Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/238663
f-Schulmanart_26-29_Masters 12/30/13 2:06 PM Page 26 Tablets & Capsules 26 January 2014 granulation Vic Shulman Darvic Consulting Courtesy of Freund-Vector, Marion, IA The ABCs of roller compaction Some people swear by wet granulation in high-shear mixers. Others prefer to spray-dry liquid suspensions into granules. But the most straight-forward granulation method uses a roller compactor and no liquids. This article summarizes roller compaction and cites its advantages. T here is a school of thought in the pharmaceutical industry, and even perhaps in the dietary-supplement industry, that wet granulation is the best method to prepare a formulation before it reaches the tablet press or capsule filler. While it's true that spray-granulating large batches using a dedicated fluid-bed processor is a viable and cost-effective method, most other wet granulation methods fall short. Indeed, wet-granulating in a high-shear mixer and traydrying the mixture in an oven are fraught with problems. Among them: defining the endpoint in the mixer, patchy drying in the oven, and difficulty cleaning the equipment. In fact, it was because of these problems—I've been the victim of too many wet-granulation failures—that I first began exploring roller compaction. Some of my failures stemmed from insufficient or variable drying due to changes in atmospheric humidity between seasons. Others stemmed from the difficulty of determining and