COVER SERIES: POWDER & BULK SOLIDS] DEFINING FEEDER ACCURACY FOR CONTINUOUS PROCESSING At the heart of each operation is the loss-in-weight feeder, sy stare rusk, copsint-tentsh ‘ontinuous processing is manufacturing practice that has been usin he plies, ‘Chemical and food industries for decades “Although primaniy used for ligud pro- cessing the innovations made in dry powder feeder technologies have enabled the use of continuous dry ingredient feeding fora variety of applications Even advances in the traditional batch pharmaceutical industry have paved the wy forwar for implemen tation of continuous processing for tableting The recent US. Food and Drug Administration approvals ‘of drug formations made by cantnuons processes for Vertex and Janssen Pharmaceuticals both using Ccntiuous loss-n-weight (LW) feeder technolo ‘Bes have indicated an ongoing paradigm shi inthis Industry. Processes auch a continuous blending” mix ing continous miling/nicroization, continuous hot mat extrusion, continuous wet extrusion or ranula tion, andeontinuos coating are jus a ew examples of the processes used by many industries Atte heart of ach ofthese continuous processes ise LIW feeder “This article defines the tems necessary for accurate feeding and outlines te importat roe that aceuraey ‘an play in the end prot and proces quay of any continuous operation, & definitions of ‘continuous processing During bate processing, each rawe material and active ingrecent must beaded in the right amounts (and sometimes nthe right order, following process Ing instructions that ae spelled out bythe overall recipe that goveens the process. Continuous process- ceshave many simulates to batch processes in that ‘the: too, egue al awe materials and active ngre- ‘ents toa dosed into the proces the night amount. atthe right ime and in accordance with the govern- ‘ng recipe “However during continions processing the into duction a these materials mist be carried out con tinuously and the inl product is manufactured i ‘continuous stream, notin dserete Batches, Ina co Unuous process, all the equipment componentseat: eo oon 20 Processing | war aor7 tothe required unit operations function as single ‘stm and are designed to operate 24 hours pe da, seven days per week excep during equied mainte: ‘us processing create many cost savings and oper tional efciencies (see Table 1), ‘Although eoatinnous processes were traditionally ‘thought tobe best sited for producing high-volume product, the volition of low-rate, high-acearacy feedees such as the Coperion Kon Miroeeder, (see Image 1 allow for continu processing ingredient ‘tesa low a 0 grams per ho (g/ho). "selon rates are crite to the accrate introduc tion ow percentage ingredients sich as ative phar ‘maceutical ingredients (API) inthe pharmaceutical Industry or high-value avors and additives in the plasties, chemicl and fond industries, Feeders for continuous processing defined — Volumetric or gravimetric? During some continous or semicontinues process operations, wolimetrc feeders and gravimetric feed- ferscan be ined to deliver blk oid nto the process, Alepending on the nature of the materials and the process neds However, to ensize accurate dliecy on Short tmes seals gratimetic feeders ae esenta ‘Volumetric feeders for continuous processing As the name implies, volumetric feeding discharges Aiscrete volumes of material pr unit ie into apo ‘cass These are the simplest feeder option avaiable tem Tash pune oy osprey es bo ype pt trun rerdpmdy gman | siya eto wr aan loarg reas cht ser | eo ees cl chon sc rere saltbush one Sel ss ee Foie in Lage ove naire tocseat sin | Whe) ade owl ep Sra se ibis cpenine sre pipette | contana corpo pose eh feugiat lowes orp th cope Pott gay Tense sage ov ane | Let al dg ne cor on ‘Segous gayi demand | ea-reluntace ore et ours (faa anon pee gy Cori ten rat Sazesie np ananpdn pind | Nighy tg os ona pes ear traacoen nda onse | tehendts tapers ac gee ‘um natin rower | eta en ye esentesia peste nhac | Cian rand ce at ae estes ste coprensty weasel pst a pc say Hite egraeatpsorelan paset | Rnd mirage geet comet Qaehpapsecmanattang | Lime dette ceceanrsl net Proce ie sng ‘wal oc e much ges peor | Sin ces es ps feleatipe ingeiet car mayos | yest cort at ats eer toss rocoray | gad sty hasan tesRefill device ———» Load cells Metering zone And are often used in applications where fed accu racy may not be eical, akin contac or semicon tinous operations such as ling or mieroniaation, I should be noted however, that while they are simple And relatively inexpensive, ao weight information is ‘captured or considered during discharge. As a result. ‘volumetric feeders ae essentially open-loop devices ‘whose