Wet granulation of cohesive powders : Rheology, growth mechanisms and granule strength ; Granulation humide des poudres cohésives : rhéologie, mécanismes de croissance et tenue mécanique des granules

This study is dedicated to the understanding of the wet granulation process in high shear mixers. A systematic study has been carried out that allows the investigation of the influence of operating conditions, technology and physico-chemical properties of the starting materials. This investigation is achieved by morphological, rheological and mechanical characterization methods. By linking recorded torque curves during the granulation process to granule growth kinetics, microscope characterizations and to the end-granule properties granulation outcome prediction becomes possible. The characterization of the mechanical properties has been done at two scales: at the granule bed scale the bulk wet mass consistency has been determined on a mixer torque rheometer, at the granule scale single dry granule direct compression tests were carried out. This approach gives complementary information allowing better description of the torque curves directly related to the wet mass properties and the competition between static and viscous forces conditioning the dry end granule quality. The factors investigated in this study are: the effect of fill ratio, impeller speed, chopper presence and design, mixer design, binder physico-chemical properties and formulation properties for binary water-soluble / water insoluble powder mixtures. ; Cette étude est dédiée à la compréhension du processus de granulation humide en mélangeurs à haut taux de cisaillement. Une étude systémique et méthodologique a été menée permettant l'investigation de l'influence des paramètres opératoires, de la technologie employée et des propriétés physico-chimiques des matières premières. Cette investigation est réalisé a travers des techniques de caractérisation morphologiques, rhéologiques et mécaniques. En reliant les courbes de couple enregistrés lors de la granulation humide à la cinétique de croissance des granules, aux caractérisations microscopiques et aux propriétés mécaniques des granules la prédiction du comportement lors de la granulation devient ...