The processing and packaging machine supplier Romaco has announced it will be attending this year's Interpack tradeshow, where it will debut its new Maximus 400 tablet coater as well as exhibit its VENTILUS Lab fluid bed processor for laboratory applications.
The highly automated technology offers significant advantages for coating tablets with pharmaceutical ingredients, which often add substantial weight.
This is often the case with combinations of ingredients containing Metformin, which cannot be formulated as bi-layer tablets due to their size. Therefore, the second layer of the formulation is sprayed onto the medicine, making it easier to swallow.
In conventional systems, this process can take longer than 20 hours, during which the tablets continue to increase in weight and size.
Romaco describes its new Maximus 400 tablet coater as having been designed to handle the constantly changing demands of tablet coating processes. It is the first tablet coater to automatically adjust the baffles' geometry and position as the tablet bed volume increases, ensuring uniform spraying.
This automatic control should eliminate the need for manual adjustments, allowing the machine to operate without interruption and saving time while enhancing personnel safety by preventing exposure to high-potency products.
Additionally, the Maximus coater can accommodate batch sizes from 5% to 100% using the same drum.
The new machine also features a fully automated air distribution system that precisely directs air through the tablet bed with adjustable exhaust flaps. It includes Tecpharm's PCA spray arm, which uses radar technology to continuously measure and adjust the distance and spray angle.
Designed with a three-pivot-point mechanism, this ensures efficiency and, for reliability, the machine detects blocked spray nozzles and features a self-cleaning function, balancing product quality, yield and coating duration.
Sustainability
To reduce the carbon footprint of the coating processes — which can be highly energy-intensive — the Maximus 400 can be equipped with an optional energy recovery system (ERS), cutting energy consumption by up to 50%.
This works by a cross-flow heat exchanger in the air handling unit (AHU) recycling energy from the process outlet air back into the coating process.
This technology is ideal for long production cycles with high power demand, making the Maximus 400 efficient, user-friendly and environmentally conscious.
Romaco will also be presenting the VENTILUS Lab fluid bed processor from Innojet at Interpack.
This "exceptionally versatile all-rounder" can be used for granulating, drying and coating particles of any size from 10 µm to 2 mm and is intended for batch sizes from 0.7 to 7.0 litres.
The company said that the VENTILUS Lab can cut batch processing times by up to 25% through an innovative process air distribution system inside the cylindrical product container. The process air is introduced through the circular ORBITER booster, ensuring homogeneous flow conditions and gentle intermixing of the batch.
In combination with a bottom-spray nozzle located in the centre, the booster plate forms a unique functional unit that enables much simpler scale-up processes.
Additionally, users can choose between the tried-and-tested ROTOJET nozzle and the new FLEXIJET, which was specifically developed for granulation processes.
Romaco added that its patented fluid bed components enable accurate application of the spray liquid with precisely defined droplet size and that, with controlled-release formulations, modified release profiles can be achieved using 10 to 15% less material.
This targeted reduction in spray liquid volume also means lower power consumption, thereby substantially reducing CO2 emissions from fluid bed processes.
Moreover, the rotating SEPAJET filter system minimises overall product loss by returning particles retained by the filter back into the process rather than discharging them.