Applications of EDEM Simulation for

POWDER HANDLING PROCESSES

Contents

 Powder Handling Challenges

 Introducing EDEM Simulation Technology

 Benefits of EDEM Simulation

 Application Examples

 Find out more

2
 Powder Handling Challenges
Powders are at the core of numerous applications in
the pharmaceutical, food, additive manufacturing,
chemicals and other process manufacturing industries.
Powder handling and processing present unique
challenges to industry because of their variable
physical characteristics and flow properties.
Predicting the flow, caking and time consolidation of
powders is complex, as fine powders are prone to a
range of phenomena including cohesive arching,
flooding, lump formation, triboelectric charging etc.
Typical challenges linked to powder handling include
uneven mixing, segregation, caking, blockage,
breakage and more.
Understanding powders’ behavior is critical to ensure
manufacturing efficiency and avoid quality issues with
the final product.
3
 Introducing EDEM Simulation Technology
Powered by Discrete Element Method (DEM) technology,
EDEM software enables companies to accurately simulate
the behavior of powders and other granular materials,
providing key information on processes otherwise difficult
or sometimes impossible to measure.

EDEM enables detailed visualization and analysis of the

flow of particles, from powders to tablets during various
processing and transport operations.

It can be used as a predictive tool for a range of

applications including powder mixing, powder conveying,
milling, drying, granulation and tablet coating.

EDEM can simulate the behavior of any type of powder

and their properties including dry, wet, non-cohesive,
cohesive, compressible, uncompressible, etc.

4
Benefits of EDEM Simulation
By including EDEM in their design workflow,
researchers, scientists and engineers are able to:

 Obtain a greater understanding of powder behavior

 Optimize equipment design
 Increase process efficiency and capability
 Optimize process configuration
 Reduce costs and dependence on physical
prototyping and testing
 Drive product and process innovation
 Improve scale-up procedures
 Improve product quality
 Get products to market quicker

5
Applications
Examples
 Powder Transport & Storage
Screw augers & extruders, hoppers, silos, conveyor belts

EDEM is used to:

 Visualize discharge behavior and patterns
 Analyze different discharging mechanisms, flow
rates, forces, likelihood of blockage and consolidation
 Review mixing and compression of material
 Get information on system capacity and
power requirements

7
Powder Mixing and Blending
EDEM is used to:

 Visualize internal flow

 Identify areas prone to caking
 Detect dead zones and areas of poor mixing
 Identify flow patterns and risk of blockage

 Reduce risk of segregation Dead

Zone
 Assess mixing efficiency
 Validate scale up-down processes 8
Coating
EDEM is used to:

 Analyze inter-tablet coating variability

 Ensure coating uniformity
 Assess Residence Time Distribution of tablets
in spray zone
 Investigate effect of tablet shape and pan speed Courtesy of Pfizer
 Examine potential for tablet attrition and effect of
spray pattern and rate

9
Die Filling
EDEM is used to:
 Analyze:
 Fill variability between dies
 Feeder/screw performance
 Effect of various key parameters

 Understand micro-macro dynamics of

particles inside the feed frame

 Visualize segregation inside the feed frame

& during die filling

10
Powder Spreading and Raking
EDEM is used to:

 Investigate the impact of different parameters

on the quality of the powder bed
 Evaluate powder spreading uniformity
 Assess degree of compaction
 Visualize distribution of different powder layers

 Optimize rake geometry and

operational parameters
 Achieve higher quality powder bed
after raking
 Optimize design and set-up

11
 Powder Compaction and Compression
EDEM is used to:

 Study the compaction process

 Observe what happens when compaction involves
 Different material mix
 Different material amount
 Different compaction level
 Ejection process

12
Granulation
EDEM is used to:
 Understand mixing and breakage in high shear granulator
 Predict forces, stresses, velocities
 Determine effect of fill level, blade speed, material properties
 Validate scale-up models
 Optimize granulation performance

13
Courtesy of Osaka Prefecture University
 Pneumatic Conveying & Fluidization
EDEM can be used to:
 Simulate particle-fluid systems accurately when
coupled with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
 Assess quality of fluidization
 Understand mixing / segregation phenomena

 Model phenomena such as powder

stickiness, agglomeration and adhesion to
surfaces during pneumatic conveying
 Assess the effect of the powder properties
on pneumatic conveying process

14
Other Phenomena
EDEM can be used to simulate a range of other phenomena:

Milling Agglomeration

15
Drying Wet Coating
“The deployment of EDEM modelling in Pfizer drug
product development has accelerated the
decision-making process by predicting, before
process scale-up, the performance of commercial
tablet shapes at process scale.”

William Ketterhagen & Mary T. am Ende

Pfizer Worldwide Research & Development
FIND OUT MORE
Watch EDEM applications videos
VIDEO GALLERY

For more information

CONTACT EDEM TEAM
EDEM® is the market-leading Discrete Element Method (DEM) software for bulk and
granular materials simulation. EDEM is used for ‘virtual testing’ of equipment that
handles or processes bulk materials in the manufacturing of mining, construction, off-
highway and agricultural machinery, as well as in the mining and process industries.

Blue-chip companies around the world use EDEM to optimize equipment design,
increase productivity, reduce costs of operations, shorten product development
cycles and drive product innovation.

www.edemsimulation.com
© 2019 DEM Solutions Ltd. All Rights Reserved