Powders with poor flow properties pose a particular challenge for the production of pharmaceutical products. With the Alpine twin screw dosing unit PDD 14, HOSOKAWA ALPINE – one of the leading providers in the fields of process technology and film extrusion – has launched a solution onto the market which guarantees the continuous dosing of even critical powders into production systems such as mills or mixers. "Alpine's new dosing screw PDD 14 serves to expand our product portfolio of screws. As the only manufacturer on the market, HOSOKAWA ALPINE achieves the combination of high-quality sealing concepts with hygienic demands and high-precision dosing accuracy. This enables us to offer a dosing solution for mini batches of material that complies with the highest GMP requirements", says Hermann Schmidt, Operations Director of the Pharma & Laboratory Division of HOSOKAWA ALPINE's process technology business segment. The dosing screw is available with immediate effect.
Optimisation ensures reliable conveying
During development of the twin screw dosing unit PDD 14, the focus was laid on a high dosing accuracy even in the case of low feed rates. To this end, all components were laid out for the special demands of fine powders. For example, the integrated bridge breaker in the supply bin of the twin dosing screw ensures continuous conveying, even with products that have poor flow properties. The improved standard discharge also guarantees the ideal intake of product into the screws with minimum product residues. With a screw diameter of only 14 mm, the twin screw dosing unit PDD 14 is the smallest screw in the PDD product line. It can convey between 0.5 and 50 litres/h.
Monobloc design facilitates cleaning
The new twin screw dosing unit is in monobloc design. This results in two advantages: on the one hand, the product-contact parts can be dismantled and assembled quickly and easily. And on the other hand, the geometry of the unit was designed so that there are neither dead spaces, gaps nor welds. This saves time when cleaning the PDD and the cleaning result is more than impressive due to the lack of interfering contours.
