Drying

Definition of Drying:

• It is defined as “the removal of small amount of water or

other liquid from a martial by the application of heat.”
or
• Drying is defines as the removal of all or most of the liquid
by supplying heat to cause thermal vaporization
 APPLICATION OF DRYING
 Preparation of bulk-drugs:
Ex. Dried aluminium hydroxide, spray dried lactose, powder
extracts
 Preservation of drug product:
Drying is necessary to avoid deterioration Example.
 Crude drugs of animal and vegetable origin, synthetic and
semi synthetic drugs, aspirin and penicillin’s tablets are
undergo chemical decomposition process.
 Blood products, skin and tissue undergo microbial
decomposition.
 Improved characteristics:
Drying produces material of spherical shape, uniform size, free
flowing and enhanced solubility. Example.
 Granules are dried to improve the fluidity and
compression characteristics.
 Improved handling:
Removal of moisture makes the material light in weight and
reduce the bulk thus the cost of transportation will be less and
storage will be efficient.

 Stability enhancement:
By removal of moisture significantly reduces rate of chemical
reactions, chances of microbial attack or enzymatic actions
and thus improve stability.
 THEORY OF DRYING
In a wet solid mass, moisture is present in two forms.
a. Bound moisture
 It is the minimum water held by the material that exerts an
equilibrium vapour pressure less than the pure water at the
same temperature.
 Substances containing bond water are often called Hygroscopic
substances.
b. Unbound moisture
 It is the amount of water held by the material that exerts an
equilibrium vapour pressure equal to that of pure water at the
same temperature.
 MECHANISM OF DRYING
Drying involves three step process:
 Heat transfer takes place from the heating medium to the
solid.
 Mass transfer involves movement of the moisture to the
surface of the solid and its subsequent evaporation from the
surface to the surrounding
 Transfer o the release vapor away from the pharmaceutical
material and out of drying equipment
 EQUILIBIRUM MOISTURE CONTENT (EMC)

• It is the amount of water present in the solid which exerts a

vapour pressure equal to the vapour pressure of the
atmosphere surrounding it.
• Depending upon temperature and humidity conditions, solids
may absorbs or lose moisture.
DESORPTION:
 When air is continuously passed over the solid containing
moisture more than EMC, then solid losses water continuously
till EMC is reached.
 This phenomenon is known as desorption.
SORPTION
 When air is continuously passed over the solid containing
moisture less than EMC, then solid absorbs water
continuously till EMC is reached.
 This phenomenon is known as sorption.
 FREE MOISTURE CONTENT (FMC)
 FMC is the amount of water that is free to evaporate from
the solid surface.
 DRYING RATE CURVE
 If a graph is plotted by taking FMC on x-axis and drying rate on y-
axis.
 A typical drying cycle of a solid can be divided into three distinct
zones.
1. Initial adjustment period
2. Constant rate period
3. Falling rate period