Lactose powder mixer machine for capsules, tablets, dry powder inhalations & formulations
Lactose and its specifications
Lactose is a naturally occurring simple carbohydrate, or sugar, found only in the milk of mammals. For this reason, it is also commonly referred to as “milk sugar.” All commercial lactose is obtained from the milk of cows as a by-product of the dairy industry. Chemically, lactose is the disaccharide of the simple sugars D-galactose and D-glucose. In other words, the lactose molecule comprises one molecule of D-galactose chemically linked to one molecule of D-glucose. Lactose exists in two isomeric forms, known as alpha and beta (designated a-lactose and b-lactose).
Usage and applications of lactose powder
Pharmaceutical-grade lactose is highly pure lactose specifically produced to meet the standards of identity and purity set down in the lactose monographs of the various pharmacopoeia, including the International Pharmacopoeia/National Formulary. Lactose is widely used as a filler or diluent in tablets and capsules and to a more limited extent in lyophilized products, infant feed formulas, and a diluent in dry powder inhalations.
Mixing and testing procedure of lactose powder based materials
Lactose powder mixing is one of the most common unit operations in industries handling powders homogeneously. However, due to a lack of scientific knowledge of the behavior of powders inside a mixer, the optimization of a powder mixing step typically involves experimental lab work in order to be transposed to a larger scale. To simplify this huge task, improving our understanding of mixing dynamics remains one of the main industrial issues. However, the homogeneous mixing dynamics of an easy flowing powder made of lactose happen to have been studied & proven in the Alphie 3D mixer.
Looking at the process parameters – based on the analysis of mixing kinetics and auto-correlation functions – we focused on defining the mixing modes and also sought to identify the main mixing and segregation mechanisms at play for each mode. This is a first step towards the definition of the scale-up laws. The ultimate Alphie desire is to design & manufacture 3D mixer models for obtaining the desired quality of mixing according to powder characteristics, flow properties and industrial constraints.
Alphie is already a proven homogeneous mixer for mixing lactose with other powders. Essentially, Alphie functions on the kinematic principle – also referred to as 3D / Three-dimensional mixing technology. We welcome further discussions on the Alphie lactose powder mixer machine vis-a-vis your own specific requirements.
Leave a Reply