MC 6460
Speaker
Dr. Michael Vynnycky
Department of Material Science and Engineering | KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Title
PAT-oriented asymptotic modelling for pharmaceutical freeze-drying
Abstract
Freeze-drying (lyophilization) is a multi-stage process - typically, freezing, primary drying and secondary drying - that is widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries to remove water, or another solvent, from heat-sensitive products that would potentially be damaged by the higher temperature of conventional drying treatments. The process is time-consuming and expensive; hence, modelling offers a route towards a better understanding of the process dynamics, its influence on the cycle time and the quality of the final product. Although multi-dimensional numerical models already exist, these are computationally too expensive in the context of a growing need to use models to monitor and control freeze-drying processes, termed soft sensor process analytical technology (PAT). Here, we see how "old-fashioned" nondimensionalization and asymptotic reduction does a reasonable job of delivering a computationally efficient model for describing the primary drying stage and the onset to secondary drying.