DEM based computational model to predict moisture induced cohesion in pharmaceutical powders

Raj Mukherjee; Chen Mao; Sayantan Chattoraj; Bodhisattwa Chaudhuri

doi:10.1016/j.ijpharm.2017.12.001

DEM based computational model to predict moisture induced cohesion in pharmaceutical powders

Int J Pharm. 2018 Jan 30;536(1):301-309. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2017.12.001. Epub 2017 Dec 5.

Authors

Raj Mukherjee¹, Chen Mao², Sayantan Chattoraj³, Bodhisattwa Chaudhuri⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
² Genentech, South San Francisco, CA, USA.
³ GlaxoSmithKline, Upper Providence, PA, USA.
⁴ Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA; Institute of Material Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA. Electronic address: bodhi.chaudhuri@uconn.edu.

PMID: 29217469
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2017.12.001

Abstract

Pharmaceutical powder flow can alter significantly based on the exposed humidity conditions, and lack of computational models to predict the same may undermine process development, optimization, and scale-up performances. A Discrete Element Model (DEM) is proposed to predict the effects of humidity on pharmaceutical powder flow by altering the cohesive forces based on granular bond numbers in simple hopper geometries. Experiments analogous to the simulations are further performed for three commonly used pharmaceutical excipients at 20%, 40% and 60% RH. The equivalent DEM based bond numbers to predict the powder flow tendencies are in good accordance with the experimental results and can be a useful tool to predict the outcomes of different pharmaceutical processing techniques at various humidity conditions.

Keywords: Cohesion; DEM; Moisture; Powder flow.

MeSH terms

Computer Simulation
Excipients / chemistry
Humidity
Powders / chemistry*
Technology, Pharmaceutical / methods

Substances

Excipients
Powders