Pharmaceutical Design Feeders

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Coperion K-Tron

Hygienic feeding of bulk materials in nutraceutical & pharmaceutical applications

Coperion K-Tron can provide single source solutions for all your feeding and conveying needs in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries. The complete Coperion K-Tron line of pharmaceutical equipment is engineered to meet the rigid requirements of the industry, including strict adherence to cGMP guidelines and standards, as well as the use of FDA approved materials of construction. Our Coperion K-Tron pharmaceutical design feeders are easily disassembled. All units are specifically designed to meet the cleaning requirements of the end user, including options on complete wash-in-place and rinse-in-place cleaning.

The new Coperion K-Tron K3 line of pharmaceutical feeders feature a modular concept complete with a drastically reduced overall footprint thanks to a new, smaller D4 platform scale. The quick change design allows the easy exchange of feeder types and sizes as well as hoppers or agitators using the same scale & drive for fast adaptation to new processes and formulations while also ensuring easy cleaning and maintenance.

Additional design options available include the ability to provide complete product containment during feeding and product transfer, isolation in glove boxes, and executions suitable for use in hazardous environments according to ATEX and NEC guidelines. Specialty designs are available for cluster feeding and refill of continuous operations, with modifications to allow for complete accessability in areas with tight space limitations, or when integrating into continuous processes such as blending, granulating, or extrusion.

Coperion K-Tron can provide an extensive array of validation documentation including FDS, FAT and SAT-IQ and SAT-OQ protocols for both standalone feeders/conveyors and complete systems. Controls options are available to meet CFR 21 Part 11 compliance. Integration with a variety of communications platforms including Modbus, Allen Bradley, DeviceNet, Profibus, etc. are available.

Features & Benefits

  • Volumetric and gravimetric configurations
  • Feeder configurations available include single or twin screw, vibratory tray, microfeeding as well as liquid loss-in-weight feeders
  • All product contact surfaces are made of stainless steel
  • Material certification and surface finish confirmation on product contact surfaces
  • Integrated horizontal agitator to ensure optimal screw fill
  • Gas purging connections for all shaft seals
  • Exclusive Coperion K-Tron Smart Force Transducer (SFT) digital weighing technology with true 1:4,000,000 in 80 ms resolution for optimal accuracy, critical in continuous applications
  • Minimum surface finish on all contact surfaces of 0.8 micron Ra (25 micro inches Ra). Higher surface finishes optional
  • All seals, gaskets and O-rings are constructed of FDA approved materials
  • Modular design
  • State-of-the-art controls

Related Industries

  • Pharmaceutical

Areas of Application

  • Feeding of mills and micronizers for both excipients and APIs
  • Pharma extruder feeders including hot melt and wet granulation extrusion
  • Single and multiple ingredient dispensing and batching, including reactor loading
  • Lubrication of tablet press tooling
  • Feeding of continuous pharmaceutical processes including mixing/blending, wet and dry granulators, coaters, and drying.

K3 Pharmaceutical Feeder Models

Coperion K-Tron pharmaceutical loss-in-weight twin screw feeder
PH-QT20 on a D4 scale

Twin screw feeders are ideal for handling difficult materials such as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), excipients, lubricants and pharmaceutical granulations. Coperion K-Tron offers the PH-QT20 in either volumetric or gravimetric configurations.

Features

  • Reduced footprint
  • 2-degree pitch for improved WIP drainage
  • Quick Change design for flexible ingredient changeover
  • Single drive for complete feeding range

Feed Rates

   Twin concave screws Twin auger screws
Min. Max. Min. Max.
coarse - dm3/h 0.34 170 0.47 243
coarse - ft3/h 0.012 6 0.017 8.58
fine - dm3/h 0.2 94.6 0.13 60
fine - ft3/h 0.007 3.34 0.005 2.12

Materials of construction: product contact parts stainless steel, DIN 1.4404/1.4435 (AISI 316L)

Surface roughness: product contact parts Ra 0.4 micron, non-product contact parts at least Ra 1.2 micron

Hazardous location options (ATEX, NEC) available.

For more information on the new design see our flyer.

Download Product Specification Sheet for product details.

Download the Product Specification Sheets

Coperion K-Tron pharmaceutical loss-in-weight twin screw feeder
PH-QT35 on a D4 scale

Twin screw feeders are ideal for handling difficult materials such as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), excipients, lubricants and pharmaceutical granulations. Coperion K-Tron offers the PH-QT35 in either volumetric or gravimetric configurations.

Features

  • Reduced footprint
  • 2-degree pitch for improved WIP drainage
  • Quick Change design for flexible ingredient changeover
  • Single drive for complete feeding range

Feed Rates

   Twin concave screws Twin auger screws
Min. Max. Min. Max.
coarse - dm3/h 2.5 1386 4.4 2012
coarse - ft3/h 0.09 48.9 0.16 71.1
fine - dm3/h 1.63 791 2.2 1007
fine - ft3/h 0.06 27.9 0.08 35.6

Materials of construction: product contact parts stainless steel, DIN 1.4404/1.4435 (AISI 316L)

Surface roughness: product contact parts Ra 0.4 micron, non-product contact parts at least Ra 1.2 micron

Hazardous location options (ATEX, NEC) available.

For more information on the new design see our flyer.

Download Product Specification Sheet for product details.

Download the Product Specification Sheets

Additional Pharmaceutical Feeder Options

12 mm Micro Screw Feeder with protective enclosure

Coperion K-Tron’s family of twin screw microfeeders has been specially designed to provide maximum accuracy at minimal feed rates, which makes these feeders ideal for use in the pharmaceutical processing industry. Unique design features ensure that high value ingredients are fed accurately at rates as low as 32 g/h with minimal residual material left in the feeder.

For more information visit the Micro Screw Feeders page.

Pharma design liquid Loss-in-weight feeder on skid

Coperion K-Tron’s liquid loss-in-weight feeders provide accurate continuous volumetric or gravimetric flow control of liquids. The highly accurate gravimetric units combine the pump and tank with a suspension scale or platform scale; the feed pump for metering the material is located outside the scale area.

For more information go to the Liquid Feeders page.

Coperion K-Tron pharmaceutical loss-in-weight vibratory feeder

Vibratory feeders are ideal for gentle handling of a wide range of bulk solid materials, especially fragile ingredients and problem materials such as finished tablets and capsules. The Coperion K-Tron K3 line of vibratory feeders features improved high accuracy thanks to innovative patent-pending drive technology. The K3 vibratory feeders have a modular design and are available in both a hygienic easy clean design and a specialized pharmaceutical version.

For more information visit the Vibratory Feeders page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is best feeder configuration for difficult flowing pharmaceutical powders?

Due to the cohesive nature of most excipients and API's, the twin screw configuration is best suited to difficult flowig powders. The self-wiping effect of the twin screws avoids the buildup issues and inconsistent flow typical when using single screw designs. In addition, for extremely difficult powders which might have a tendency to bridge or rathole, Coperion K-Tron can also provide the innovative ActiFlowTM Bulk Solids Activator device to ensure consistent screw fill and optimal accuracy.

For cases where the feeders may be susceptible to back pressures or vacuum from the processes below, our newest technical innovation is available: electronic pressure compensation (EPC).  This package is deal when feeding into continuous or semi continuous processes such as mixers, mills/micronizers or extruders, for optimal accuracy in feeding.

To find out more, download our FAQ sheet in the downloads section below.

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Coperion K-Tron K3 pharmaceutical design feeders

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