Other Processes and Applications

Because of the different technologies incorporated into a single-pot processor, it is capable of executing many different processes, apart from the standard wet granulation and drying process, while small modifications or additional options can extend the flexibility even further. 

This chapter discusses some of the possible special processes and applications in a single-pot processor. Although many of these processes are used in the pharmaceutical industry, scientific literature on them is rare. The main reason for this is that many of these processes were developed by the pharmaceutical industry as product-specific solutions. This does not imply, however, that these processes cannot be used more widely. 

Melt granulation is a process in whieh the binder solution of the standard wet granulation proeess is replaeed with a meltable binder such as a wax or polyethylene glycol (PEG), which is generally added in solid form, and melted during the process by adding the necessary energy. 

The most common production technique for melt granulation uses extruders, but melt granulation in a high-shear mixer has also been extensively described in the literature. 

In this process, the necessary energy to melt the binder is provided either by the mixer arm (mainly in laboratory-scale equipment) or by a heated jacket (14-16). 

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