INFLUENCE OF GRANULATION AND COMPRESSION PROCESS VARIABLES ON FLOW-RATE OF GRANULES AND ON TABLET PROPERTIES, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO WEIGHT VARIATION

The influence of three independent fluidized bed granulation process variables (inlet air temperature, atomizing air pressure and binder solution amount) on the flow rate of granules and on the tablet properties was studied using the 3(3) factorial design. The dependence of the flow rate of granules, the tablet friability and the disintegration time of tablets on the fluidized bed granulation process variables was explained using the multilinear stepwise regression analysis. The now time of the granules was affected by all three factors. The friability and the disintegration time of tablets were affected by the binder solution amount and the atomizing air pressure. The influence of inlet air temperature on the tablet responses was insignificant.