy as chemicals often can be heat sensitive at various stages of drug formulation.
Usually, particle size reduction can be divided into two parts – crushing and milling. As the name suggests, crushing refers to reducing larger pieces of materials into smaller pieces. Milling, on the other hand, is the reduction into finer particles of a material, as small as a low micron or even nano-size range even. Now, there are several kinds of milling methods, and they are suitable for different kinds of particles under various conditions.
Mechanical milling, also known as comminution, includes various kinds of mills, such as hammer mills, jet mills, ball mills, and roller mills. Hammer milling refers to crushing particles using hammers attached to a shaft. This one is ideal for hard products such as hot melt extrudes and polymer-based pharma formulations.
Balls mills use a large-sized steel or ceramic balls to grind the materials while rotating within a drum. Jet mills, on the other hand, use high-speed air or steam to create a high-velocity impact, which helps reduce the size of particles.
Dry particle size reduction also involves processes such as air classification, where the smaller particles are classified by size. This involves passing the material through a stream of air that separates the finer particles from the larger ones based on their aerodynamic properties. While the finer particles are moved for the next step, the coarser ones may be sent for another round of milling.
The idea behind dry particle size reduction is to create a powder with a more uniform and smaller particle size, which is important for applications like improving the dissolution rate of drugs and enhancing chemical reactivity. At the same time, dry particle size reduction in pharma also optimises manufacturing processes by ensuring an efficient process where every step ensures better chemical formulation.
Quadro Conical mills
The brand Quadro introduced its first original conical mill, Comil®, in 1976. In the last four, close to five decades, Quadro has become a trusted partner of the world’s leading pharmaceutical, food and chemical processing companies. The brand’s one-size reduction Quadro ® Comil® equipment is known for their performance and efficiency.
Quadro Lab Comils® size reduction mills are designed to be robust, offering performance for years. The mills are made with materials which do not contaminate the processed compounds, ensuring the safety of the final product. The best part about Quadro is that it offers customised solutions for every customer. Be it particle size reduction, sieving, or deagglomeration, there is a perfect solution for every requirement.
Quadro® equipment effectively deagglomerates, pumps, and separates materials without excessive heat buildup or screen blockage, ensuring the preservation of fragile products and maintaining consistent particle size. The equipment is perfect for size reduction and deagglomeration of powders and granules, achieving particle sizes as fine as 180µm (80 mesh). The equipment is designed to generate less dust and heat compared to other milling methods.
Quadro’s L4 series Conical Mill portfolio has been introduced to primarily help Pharmaceutical companies to replace conventional multi mills. They are designed for higher output, PSD reproducibility from batch to batch, more yield and reduced number of passes. L4 series cone mills bring all the benefits of Quadro at an affordable price, helping pharma companies replace inefficient multi-mill and oscillating granulator technology.
To know more about Quadro’s particle processing and size reduction equipment, check out this website –
https://www.idexindia.in/quadro-powder-processing/ 
