PHR311

Pharmaceutical Engineering-I

MIXING-I
Zaki Farhad Habib, MSc

With much appreciated help from Professor Sohel Rana

Pharmaceutical Mixing
Mixing is probably the most widely performed unit
operation in pharmaceutical manufacturing, in
fact, it is difficult to find a product where mixing is
not involved in some stage of process.
Mixing may be define as an unit operation in
which two or more components in a separate or
roughly mixed condition are treated so that each
particle lies as nearly as possible in contact with a
particle of each of the other components.
If this can be achieved it produces a theoretical
ideal situation i.e. a perfect mix.
2

Objective of mixing
The objective of mixing may be broadly classified as
follows:

1. Simple physical mixture:

This may be simply the production of a blend of two or
more miscible liquids or two or more uniformly
divided solids.
In pharmaceutical practice, the degree of mixing
must commonly be of a high order, as many such
mixtures are dilutions of a potent substance so
consistent dosage must be ensured.
3

2. Physical change
Mixing may aim at producing a change that is
physical as distinct from chemical, for example
the solution of a soluble substance.
In such cases, a lower efficiency of mixing
will often be acceptable because the mixing
merely accelerates a process that could occur
by diffusion, without agitation.

3. Dispersion This includes the dispersion of two

immiscible liquids to form an emulsion or the
dispersion of a solid in a liquid to give a
suspension or paste. Usually good mixing is
required to ensure stability.

4. Promotion of reaction
Mixing will usually encourage ( and control at
the same time ) a chemical reaction, so
ensuring uniform products.

E.g. Products or process where accurate

adjustment to pH is required and the degree
of mixing will depend on the process.

Types of mixtures
Mixtures may be categorized into three types that
differ fundamentally in their behavior:

1.Positive mixtures:
Positive mixtures are formed from materials such as
gases or miscible liquids which mix spontaneously
and irreversibly by diffusion without the expenditure
of work/energy provided time is unlimited.
In general such materials do not present any
problems in mixing.

2.Negative mixtures
With negative mixtures, the components tend
to separate out. If this occurs quickly, then
energy must be continuously input to keep the
components adequately dispersed.
Suspensions of solids in liquids are examples of negative
mixtures that require work for their formulation and
the components of which separate unless work is
continually expended on them.
Negative mixtures are more difficult to form and a
higher degree of mixing efficiency is required.
8

3.Neutral mixtures
Neutral mixtures are static in their behavior,
the components having no tendency to mix
spontaneously nor do they segregate when
mixed. Examples: pastes, ointments and mixed
powders.

10

SOLID-SOLID MIXING
INTRODUCTION:
Solid-solid mixing is a unit operation in particulate processes
where consistency and homogeneity of the product is a key
requirement.
Mixtures are seen in all different phase of processing, ranging from
the mixture of raw materials to the final formulation of product.
The quality of mixing is often key to product performance

11

Fundamentals and Importance of solidsolid mixing:

Solid-solid mixing is essential to many industries
including ceramics, chemicals, food, cosmetics, coal, plastics
and pharmaceuticals.

12

Mixing Mechanism
It has been generally accepted that solids mixing
proceeds by a combination of one or more
mechanisms. Some mechanisms are as follows:
Convective Mixing
Shear Mixing
Diffusive Mixing

13

14

15

particles smaller than

100 m are generally
cohesive while larger
than that are
generally free-flowing

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

Selection of machine:
It is very important task for a pharmaceutical engineer to
choose the appropriate machine for the best
production. The selection of machine may be different
depending upon the various aspects.
For example,
If the mixing ingredients are in sticky or plastic state,
the ribbon blender machine will be the best solution.
While, free flowing powder which requires low shearing
force may be mixed by the double cone blender. It is
also suitable for the large volume of production and
uniform mixing.

34

 The zigzag blender, an extension of twin shell blender provides

efficient continuous precision blending.
Some machines are capable of mixing in a large range i.e. 50g
(laboratory purpose) to 100kg (industrial purpose) e.g. double
cone blender.
Twin shell blender is also time saving machine.
In another aspect, among all the machines, double cone
machines are easy for cleaning, charging and discharging.
So above all we can say that individually all machines are useful
for the mixing of solids but the selection of machine should be
dependent upon the procedure, properties of the solids,
economic factors etc.

35

THANK YOU

36