Roller Compactor: Basic Principles and Applications in

Pharmaceutical Industry

There are two dry granulation methods in the pharmaceutical industry: slugging and roll
compaction. During the 1950s1970s, dry granulation was mainly performed by slugging;
however, nowadays, roll compaction is the preferred method because it offers greater
production capacity, and simplified and continuous processing.

Roller Compactors are used to force fine powders between two counter rotating rolls and
presses the raw materials into a solid compact (flakes, sheets, strips). Roll Compacters are
also called dry granulators.

Principle:
A roller compactor generally consists of
three major units.
1. A feeding system, which converts the
powder to the compaction area
between the rolls.
2. A compaction unit, where powder is
compacted between two counter
rotating rolls to a ribbon by applying
a force.
3. A size reduction unit, for milling the
ribbons to the desired particle size.
The most important parameter in the dry
granulation process is the force applied on
the powder compacted between two rolls.
The applied force is expressed in kN/cm,
being the force per cm roll width.

Types of Roller Compactors:

Roller compactors can be divided into two
categories: one is equipped with a fixed gap, the other one with a floating gap. Both consist
of the three major units as explained above but differ in the way in which the smallest
distance (gap) between the rolls is realized.
1. When a fixed gap is installed, the amount of powder drawn in into the compaction area
between the rolls is inconsistent, which results in different forces applied to the powder bed.
Like in slugging, this will cause large fluctuations in the ribbon and granulate properties.
2. In floating gap the distance between the rolls change according to the amount of powder
provided. The force applied to the powder remains constant. This ensures that property
fluctuations in the granules are reduced to a minimum.

Main Process Variables:

1. Compaction Pressure i.e. compaction force per cm of roll width.
2. Speed of feeding screws
3. Roll Speed

Advantages:
1. In general, a major advantage of dry granulation over wet granulation is the absence
of water or any organic solvents. Therefore, this methodology is especially attractive
for drugs, which are moisture or heat sensitive.
2. This is suitable for compounds that either have a low melting point or degrade rapidly
during heating, as the method does not involve any drying step.
 3. Roll compaction results in granules that form porous tablets thus allowing water to
penetrate more easily into the tablet. This leads to improved disintegration behavior
of tablets.
4. In addition, this process is environmentally friendly. Also the roll compaction
technique provides an efficient and easily automated process
5. Low operational cost.
6. Dust problems are minimized or avoided and the die filling during tableting is
improved.
7. The capping of tablets might also be reduced.
8. Roll compaction/dry granulation can be used, if the drug or the excipient is poorly
flowing or sensitive to heat or moisture.
9. It can also be used for densification of powders prior to encapsulation.

Disadvantages:

1. One of the disadvantages of roll compaction is a phenomenon called loss of

reworkability. Tablets made by roll compaction often show inferior tensile strength
compared to tablets prepared by wet granulation or direct compaction. Minimum
compaction force should be used, as well as a smaller particle size of starting powder.

2. A second disadvantage of roll compaction is the production of non-compacted

powder. Because no liquid binder is used, high amounts of fines remain and less
product yield is obtained versus wet granulation.

Applications in Pharmaceutical Industry:

1. Preparation of directly compressible excipients: An ideal excipient for direct
compression is a material with good flowability and compactibility. In many cases, an
agglomeration is required to produce a directly compressible excipient.
2. Compaction of drugs and drug formulations: Some drugs have low and
inconsistent bulk and tap densities accompanied with very fine and inconsistent
particle sizes. If the material also exhibits poor flow properties and poor
compactibility, roll compaction might be used to overcome the raw material
difficulties.
3. Granulation of herbal dry extracts: Herbal dry extracts often possess a
considerable hygroscopicity due to their hydrophilic components like sugars or
organic acids. Furthermore, extracts often show poor flow and compression properties
making a compaction/ granulation step necessary prior to tableting.
4. Immediate release formulations and enhanced dissolution
5. Controlled release formulations

References:

1. Peter Kleinebudde, Roll compaction/dry granulation: pharmaceutical applications,

European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics 58 (2004) 317326
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0939641104001274
2. The Process and Applications of a Roll Compactor
https://storify.com/KatharineHurley/the-process-and-applications-of-a-roll-compactor

3. Basic Principles of Dry Granulation and Roller Compaction Technology

https://www.pharmaceuticalonline.com/doc/basic-principles-of-dry-granulation-and-
0001

4. Pros And Cons Of Roll Compaction

http://www.pharmtech.com/pros-and-cons-roll-compaction

5. Jeon I, Maurya B, Gilli T, Vandamme T, Fand Betz G. How to minimize the limitations
of roll compaction, Pharm Technol Eur 2009; 21: 31-34.
http://www.pharmtech.com/how-minimize-limitations-roll-compaction