Prof.

Sayed Mohamed Ahmed

Flowing Properties
• A bulk powder is somewhat analogous to a non-Newtonian
liquid, which exhibits plastic flow and sometimes dilatancy,
the particles being influenced by attractive forces to varying
degrees.
• These attractive forces makes the powder cohesive which
resist the flow till these forces are weakened to assist the
flow
• Accordingly,
• Powders may be free-flowing or cohesive (“sticky”).
Factors affecting Powder flowability??
1- Particle size
2- Moisture content
3- Particle shape
4- Roughness of particles
5- Particle density
6- Surface forces e.g., hydrophobicity and electrostatic
charges
1- Particle size:-
•Smaller particles could decrease the flowability (higher cohesion)
however, larger particles improves the flowability.
•If a powder contains a reasonable number of small particles, the
powder's flow properties may be improved by removing the “fines” or
adsorbing them onto the larger particles.
2- Moisture contents:-
•Poor flow may result from the presence of moisture, in which
case drying the particles will reduce the cohesiveness
3- Particle Shape:-
•Elongated or flat particles tend to give powders with a high
porosity which decrease the flowability, Spherical particles is
more preferred
4- Particle Density:-
•Particles with a high density and a low internal porosity tend
to possess free-flowing properties.
5- Roughness:-
Which leads to poor flow characteristics due to friction and
cohesiveness.
• Poorly flowing powders present many difficulties to the
pharmaceutical industry??? Therefore, it is recommended that
pharmaceutical powders should of good , rapid and regular
flowability for the following reasons:
1- Maintaining the weight uniformity of tablet and capsules during
filling of tablet dies and capsule dosators
2- Eliminate some problems during tablet compaction e.g., capping
and lamination which results from excess entrapped air
(irregular flow)
3- Decrease the dust contamination during powder transfer and
processing. (Excess fines)
4- Decrease particle – die frection affecting the machine and tablets
after ejection
Generally, Fines????
• Increase the frication between large particles
• Increase the possibility of dust evolution
• Decrease the powder flow
• Increase the bulkiness
Predication of powder Flowability???
• To predict the flowability of a powder quantitatively,
the following indirect parameters are to be
measured:-

1- Angle of repose
2- Flow rate
3- Bulk Density
A- Angle of Repose
• It gives a measure of the frictional forces which oppose the
flow of a loose powder

• Factors affecting the angle of repose:-

1- Particle size
2- Particle shape
3- Particle density
4- Presence of moisture
5- Techniques of measurement
• Generally, powders with angles greater than 50 have
bad flow properties, whereas powder having angles
from 20-25 are acceptable in terms of flowability.
• The closer the value to 25 the more the flowability of
the powder.
• There are many different methods for measurement
of the angle of repose
Fixed Cone Method
B- Measurement of flow rate:
1- Fix a funnel to a suitable height using a holder
2-Tightly close the orifice of the funnel using your
finger, pour into it an accurately weighed amount of
powder
3- Using a stop watch, determine the time taken by
the powder to flow completely from the funnel
orifice.

Flow rate = weight of the powder (g)/ time in seconds

g/sec
The larger the value the better the flowability of the
powder
C- Bulk Density (g/cm3)
• The bulk density is the mass of a powder divided by
its bulk volume
• Bulk density depends on:
1- Particle size distribution
2- Particle shape
3- Tendency of particles to adhere together
Procedures:
Hausner factor (HF)
Carr’s Index

Flow Carr’s Index

Excellent 5-15
Good 16-20
Fair to possible 21-30
Poor >31
Types of Powder flow
• Generally, The phrase "good flow
behavior" usually means that a;
• Powder or bulk solid flows easily.
• (Regular, good and rapid)
• Products are "poorly flowing" if they
experience flow obstructions (arches
or pipes, figure 1), or consolidate
during storage transport.

Arching (on the left), piping (on the right)

Mass flow Vs Funnel Flow
• When a powder is discharged, two different flow patterns can prevail:
• Mass flow and funnel flow.
• In case of mass flow the whole powder contents, i.e., every
particle, move during discharge.
• Mass flow is only possible if the hopper walls are sufficiently
steep and/or smooth. If the latter is not the case, funnel flow
prevails.
• In case of funnel flow, only a portion of the bulk solid moves
downwards during discharge while the rest of the bulk solid
remains stationary thus forming stagnant zones.
Fig: Mass flow (on the left), funnel flow (on the right)
A B
• The most frequent problems emerging when powders
or bulk solids are stored are:
Arching
Piping
Irregular flow
Broad residence time distribution: The bulk solid in the
stagnant zones of a funnel flow remains for extremely long
time periods
Segregation due to particle size, density or shape, which
leads to an unsteady product composition at the outlet in
funnel flow
• In a funnel flow all problems listed above can appear, while
in the case of mass flow only the problem of arching must
be considered.
• Also practical experience shows that funnel flow is a primary
cause of flow problems.
• For the design of a mass flow:-
(1) The slope of the hopper walls to ensure mass flow
(2) and the minimum outlet dimension should be required to
avoid stable arches have to be determined.
(3) Wall surface
Improvement of Powder Flowability
• Flowability of powders could be improved by one or more of
the following approaches:
1- Alterations of particle size and size distribution, by removal of fines
or by granulation
2- Alterations of particle shape and texture by spray drying which
produces spherical free flowing granules
3- Alteration of surface electrostatic force, either by:
- Reduction of forces between particles
- Discharge the electrostatic charges in powder containers by
connection with the earth
4- Drying of powders and storage under low humidity
conditions to minimize moisture
Alteration of process conditions either by:
A- Using of force feeders e.g., fitting vibrating baffles at the
base of feeding hoppers
B- Using of mechanically vibrated hoppers
5- Addition of flow activators (glidants) e.g., talc, magnesium
stearate or silicon dioxide
Effect of Glidants to improve the powder
flowability (Flow activators)
• Glidants may act through different mechanism to
improve the powder flowability:
A- Making the surface of the particles more smooth
B- Reducing the electrostatic charge adhesion and
cohesion
C- Reducing the moisture adsorbed on the particle
surface
•Thank You