Features of Roller Compactors

Certainly, a key enhancement that highlights today s pharmaceutical industry state-of-the-art roller compactors is programmable logic controllers (PLCs). They are used to control and monitor mechanical parts that regulate screw feed rate, roll speed, pressure and gap, vacuum deaeration, and mill speed. This section will not discuss PLC designs. 

A history of hopper and feed screw designs showed that each design evolved to facilitate and improve powder flow to the compactor feed screw conveyance system. Feed hopper designs shown in Roller Compaction Technology for the Pharmaceutical Industry depict designs used in older compactor models (23). Dehont et al. described the powder compaction feeding systems that were in use up to 1989 (24). 

Sizing devices are now trimly fitted to the compactor body and controlled by variable speed drives. Most compacters no longer require a separate milling machine in tandem to size compacts as required by slugging technology. Roller compactors have clean-in-place systems that offer environmental and safety features. These systems minimize human exposure to chemicals. See Roller Compaction Technology for the Pharmaceutical Industry for additional information (23). 

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