GRANULATION PROCESS MONITORING BY ELECTRICAL CAPACITANCE TOMOGRAPHY
Granulation is a complicated process, in which process and product variables affect each other in a cross-correlated way, which makes the operation difficult to control and predict. For example, granule size distribution and moisture content are key product parameters in granulation. It is necessary to monitor the moisture distribution in granulators, hydrodynamics of the fluidized bed and the toroidal motion of the powder in the case of high shear mixers.
We focus on development of electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) based in-line measurement method for high-shear granulation process. ECT is a noninvasive in-line measurement method. It is fast and it provides 3D information from the whole process under investigation.
Granulation process monitoring by Electrical Capacitance Tomography aims at:
- increased basic knowledge on flow behaviour of wet agglomerates and the effect of flow patterns on agglomeration.
- a supplementary method for validating computer based modelling of granulation process, thus providing a platform for more integrated research.
|
