Patrick Okoye

Patrick Okoye is in the quality department at OSG/Kolmar Laboratories, Inc.

The influence of magnesium stearate (MgSt) on powder lubrication and finished solid-dose properties presents big challenges to drug manufacturers.

Thermal effusivity and power consumption may help predict granulation end point in high-shear granulators. In this study, power consumption was monitored and compared with percent relative standard deviation (RSD) on thermal effusivity measured at-line. Lactose monohydrate, microcrystalline cellulose, and magnesium oxide were granulated, and the effect of load size on granule growth in a fixed-volume granulator was evaluated using three load levels. Load size, liquid addition rate, and impeller speed were measured, and the correlation among RSD on effusivity, power consumption, mean granule specific surface area, and granule compressibility index were determined.