What is extrusion Spheronization?

Extrusion spheronization is a multiple process of wet mass extrusion followed by spheronization to produce uniform size spherical particles, called as spheroids, pellets, beads or matrix pellets depending upon the material as well as process used for extrusion spheronization1.

What does Spheronization mean?

Spheronization is the process where extrudates (the output from an extruder) are shaped into small rounded or spherical granules. In practice these usually vary in size from 0.4 to about 3.0 mm. The use of these spheroids can be relevant for a wide variety of industries.

Why is Spheronizer used?

To improve the hardness and friability of granules Spheronization increases the hardness and reduces the friability of the materials being treated. This will reduce the amount of fines or dust during transportation or subsequent handling.

Is the process where the extrudate is broken up into smaller cylinders with a length equal to their diameter and these plastic cylinders are round due to frictional forces?

During the third phase of extrusion spheronization process the extrudates dumped on to the spinning plate of the spheroniser, call the friction plate, where the extrudate broken up into smaller cylinders with a length equal to their diameter, those plastic cylinders rounded due to frictional forces.

What is a Marumerizer?

The Marumerizer™ spheronizer from LCI converts wet pellets into spheres of your desired size, ranging from 0.5mm to 10.0mm in diameter.

What is hot melt extrusion technology?

Hot melt extrusion (HME) is the process of applying heat and pressure to melt a polymer and forcing it through an orifice in a continuous process. HME is well-known, developed to produce polymer products of uniform shape and density, and its industrial application dates back to the 1930s1.

What is extrusion process in plastics?

Plastics extrusion is a high-volume manufacturing process in which raw plastic is melted and formed into a continuous profile. The material is gradually melted by the mechanical energy generated by turning screws and by heaters arranged along the barrel.

How does the extrusion process work?

Plastic extrusion works by melting, processing and re-melting a type of plastic referred to as thermoplastic resins. The resins generally come in a bead or pellet form which allows them to be used in the extrusion machinery. The auger turns and this cause the beads to move forward there the heat melts them.

Why is extrusion used?

Extrusion is a technique where molten polymer is forced through a die and is used to produce components of a fixed cross-sectional area such as tubes and rods.

What are problems of granulation?

Nevertheless, granulation poses numerous challenges due to high quality requirement of the formed granules in terms of content uniformity and physicochemical properties such as granule size, bulk density, porosity, hardness, moisture, compressibility, etc. together with physical and chemical stability of the drug.