Powder Technology, Vol.189, No.2, 327-331, 2009
Aspects of granulation in the chemical industry
In general, the intention of granulation processes in chemical industry is to achieve certain product properties. The requirements are specific for each product and cover application properties, process and handling properties, safety characteristics and marketing features. However, selection of an agglomeration process and equipment to be used for production is usually influenced by other factors than product properties; Options are often limited, because equipment which was used for another product is available, or the granulation process has to fit in the total production process. In granulation, only few information about scientifically based differentiation between alternative granulation processes such as mixer agglomeration, compaction or fluidized bed granulation and classification of different apparatus can be found in literature. Therefore, one focus of industrial investigations in granulation is on comparison of different processes and assessment of different types of apparatus, Here, an example for a comparison of different granulation processes with respect to product properties will be shown. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.