Design of hot extrusion molding device for the continuous production of pharmaceutical tablets

Abstract

Currently, pharmaceutical tablets are manufactured in large batch operations that have inefficiencies associated with the stopping, re-configuration and testing between batches. Continuous manufacturing has the potential to lower manufacturing costs and energy consumption while enhancing process reliability and flexibility. Although there are many manufacturing processes that could make an impact in this sector, I focused on hot extrusion molding. Hot extrusion molding consists of heat melting a pharmaceutical resin in an extruder and packing it in a mold where it is allowed to solidify until it is ready to be ejected. I designed a hot extrusion molding system after estimating the injection pressure and cooling parameters needed to meet functional requirements. As a result, I realized the importance of using a hot runner system in order to meet criteria and be able to produce the tablets. The hot runner allows for the temperature of the melt to be controlled up until it is to be extruded into the mold, preventing pre-mature solidification and clogging in the system. From the estimations and available hardware I was able to fabricate the components for the hot extrusion molding system. The components were then assembled to be tested.