IPROCOM: The development of in silico process models for roll compaction
Start date
01 January 2013End date
31 December 2016Overview
The project consortium brings together experts from engineering, pharmaceutical science, materials science and computer science disciplines from 10 full partners and four associate partners specialising in pharmaceutical development, machine manufacturing, multimedia and science communications.
Structured research training in IPROCOM consists of three complementary work packages:
- Process understanding through systematic experimental investigation
- Multiscale modeling with discrete element methods (DEM) and finite element methods (FEM)
- Intelligent modeling with artificial neural networks, evolutionary computation and other heuristic techniques.
Aims and objectives
The goal of IPROCOM is to address scientific and technology challenges in the manufacturing of particulate products (pharmaceuticals, catalyst pellets, detergent tablets, fertilizer, biomass and metal components) through a coordinated and structured research training programme.
In particular, it aims to develop robust in silico process models that can be used to predict the properties of intermediate (ribbons/granules) and final products (tablets/pellets/components) based on the properties of individual particles and to provide structured training for the next generation of researchers who will comprehend such models, associated knowledge and techniques and apply them to a number of particulate products manufacturing industries.
Funding amount
€3.8 million
Funders
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No. 316555.
Partners
Associated partners
Team
Project coordinator
Members
Professor Ajith Abraham
Supervisor: Machine Intelligence Research (MIR) Labs, Czech
Dr Crina Grosan
EU Research Charter Champion: Department of Computer Science, Babes-Bolyai University, Romania
Professor Peter Kleinebudde
Director of Research and WP1 Lead: Institute of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, Heinrich-Heine-University, Germany
Dr Torsten Kraft
Training committee WP2 Lead: Fraunhofer Institute, Germany
Dr Olivier Lecoq
Supervisor: Mines Albi, France
Dr Michele Marigo
Director of Training: Research and Development, Johnson Matthey, UK
Dr Aleksander Mendyk
WP3 Lead: Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics, Jagiellonian University, Poland
Dr Abder Michrafy
Training committee WP1 Lead: Powders and Processes Group, Mines Albi, France
Dr Charles Radeke
Outreach Champion: RCPE, Austria
Dr Gavin Reynolds
Research and Development: AstraZeneca, UK
Professor Vaclav Snasel
Supervisor: Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vysoka Skola Banska, Czech
Professor Hugh Stitt
Director of Training: Catalyst Manufacture and Reaction Engineering Research, Johnson Matthey, UK
International Advisory Board
Professor Wei Ge
Professor in Chemical Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Professor Karen Hapgood
Head of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Australia
Professor Antonios Zavaliangos
A. W. Grosvenor Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University, USA
Early stage researchers
Take a look at our early stage researchers and the projects they are working on.
The objectives are to experimentally characterise particle and powder properties using a wide range of techniques, to identify critical particle characteristics that dominate bulk powder properties, and to investigate powder mixing and quantify the mixing dynamics and microstructures of mixtures.
ESR1, Serena Schiano, will be based at the University of Surrey, UK.
The aim of this project is to explore how material properties, roll compactor type and process parameters affect the roll compaction process, for which ribbon properties produced using various types of roll compactors available in IPROCOM and microscopic flow patterns of particles during roll compaction with different system designs will be characterised.
ERS2, Kitti Csordas, will be hosted at Heinrich-Heine-University, Germany.
The objectives are to perform a systematic study of roll compaction using roll compactors of different scales and to identify the design space for roll compaction.
ERS3, Ana Pérez Gago, will be hosted at Heinrich-Heine-University, Germany.
The objective is to explore how ribbon properties and milling conditions affect the granule properties. Microscopic study on fundamental milling mechanisms will be performed. ESR4 will also perform compaction experiments using both feed powders and produced granules.
ESR4, Lucía Pérez Gandarillas, will be based at Ecole des Mines d'Albi, France.
The objectives are to analyse powder filling processes using DEM, and to assess flow rate and uniformity, and how particle properties and process conditions will affect the properties of the powder bed in roll compaction. DEM models will be further developed to explore the effects of particle shape, cohesion, agglomeration and electrostatic interactions.
ESR5, Luca Orefice, will be hosted at Research Centre Pharmaceutical Engineering GmbH, Graz, Austria.
The objective is to develop predictive models using FEM , which can be used to identify the critical material properties and process parameters controlling the quality of granules. The effects of powder properties and roll compactor types will be investigated.
ESR6, Alon Mazor, will be based at Ecole des Mines d'Albi, France.
This project aims to explore the fundamental microscopic mechanisms of ribbon milling using DEM. How ribbon properties and milling conditions affect the microscopic behaviour of milling will be explored.
ESR7, Simone Loreti, will be based at the University of Surrey, UK.
The goal of this project is to predict final compact properties using a combination of DEM and FEM. A systematic investigation will be performed to examine how granule properties and process parameters affect the die filling behaviour and the subsequent powder compaction and ejection.
ESR8, Raphael Schubert, will be hosted at Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM, Germany.
The objectives of this project are to develop a robust computational intelligence (CI) platform together with ESRs 10-12 and to identify critical particle properties (CPPs) and critical process variables (CPVs) that dominate bulk powder characteristics.
ESR9, Varun Kumar Ojha, will be based at Vysoka Skola Banska - Technicka Univerzita Ostrava, Czech Republic and MIR Labs.
The objectives of this project are to develop a robust CI platform together with ESRs 9, 11, 12, to model roll compaction processes and to identify critical powder properties and CPVs controlling ribbon characteristics.
ESR10, Hossam Zawbaa, will be hosted at Babes-Bolyai University, Romania.
The objectives are to develop a robust CI platform together with ESRs 9, 10, 12, to model the ribbon milling process, to predict granule properties based on ribbon parameters and milling conditions, and to identify vital information on critical materials and process variables.
ESR11, Pezhman Kazemi, will be based at Jagiellonian University, Poland.
This project aims to develop a robust CI platform together with ESRs 9-11 and to model the powder compaction process, from which critical granules and granulation parameters together with process variables will be identified.
ESR12, Hassan Khalid, will also be based at Jagiellonian University, Poland.
Experienced researchers
Take a look at our experienced researchers and the projects they are working on.
The objective of ER1 is to characterise bulk powder properties based on the properties of single particles using DEM and to work closely with other ESRs/ERs to devise a multi-scale numerical platform for particulate product manufacturing.
ER1, Dr Zilin Yan, will be based at Johnson Matthey plc., UK.
The objectives of this project are to assess how uniformly particles of different properties can be mixed and to simulate the mixing behaviour of various powders and to investigate the mixing and segregation phenomena using DEM. The effect of packing structure of mixtures on the bulk powder behaviour will also be examined.
ER2, Dr Sebastian Gonzalez, will be hosted at Research Centre Pharmaceutical Engineering GmbH, Graz, Austria.
The objectives are to develop a population balance model for analysing ribbon milling processes, and to investigate how the ribbon properties, mill type and milling conditions affect the granule size.
ER3, Dr Andreja Mirtič, will be hosted at AstraZeneca plc., Sweden.
Outputs
Courses and conferences
IPROCOM aims to develop a cohort of 15 young scientists with the necessary depth and breadth of experience combined with the research and transferable skills required to communicate and work effectively across disciplinary and sectoral boundaries in the field of particulate product manufacturing and process engineering.
IPROCOM will provide training on both the task-specific research skills and the generic and transferable skills through a combination of local, e-learning, network-wide and external training activities.
