DISCRETE ELEMENT MODELING (DEM) PARAMETRIC STUDY OF FEEDER UNIT IN CONTINUOUS PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

In order to improve predictability and control for Continuous Pharmaceutical manufacturing (CM) unit operations, the powder material properties need to be considered in relation to the process parameters. In this article, the authors aim to explore this relation in detail for the feeder unit using discrete element methodology (DEM) where 8 different DEM material properties are studied for their effects on feeder behavior. Definitive Screening Design (DSD) is selected for design of experiments (DOE) to ensure estimation of main and interaction effects while maintaining low number of runs, given the high computational cost for DEM simulations. The important main effects and their interactions as well as a response surface model for the feeder unit can be evaluated leading to an overall relation between DEM material properties and feeder model parameters. The results provide detailed insights into the effects of material properties in feeder unit operation and help improve the predictability of the continuous manufacturing line.