Continuous Feed Powder Dispenser

CONTINUOUS FEED POWDER DISPENSING

image millidoseimage millidose1
The MilliDose Mark II dispenser is an example of augur based continuous feed precision powder dispensing technology for precisely dispensing mg to microgram quantities of very poorly flowing powders in an industrial setting. It was developed for MannKind Corporation to dispense Technosphere Insulin powder in the 3mg to 15mg range in less than 2 seconds with ±3% accuracy. There are over 200 patents on the system. Later the technology was extended for Novartis to dispense up to 100 micrograms of active drug into capsules. It is a continuous feed microprocessor controlled augur based dispenser designed to operate in an array and be continuously fed with powder. This Dispenser was designed to be a part of next generation Powder Filling line. The dispenser gets real time feedback every 50mS from a Sartorius load cell, and uses this data to control powder flow in real time.
The picture shows the dispenser. The dispenser control electronics, the augur and valve motion and control system are hosed in a sealed housing. The top of the housing contains printed circuit board on which contact is made using a pogo-pin based interconnect. The contacts are for power supply and CAN bus. The CAN bus is used for communications, since the dispensers are mounted in an array, to minimize wiring. The Video shows the MilliDose Powder Dispenser in action.

Salient Features:

  • Adapts to batch to batch variations in powder properties automatically on the run.
  • Eliminates powder wastage.
  • Fast reaction valve to precisely cut-off powder flow.
  • Microprocessor based control system architecture to facilitate new powder dispensing algorithms.
  • Deterministic rate of fill software algorithm.
  • The Mark II dispenser is being designed for continuous operation of 8000 hours or 5 million cycles.
  • Mark II dispenser has been made GMP compliant.
  • The MilliDose Mark II dispenser can be fully submerged in an ultrasonic bath for cleaning.
  • Portable interconnects by using a Header circuit board with gold plated contacts on the dispenser, which can be contacted using pogo-pin interconnects & thus the entire array of dispensers can be connected by the push of a lever. Together with a CAN bus interface, this allows for minimal wiring and easy maintenance.
  • Powder Fill Data using Techosphere Insulin :
  • 3 mg – fill time:1.5 secs SD = 0.16 mg
  • 5mg – fill time:2.0 secs SD = 0.14mg
  • 10 mg – fill time:3.0 secs SD = 0.2mg
image dispenser The figure above shows the dispenser. The dispenser control electronics, the augur and valve motion and control system are hosed in a sealed housing. The top of the housing contains printed circuit board on which contact is made using a pogo-pin based interconnect. The contacts are for power supply and CAN bus. The CAN bus is used for communications, since the dispensers are mounted in an array, to minimize wiring.
image bench-top

Bench top, six dispenser, Powder Dispensing Station

The following data was generated at Lab Automate, at MannKind Corp and at Novartis using MilliDose Mark II and MilliDose Mark III technologies.

100 micro-gram target weight

Powder Data without vibration or ionization controls
Avg (ug) SD (ug)
Mag Stearate 102 2.87
M. Cellulose 101 2.70
HPMC 101 2.70
This data was obtained by our customer who preferred to obtain the data without using vibration isolation platform and ionization control—better data can be obtained using vibration isolation

200 micro-gram target weight

Powder Data without vibration or ionization controls
Avg (ug) SD (ug)
Mag Stearate 204 6.67
M. Cellulose 203 6.39
HPMC 199 4.55
Novartis CMPD 202 7.41
This data was obtained by our customer who preferred to obtain the data without using vibration isolation platform and ionization control—better data can be obtained using vibration isolation

0.5 mg Target weight

Powder Data without vibration or ionization controls Data with Vibration Controls
Avg (ug) SD (ug) Avg (ug) SD (ug)
Mag Stearate 0.506 0.020 0.496 0.01
M. Cellulose 0.503 0.013 0.51 0.03
HPMC 0.493 0.011 —- —-
Lactose     0.5 0.01
Novartis CMPD 0.500 0.020    

1 mg Target weight

Powder Data without vibration or ionization controls Data with Vibration Controls
Avg (ug) SD (ug) Avg (ug) SD (ug)
Mag Stearate 1.004 0.025 0.98 0.01
M. Cellulose 0.978 0.008 0.989 0.03
HPMC 0.982 0.013 —- —-
Lactose     1.02 0.05
Novartis CMPD 0.991 0.019    

3 mg Target weight

Powder Data without vibration or ionization controls
Avg (ug) SD (ug)
Technosphere Insulin 3.13 0.16
Mag Stearate 2.97 0.04
Lactose 2.95 0.05

15 mg Target weight

Powder Data without vibration or ionization controls
Avg (ug) SD (ug)
Technosphere Insulin 15.02 0.2