Mathematical modelling and simulation of a spray fluidized bed granulator

Gurmeet Kaur, Mehakpreet Singh, Jitendra Kumar, Thomas De Beer, Ingmar Nopens

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

In this present work, a study of the modelling and simulation for a top-sprayed fluidized bed granulator (SFBG) is presented, which is substantially used by the pharmaceutical industry to prepare granules. The idea is to build a number-based mathematical model using the notion of population balances by dividing a top SFBG into two different zones, namely the wet zone and dry zone. To solve a two-compartment model, an existing accurate and efficient finite volume scheme is implemented. In order to validate the compartmental model, a new class of analytical moments is derived corresponding to various combinations of aggregation and breakage kernels. To verify the accuracy of a modified finite volume scheme, the zeroth and first order moments computed using the finite volume scheme are compared with the newly-derived analytical results. Moreover, the stability of the compartmental model and the numerical scheme is tested by varying the size of the wet zone. It is also shown that the relative errors in both order moments increase with the increase in the size of the wet zone.

Original languageEnglish
Article number195
JournalProcesses
Volume6
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2018

Keywords

  • Agglomeration
  • Breakage
  • Compartmental modelling
  • Finite volume scheme
  • Population balance equation
  • Sprayed fluidized bed granulation

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