Highly structure controlled ceramics were required for improving their properties. Powder processing using fine particles provides this required control mechanism through advancement of (1) fine particle preparation, (2) surface modification, (3) consolidation, and (4) sintering. Here some elementary techniques are shown such as colloidal processing for preparing fine-grained dense or porous ceramics, texture control using a strong magnetic field, and simulation of electric current activated/assisted sintering (ECAS). As the developments of the above fine powder processing the following advanced ceramics have been demonstrated. (i) Conductive CNT dispersed alumina with excellent mechanical properties by hetero-coagulation of CNT and alumina powders followed by ECAS, (ii) Ordered porous body with controlled pore size and porosity by hetero- coagulation of burnable polymer and ceramic fine particles, (iii) Shell-like structure (nacre) of MAX phase ceramics with excellent mechanical properties by colloidal processing under strong magnetic field, (iv) Crystalline-textured laminated composite by EPD under strong magnetic field.

The thermal conductivity of metal powder which is used for additive manufacturing is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The theory of instantaneous point source of heat is used to derive the equation to calculate the thermal conductivity of metal powder. Using this equation, the thermal conductivity of chromium molybdenum steel, copper, and nickel powders are obtained experimentally.

The electrode of Li-ion battery is a kind of porous electrode which consists of active materials, conductive carbon and binder. The performance of electrode, in other words, the performance of Li-ion battery will be controlled by micro-structure of electrode. Active materials are mainly transition metal oxides containing Li and graphite, and their powder character will be very important for producing the electrodes with high performance.

Recent development of high frequency technologies induces strong demands for better dielectric substrate materials with adequate dielectric constant and low dielectric loss. Polymer-based composites filled with high-Q ceramics fillers are the promising candidates for such applications. Magnesium oxide (MgO) and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) particles were studied as high-Q ceramics fillers. Both fillers were found to be suitable as constituents of low loss composites. In the case of MgO, it was found that the particle size affected the tan δvalues of composites and larger particle, typically on the order of micrometer, was required to obtain low loss composites. Anisotropic shape of the fillers was effective to improve the temperature dependent properties of the composites.

It is well known that micronized or especially nano-sized active pharmaceutical ingredients or drug carriers will show quite different performances in a human body from normal-sized drugs. Nowadays these facts are widely reported. This is considered based on the characteristics that nano-sized particles have special affinity to tissues of human body and can be delivered to a specific diseased area in the body. Nano technologies are applied to the development of more effective or useful drug products. The author would like to explain some examples of nano-sized drug technologies, and also many problems in the powder unit operations in manufacturing drug products which should be dissolved under regulatory requirements.

The new trends of contribution to various manufacturing technologies especially for the pharmaceutical market are introduced in terms of‘Technology of Continuous Manufacturing with On-line Monitoring’by continuous mixer based on FDA & ISPE. ‘Technology of dust explosion proof’enables to prevent the disaster and risk for machine safety. ‘Technology of Isolator’enables effective containment of hazardous and toxic materials and to avoid the scattering risk to the operators and the environment. ‘Technology of Freeze dryer’and some compact machines would be useful for R&D and pharmaceutical examination.

Drying processes can often affect the quality of materials in the manufacture of dried products. This is particularly important in heat-sensitive materials such as food and agricultural and pharmaceutical products, which need to be kept at low temperatures during the drying process. It is therefore necessary to manufacture a dryer that can operate at low temperatures and high drying rate for drying heat-sensitive materials. This article demonstrates the outline of the drying method at low temperatures. As an example of the method at low temperature drying with high drying rate, a superheated-steam fluidized bed drying under reduced pressure was introduced.

The classifying wheel is designed on basis of the forced and the semi-free vortex theory, resulting in submicron classification. Combining it with opposed jet mill technology, the sub-micron grinding is achieved. CR wheels are made by ceramics for metal contamination free application.

Fuculty S Series is multi-functional particle designing machine. Particles are given mechanical energy and separated to coarse and fine powders. This way Fuculty S Series can make high-quality particles. Fuculty S Series was modified in 2013. Already 20 machines have been sold to the carbon spheronidization company. New points for the attention are as follows :

1. Newly developed high-performance CR classification rotor is equipped.

2. Water jacket and water guidering are equipped.

3. Ceramic model is available optionally.

We are looking forward to testing your powder and particles in our Osaka Test Center. You can get new value-added powder and particles.

