Hunan Yueyang Pharmaceutical Microcrystalline Cellulose Conveying System

Project Background

A pharmaceutical manufacturer in Hunan Yueyang required an efficient and hygienic conveying system for microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), a commonly used excipient in tablet production. The existing manual handling process led to dust generation, material waste, and inconsistent feeding rates, which impacted product quality and operational efficiency.

Customer Challenges

The client faced several operational difficulties: (1) Dust leakage during material transfer caused cross-contamination risks and required frequent cleaning; (2) Bridging and clogging occurred frequently in conventional screw conveyors due to the cohesive nature of MCC; (3) Manual weighing and feeding resulted in batch-to-batch variations, compromising dosage accuracy; (4) The system needed to meet strict GMP and FDA standards for pharmaceutical manufacturing.

headpowder Solution

Headpowder designed and installed a customized closed-loop pneumatic conveying system specifically for microcrystalline cellulose. The system integrates a vacuum conveying unit with a specialized anti-bridging hopper and a loss-in-weight feeder to ensure dust-free, accurate, and continuous material transfer. All contact parts are made of 316L stainless steel with a surface finish of Ra ≤ 0.8 μm, and the entire system is CIP/SIP compatible, allowing easy cleaning and validation.

Key System Components

• Vacuum receiver with self-cleaning filter cartridge – eliminates dust emission
• Anti-bridging discharge valve – prevents material stagnation
• High-precision loss-in-weight feeder – achieves feed accuracy within ±0.5%
• Touchscreen HMI with batch recipe management – simplifies operation

Operational Results

After commissioning, the client reported a 90% reduction in dust generation, zero clogging incidents, and uniform feeding that improved tablet weight consistency. The system runs 24/7 with minimal maintenance, and the enclosed design meets all GMP requirements. Headpowder also provided remote monitoring capabilities to track performance in real time.