Numerical Simulation of Liquid – Powder Mixture in Wet Granulation

Abstract

In wet granulation, it is important to accurately predict the liquid dispersion for process optimisation and quality assurance. In this work, a new contact dispersion model was developed by taking into account the partial wetting of particle surfaces, which was incorporated into the Discrete Element Method (DEM). In the developed model, individual particle surfaces are sub-divided and the liquid redistribution between these sub-divided surfaces are tracked with time. The proposed model was applied to simulate the liquid dispersion rate in several granulators. It is implied from the obtained results that the conventional contact liquid dispersion models, including the Shi and McCarthy model (Shi D. and McCarthy J. J., 2008), give faster liquid dispersion especially when highly viscous liquid is used and the mobility of liquid is poor.