Could Granule Morphology be the Key to Understanding Breakage Behavior?

Granulation is a common unit operation used across a variety of industries to combine fine particles into larger agglomerates for improved handling, flowability, and content uniformity. These agglomerates are most routinely characterized by their size and size distribution. However, granule morphology is also a critical quality attribute that can influence further processing, such as packing and dissolution. The mechanisms by which a single granule is formed via drop impact on powder beds have been previously identified and linked to different granule shapes. Due to the varying granule strengths observed in handling these granules, it is hypothesized that granule shape may be a predictor of breakage behavior. This talk will highlight what we know about granule shape, and will provide a starting point for determining the relationship between granule shape and breakage behavior.