Lab scale jet mill launched into UK pharma market
to its product range with a spiral jet mill - intended for
pharmaceutical laboratories and R&D departments - that can
micronise very small batches of powder.
The LaboMill is designed to handle the small quantities of powder that might be used in process and product development labs, and has a range of 0.2 grams to 100 grams, according to Isopak. Robin Davies, the company's managing director, said that rival systems typically only handle quantities down to 5 grams of material.
The ability to micronise smaller quantities can lead to cost savings for laboratories as less raw material needs to be used, he suggested.
"We really are talking of extremely small batches of powder, something which will allow much more experimentation in the pharmaceutical laboratories of the UK and Ireland than has been the case in the past," he claimed.
It was developed by Italian manufacturer of spiral jet mills, Food Pharma Systems (FPS), and features an internal milling chamber that eliminates turbulence and optimises the jet streams. This elimination of turbulence stops powder sticking against the chamber walls to form crusts and prevents particles from being prematurely classified in the centre of the mill.
"Unlike typical rectangular and octagonal spiral jet mills, the LaboMill is a continuous shape and has grinding nozzles that help maintain a non-turbulent motion of particles," said Isopak.
Another special feature of the LaboMill is that powder enters the unit diagonally from the top, directly into the spiral, without having blowback and allowing the mill to use 100 per cent of the available energy for grinding.
Meanwhile, to allow a precise and constant feeding of the powder into the milling chamber, FPS has developed a miniaturised feeding unit, the LaboFeeder. This single screw-dosing unit does away with the need for manual feeding of small powder quantities into the mill, and improves the reliability of the system, according to the UK firm.
