CONTAINMENT: Milling Powder
Containment challenges are presented in a variety of ways by different types of particle reduction machines.
Milling is a common operation throughout the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Process. Sizing of powders is a dusty operation and with more potent powders being processed the need for containing this operation becomes even more critical from safety and cross contamination avoidance purposes.
In addition to contained powder throughput, it is imperative that access to the interior of the mill be made available without breaking containment in case the screen blinds, for changing to a different mesh, impeller change, maintenance, or cleaning.
A variety of types of mills have been contained by ILC Dover using Flexible Containment Technology. These include Jet Mills, Micronizers, Cone Mills, Pin Mills, and Comminuters.
Containment challenges are presented in a variety of ways by these different types of particle reduction machines. Flexible containment has been successfully applied to meet these challenges that include:
- High airflow
- Small particle size
- Equipment interfaces
- Particles entrained in the airflow
- Maintenance access
- Separating the process area from the technical area versus containing the entire mill