(571g) Evaluation of Microcrystalline Cellulose Powder Flowability with Varying Particle Properties and Moisture Content

Understanding particulate flow is crucial to the design and development of solids handling in industries from foods to pharmaceuticals. The relationship between particle properties (micro-scale), bulk particle flow (meso-scale), and for a broad range of powders is not well established due to the complexity of solids systems.

This work experimentally investigates the effects of particle size and moisture content on the flowability of micro-crystalline cellulose (MCC). The raw MCC was sieved into varying size fractions based on the mesh size ranges of 0-25 µm, 25-45 µm, 45-63 µm, 63-90 µm, and 0-90 µm. Particles in each size fraction were characterized by optical microscopy via a Malvern Morophologi G3SE Particle Analyzer for their and shape descriptors. Using a Freeman FT4 Powder Rheometer, bulk powder properties to characterize flowability were found, including basic flowable energy, compressibility, flow function coefficient, etc. Moisture content was varied via the addition of deionized water in amounts from 0% to 50% by total weight. Particle size, shape, and moisture content were correlated with the FT4 flowability results. This is the first study, to our knowledge, to quantify the effects of particle shape, size, and moisture content on the flowability of powders.