Online pharmaceutical granule moisture distribution measurement and feedback control of fluidised bed dryers
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Abstract
Fluidised bed dryers in the pharmaceutical industry are currently operated by trial-and-error because of the lack of means for online measurement of granule moisture. This proposed project is to follow a current EPSRC project Product quality control of fluidised bed dryers with tomographic imaging and online process modelling (GR/S14726/01). While we have made good progress on fundamental understanding of the complicated fluidisation processes and online measurement of granule moisture and also our research results have attracted considerable interest from industry, it is necessary to bridge the gap between the current funding and future commercial funding. The aim of this proposed Follow-on project is to meet this need by scaling up from a lab scale dryer to semi-industrial scale dryers, re-engineering electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) sensors and demonstrating the principle of online measurement of granule moisture and feedback control of semi-industrial scale fluidised bed dryers in an industrial lab environment. The success of this project will advance the technology to a stronger position to attract commercial interest and further commercial seed funding, helping the UK fluidised bed dryer manufacturing industry and the UK pharmaceutical industry to increase their competitiveness in the world. As a key collaborator, GEA Process Engineering (NPS) Ltd will provide strong support to the project by providing semi-industrial scale facilities, re-engineering sensors and giving technical and market advice. Sherwood Scientific Ltd, Sensatech Research Ltd and DuPont will also support the project as industrial partners and have expressed their interest in commercialisation. The University of Manchester Intellectual Property (UMIP) Ltd has filed a UK Patent (GB0717080.6) to protect the outputs of the current project, has managed the commercial aspect of the current EPSRC project, and has included this proposed project in their active project portfolio. It is anticipated that by demonstrating this patented technology on semi-industrial scale fluidised bed dryers, a number of other applications would open up in other industries, e.g. the food, marine, power and process industries.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Wuqiang Yang (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Ge R
(2014)
Measurement of particle concentration in a Wurster fluidized bed by electrical capacitance tomography sensors
in AIChE Journal
Jiamin Ye
(2015)
Image Reconstruction for Electrical Capacitance Tomography Based on Sparse Representation
in IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement
Peng L
(2011)
Evaluation of effect of number of electrodes in ECT sensors on image quality
in IEEE Sensors Journal
Qiu G
(2014)
Investigation of flow hydrodynamics and regime transition in a gas-solids fluidized bed with different riser diameters
in Chemical Engineering Science
Ren Z
(2015)
A Miniature Two-Plate Electrical Capacitance Tomography Sensor
in IEEE Sensors Journal
Rezvanpour A
(2012)
Investigation of droplet distribution in electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) using an ac-based electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) system with an internal-external electrode sensor
in Measurement Science and Technology
Sun J
(2013)
Fringe effect of electrical capacitance and resistance tomography sensors
in Measurement Science and Technology
Sun J
(2014)
Evaluation of fringe effect of electrical resistance tomography sensor
in Measurement
Sun J
(2015)
3D imaging with single-plane electrical capacitance tomography sensor
in Electronics Letters
| Description | The aim of this project was to demonstrate the principle of online moisture measurement on semi-scale fluidised bed dryers using ECT with and to scale up application of ECT from a lab-scale fluidised bed to a pilot-scale fluidised bed. To verify the developed technique, ECT sensors have been designed for several fluidised beds and tested in GEA Pharma Systems Ltd in Eastleigh, DuPont in Wilmington (USA) and GEA Technology Center in Bubendorf (Switzerland). Test results from drying, granulation a |
| Exploitation Route | Further funding to support collaboration with GEA and AstraZeneca to make a commercial product. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Energy,Environment,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| URL | http://www.eee.manchester.ac.uk/industry/collaborativeprojectswithindustry/visualisationofpharmaceuticalfluidisedbeds/ |
| Description | Our findings have been used in Chinese Academy of Sciences for clean coal combustion, which is important to reduce pollution to the environment. |
| Sector | Energy,Environment |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Title | METHODS AND APPARATUS RELATING TO FLUIDISED BEDS |
| Description | A method and apparatus for producing particle density map images of fluidised particles by electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) in a fluidised bed apparatus allows for measuring online the liquid content of fluidised particles during the fluidisation process and for recalibration of the fluidised particle permittivity during fluidisation, allowing for online recalibration of an ECT system when the liquid content of particles changes, such as for fluidised bed drying or granulation processes. Recalibration measurements are made using reference electrodes positioned to measure the capacitance of the densely fluidised particles near the side walls of the fluidised bed. The electrodes of an ECT sensor array may be used to make the recalibration measurements which can be used to provide online liquid content measurement, such as moisture content, for the fluidised particles without stopping fluidisation. The liquid content information may be used for process control. The method may also be used to provide separate images for solids distribution and for total liquid distribution across a plane being imaged. |
| IP Reference | WO2009030876 |
| Protection | Patent granted |
| Year Protection Granted | 2009 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | As a result of continuous support from EPSRC, this patent (WO/2009/030876) has been filed by UMIP and licensed to GEA. It covers EU, USA, Australia, China and India. Fluidised beds are commonly used in the pharmaceutical industry. However, they are operated by trial-and-error because of the lack of online tools to measure the process. This patent details how to measure the moisture of particles and the moisture distribution in a fluidised bed by electrical capacitance tomography. The invented ap |