In this technical note, we would like to focus on the PLGA-nanoparticle technologies applied for the facial pore problems such as Oily skin, Acne and AGA (mail pattern alopecia) etc.

The PLGA nanoparticle based on our DDS nanoparticle technology realizes to deliver the effective ingredient into the pores and ensures the durability of response of the ingredient. We indicate several evidences on

cosmetic application in the note.

The market of powdery formulation is growing in the world. But cost competitiveness is looming. The continuous process is remarked to overcome the hurdle. A fine continuous mixer is a key issue in the process because a mixing is the first fundamental stage in the process and the uniformity of powders obtained by the mixer strongly affects the quality of final product. We proposed the new continuous mixer, “HOSOKAWA/ MICRON Modulomix”, as suitable machine to pharmaceutical industry. It gives the low relative standard deviation（RSD）for mixed product due to the unique design based onthe analysis applied chemical engineering model. Some European organizations have already adopted Modulomixfor R&D purposeof the continuous process with feeder, compactor, mill and NIR as Process analytical tool. They show the low RSD results（less than ５ %）. We believe the system can contribute the development thepharmaceutical industry.

Freeze drying is a useful technology for drying pharmaceutics, food and nano materials due to the low temperature, without liquid phase of water, and without liquid bridge between fine particles. Traditional freeze dryer is called as tray type, now we propose the new vacuum freeze dryer, “Active Freeze Dryer”with advanced principle to improve the heat transfer between the heating media and feed material. The principle is same as Vrieco-Nauta®mixer, the feed material is mixed in the dryer, the mechanism realizes higher heat transfer than tray type dryer. It can shorten the drying time rather than traditional one’s. Most of final product can be obtained as powder or granule, it means that no post milling is required. This dryer is also applied as sterile equipment.

The ACM Pulverizer is a fine impact mill with a built-in classifier used world-widely for fine grinding various materials. In carbon black grit reduction applications, the low bulk density of the material made processing difficult on standard ACM designs. Continuous innovations to the ACM resulted in a new system capable of reducing grit levels from several hundred ppm down to as low as 1ppm. Due to the change of the internal feeding system the E-ACM ensures all the material to pass through impact grinding part. Additional recycle system at the classifying zone eliminates the possibility of grit bypassing. Besides the carbon black E-ACM can be also applied to toner, powder paint, green tea soybean and so on.

The Bag-in Bag-out Pulsejet Collector BBP is a pulse jet type bag filter designed for hazardous materials. The filters can be exchanged simply by pushing the new filter into the filter inlet port located on the clean casing side of the bag filter. The used filter will be pushed out from the bag filter through the dirty side outlet port. (This mechanism is called the“Push-Push method”) The used filter will be directly discharged into a preattached plastic disposal bag. The inlet and outlet ports will be enclosed with plastic bags during filter exchange, preventing any powders from scattering at a high level. The procedure of inserting the filter from the clean casing side minimizes the risk of powder scattering even in rare cases of breakages to the plastic bag.

Cliffis is developed for rejecting coarse particles of toner by means of inertia force. It presents much higher classifying efficiency than conventional Coanda classifier or centrifugal force classifier. There are no moving parts and the structure is smooth and simple, so quick and easy disassembling/cleaning procedures are available.

The features of the wet agglomeration machine FLEXOMIX which has a mixing chamber consisting of a rotor shaft with knife blades and flexible rubber wall for the self-cleaning is introduced together with some examples of its applications focusing on the processing of absorptive polymer. This machine is capable of producing agglomerated particles with high flowability and solubility as well as high uniformity by wet mixing agglomeration with a small amount of liquid. The particle size distribution of the products can be easily controlled by changing moisture content of the material, and the blade angle and rotation speed of the machine. Thanks to the unique cleaning mechanism, it also enables to carry out continuous operation with adhesive materials and shows high capacity because of the short residence time.

The isolators for the powder processing of pharmaceutical materials are introduced to meet the needs for the protection of the operators against the exposure to the active pharmaceuticals in their processes from R&D to production. The examples are shown with a popular pin-type mill UPZ, a pan-type jet mill AS, a loss-inweight-type screw feeder and a drum pitching equipment. Combining these machines and others with the isolators, the powder system to safely process active pharmaceuticals can be designed and constructed by our technology.