Coating-Technology Turbo-Charging the Coating Process

Related Vendors

Glatt GmbH

DÜPERTHAL Sicherheitstechnik GmbH & Co. KG

Glatt Ingenieurtechnik GmbH

TRM Filter d.o.o.

Featuring a range of finely tuned enhancements, a new drum coater speeds up the coating process by 30 percent — The proven GCC range now has an equal in terms of process technology: the GCSmart, which is designed to make the coating process significantly faster. An optimized nozzle arm and consistent air guidance with reduced turbulence promote reproducibility, even with minimal charging, while a WIP automatic system, integrated exhaust air chamber, and automatic discharging simplify handling for the user.

When tablets, capsules, or pellets emerge from the coating process, they need to be smooth, uniform, taste masked and with a defined degree of solubility. Not only that, but the results need to be reproducible and the process time short. A true classic, the drum coating method used in the production of solid materials is absolutely indispensable and represents the procedure of choice for coatings containing sugar, those with aqueous and organic solvents, and coatings with a delayed release.

A workhorse for OSD production

Three Experts — Three Questions — Three Answers

? What pharmaceutical production requirements is Glatt meeting with the GCSmart series?

Bernd Looser: Our customers expect a high level of production availability. To meet this requirement, we focused on producing a reliable design that would result in minimal contamination and enable rapid cleaning. Combined with the extremely short processing times, which are achieved through high spray rates, this makes it possible to reduce costs per tablet significantly.

? How do these requirements differ from those that the GCC series is designed to meet?

Kevin Haugg: Both coaters are intended to fulfill similar needs, which is why they feature the same process technology. The GCC can also be operated under full containment conditions. We were able to achieve this through a compact design, closed charging and discharging, closed sample taking, and a CIP-capable cleaning concept. The automatic spray arm adjustment makes it possible to perform reproducible and efficient processes without the need for manual intervention.

? How do the advancements in the GCSmart fit into the product philosophy that Glatt pursues when developing its coaters?

Sebastian Klipfel: As with our other coaters, we focused on high quality, easy handling, and extremely easy cleaning while developing the GCSmart. The GCSmart system is designed to be flexibly adjusted to meet the individual requirements of our customers all around the world. Through continuous innovations in the form of our patented exhaust air chamber and the enhanced discharging process, for example, we have created the world’s fastest coating technology.

High Degree of Production Availability

Around 40 years ago, Glatt developed the very first coater of this type with a fully perforated drum. Now, its experts have revised the proven GCSmart and made a range of finely tuned adjustments to increase the coating speed and productivity even further. The air guidance system and handling in particular have been improved considerably. The changes were made in response to demands from the pharmaceutical industry for quick and reproducible processes, says Bernd Looser, Head of New Technologies at the Innovation Center. “Our customers see the GCS as a real workhorse on the market, with a high degree of production availability,” he explains.

The GCC’s little brother was always fast, but since the improvements to its process technology, the system can now achieve a coating time of just one hour from charging to coating and discharging. The process technology featured in the two coater series are now on an equal footing: The design size, drum geometry, mixing elements, number and type of nozzles, as well as the air guidance and available air flow are the same for both machine types, meaning that they can both be operated using the same process parameters.

Integrated exhaust air chamber

The Glatt developers invested a great deal of time in completely overhauling the coater’s air guidance system (inlet and exhaust air). One of the goals was to simplify cleaning and inspection by removing the need for time-consuming processes — for instance, by integrating an exhaust air chamber in the coater housing. The distance between the spray arm and the tablet bed can be varied, and the angles of the spray arm itself can be manually adjusted across five axes based on the degree of charging, meaning that the spray nozzles are always positioned at exactly the right distance from the tablet bed. This means that the degree of charging can be varied between 100 and ten percent. A guide plate can also be used for filling volumes of less than 30 percent to ensure that the air guidance perfectly matches to the filling level.

“The guide plate ensures that the drying air is drawn through the tablet bed exactly as required and doesn’t simply leave the processing chamber without being used,” explains Head of Marketing Axel Friese. The trapezoidal discharge channel is also a new feature. It is now firmly integrated in the housing, meaning that the tablets are transported to the collection hopper quickly and gently. All of these features demonstrate the work the developers have done to improve a whole range of aspects, making it possible to significantly reduce processing times even further.

* Contact Glatt: Phone +49-7621-664-145

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