final discharge rate is a function of constant feeder sped and is not governed by any ongoing data Feeback om te operation, Sinee these systems cannot detect or adjust to variation in the materials bulk density, the actual amount of material delivered to the process (the ‘mass flow) can vay with time. Tis makes volumetric Ieeders inappropriate for many process applications that hae sgorous accuracy quirements. “Another potential drawback for vlumetrefoders Isthat they cannot deteet (and thus do not alert the ‘operator when the hopper that supplies the feeder has runout of material or when abridge arc or rat- hole may have formed in the hopper intcrupting the How of material (by contrast, gravimetric feeders can detect and alert the operator to these conditions). Thisean. ofcourse drastically fect eotinvous oper- ating performance because material feeding to the process may be reduced, Gravimetric feeders for continuous processing Unlike the volumetric screw feeder, an LW feeder isa ‘gravimetric feeder that directly measures the mater- ffs weight to achieve and maintain a predetermined feed rate tha is measired in units of weight per Lime ‘The bulk material o qui is discharged from ap. ‘er by weighing the mater being fed and regulating the speed ofthe feeding device. The weighing system ‘with control compensates for nonuniform flow char- acteristics and variations in bulk densty and, there- for. provides for ahigh degree of coding accuracy. Gravimetric feeders measure the ow's weight in one fashion or another and then adjust feeder Refill hopper Feeder controller Weight signal Speed I Drive command ‘ontpnt to achieve and maintain the desired setpoint. The LIW feeder (see Fig 1) consists of «hopper, tefl device, weight-sensing device typleally ether ‘digal or analog load cel} fedes (pial a voli- Ietric screw feeder powered by a variable speed ‘motor and controler lore operation an operator programs the on. role to discharge material ata predetermined fed rate (or setpoint) measured in units of weight per time (ueh as pounds per hour). As the feeder ds- charges material, sytem weight declines. The speod ofthe metaring device is contol to esl na per- ‘unlc-tme los of system weight equal othe desired food rate A typieal IW feeder controller adjust the fcderspood to produc a rate of weightloss equal to ‘he desired feed rate setpoint. The most common type of gravimetric feeder device used in continuous processing is the LIW sere feeder, LIW feeding provides broad material handling capability and exedsin fooding wide ange ‘of materials rom low to high rates, With this tecinol- ‘ogy. constant mass lows ened fr consistent predict output fom the process. Not only do LIW feeding systems deliver precise discharge rates they also provide immediate alerts iany interruption occurs of material ow from the storage bin that supplies the feeder Real-time grave metre feeding data supports the feedback loops ‘ede to achieve such sophisticated process coo trol and aceess to real-time and histone data gives ‘operators instantaneods feedback and a wsefl Win dvr into the process, These improved analyties ‘support troubleshooting efforts, allow for statisti fal qualty contol analysis and ean help operators prevent downstream accuracy or quality problems, factors that contebute to aa efficient continuous process. What is feeder accuracy & how does it relate to continuous processing? -Accuracys key to quality inany process that employs sravimetrie feeders to proportion or eontol the low ft bulk solids materials Ever more stringent process- Ingand formulation standards demand a clear under- standing of the aatuce and measurement of feeder performance, Definition of accuracy in feeder performance evaluation To filly define feeder accuracy and resultant p formanee fora batching or continous operation, 1s necessary to address three separate and distinct teas of feeder performance: repeatability, linearity fnd stability Repeatability reports how consistent the feeders discharge rate is at given operating Point. Linearity assetses how accurately the feeder fischarges atthe requested average rate acros its full operatingange. and stability gauges performance at with ume. Repeatability isthe performance statistic most familar to feeder users It quantifies the shor-tem level of eonssteney of discharge rate. Repeatability is Important to quality eesurance because It mea sures the expected variably ofthe discharge stream tnd, hence, of tho product itso 1s impertaat to rote that the repeatability statistic reveals nothing LINEARITY LneaniTy is EXPRESSED AS APERCENTAGE Or sereOnT MEASURED RATE REPEATABILITY MEASURED SAUPLE WEI ss a 3 EXPECTED SAMPLE WEIGHT zr | wwuprocessigmagarinecom 21at all about whether the feeder delivers, on the aver- age, th targeted rate. Repeatability only measures the variability of fw rate. I is th linearity statistic that reports how well the feder delivers the desired average ate thoughout the feeders operating range Perfect linearity is represented by a straight-line ‘correspondence between the setpoint and the ‘actual average feed rate throughout the feeder ‘specified turndown range trom its fale scale operating design pint. A perfectly perform- fing feeder is worth litle fie cannot maintain its performance forthe long haul, Many factors can potentially contribute to performance dit nelud- {ng feeder type contol and weigh system stability. the handling characteristics ‘and variably ofthe mate: rial, the feeders mechanial systoms and maintenance, i the operating environ aout ‘ment sll rit i detect ba by calibration checks 22 Processing | ar aorr and is typically remedied by a simple weight span adjustinent Te relating this topic af accuracy to thefoder types \efined above, for accuracy requiemeatsin the 1105 pereznt range, volumetric Foeders wil usally sic, While gravimetric feeders are used for performances in the25to 1 percent rang. Feeder options to consider when optimizing continuous process In any continuous process that uses feeders to conta ‘or proportion materials. the performance standards required ofthe feeding system begin with the end wer, ‘ith a view toward producing 2 product at minimal cost while it various properties consistently canoer to predetermined reqirements, end ser pec to trance foreach ingredient or material. Feeder ace: ‘cy requirements are then based onthe tolerances set. foreach material. IW feeder performance ao depends 0 to ares that are closely nk + Theaccuracy and speed of weight measurement and the imunity ofthe weighing system to in- Plant vibration and temperature uctuations. + The response ofthe contr algorithm and the valle eats ofthe contol algorithm.Any IW process controller requires accurate. high- speed measurement of material weight changes to provide optimal feeder control and performance, ‘specially ona second-to-econd bass The weighing ‘jst must also iter out eroneous measurements ‘caused by in-plant vibrations or disturbances and Temakn sable with changes in process room or pro= ‘cess materiale "The higher the resolution of weight measurement and the faster those weight measurements ar taken. the beter the information provided to the contol Algorithm and the beter any vibration filtering algo ‘thm wil work Teshould also be noted that tobe sensitive to low mass flow rates, load eels must have an extremely ‘igh esolation, For example typical sale with an fnalog load cel for feeding bulk solids at love mass- ‘ow rates ean have a weighing range of 2 klograms (kg) and a resolution of 1-10-8500. This sale ex Aetect appronimately 500: milligram (mg) weight ‘Typically weight changes per second should be approximately ve tlmes higher than the minimums ‘solution, which seguvalent to 25 g/sce (9k). ‘Whan feadingat this rate, the controller takes 20 s0c- ‘nds to dtoct whether the setpoint i reached within 1 dviation of+/-1 percent. Ifthe mass ow rates Jess than 9 kg/h, detecting improvements of gravi- -nlrie control vrsts volumetric control becomes ‘even more dificult, Therefore, any mast flow rate Jess than 8 kar may not even undergo a significant Jmprosement with geavimetie coato, Conversely typical platform scale with a digital oad ell with a weighing ange of 24 kg and aresolu- tion of 1-to-4 00000 can detect 6m, The iit valve can, therefore, be rece from 9 kg/hr to approxi- ‘mately 108 g/he “This significant for low mass lw ates. sich ax those for low formulation percentage APIs and also farhigh required secand-to-second acaracy. In edd ‘on higher esolation alo esas ia impeoved feeder accaiacy for high mass flow rates, ‘Summary For any eontinuows process to perform a its peak effclency a high accuracy LIW feeder must be used. [UW feading demands thatthe weighing sysem pos se. broad operating range. exceptional linearity. a ‘resolution high enough to accurately discern small ‘changes in total sytem Weight and te high evel of esponsiveness neoded to make these measurements ‘quickly.’ the fy? Measuring, monitoring and maintaining feeder performance begin wi understanding the role that accuracy plays in the overall process and the many Factors that affect i.) ‘Suen Nok swe geal ban dv Ine fr opin nd Copan FT. So we drs obo searovng part dwn wi omens ity ne act nd rane a Ue has ie xtc egy aang ctor an ih cass gba er "poem an rsa aces hr ie porte cane Coperion K-Tron USA uw coperion.com ‘uy zr | wwprcessingmagasne.com