Modeling of Power-Blending Using Real-Time NIR Data

Powder blending is one of the most widely used unit operation in the pharmaceutical manufacturing, but it is also the least understood unit operation. The main objective of this poster is to present the mathematical model and to discuss its application to predict the number of rotations necessary to achieve an acceptably low RSD using real-time component concentration data. Real-time data to develop the model was obtained using on-line NIR spectrophotometer attached to the blender. Component concentration data obtained as a function of blender rotations during the blending operation was used to determine the model parameter fraction mixed, and determine the minimum number of revolutions necessary to achieve a uniform blend. A good agreement was observed between the calculated and measured rotations to achieve the content uniformity during the blending operation. This model can be used as a predictive tool to quantify the powder blending upon scale-up