A Population Balance Methodology Incorporating Semi-Mechanistic Residence Time Metrics for Twin Screw Granulation

Abstract

This work is concerned with the incorporation of semi-mechanistic residence time metrics into population balance equations for twin screw granulation processes to predict key properties. From the historical residence time and particle size data sourced, process parameters and equipment configuration information were fed into the system of equations where the input flow rates and model compartmentalization varied upon the parameters. Semi-mechanistic relations for the residence time metrics were employed to predict the particle velocities and dispersion coefficients in the axial flow direction of the twin screw granulation. The developed model was then calibrated for several experimental run points in each data-set. The predictions were evaluated quantitatively through the parity plots. The root mean square error (RMSE) was used as a metric to compare the degree of goodness of fit for different data-sets using the developed semi-mechanistic relations. In summary, this paper presents a more mechanistic but simplified approach of feeding residence time metrics into the population balance equations for twin screw granulation processes.