MATHEMATICAL-MODEL IN THE KINETICS OF AGITATION FLUIDIZED-BED GRANULATION - EFFECTS OF MOISTURE-CONTENT, DAMPING SPEED AND OPERATION TIME ON GRANULE GROWTH-RATE

A population balance equation, in which moisture content was taken int o consideration for the coalescence probability of two colliding granu les, was proposed to investigate the kinetics of granule growth in agi tation fluidized bed granulation. The effects of operating variables s uch as moisture content, damping speed and operation time on the granu le growth and its rate were numerically examined. It was found that th e theoretical results intrinsically revealed these effects on granule size, size distribution and granule growth rate. The theory also showe d good agreement with the experimental granulation data for pharmaceut ical powders. As a result, the granule growth mechanism in agitation f luidized bed granulation was elucidated in detail.