Wednesday 14th December 2011

The Freeman Technology-sponsored prize for the best poster at December’s Powder Flow 2011 conference was presented to Hanne Kinnunen, a PhD student at the University of Bath in the UK.  Her presentation ‘The impact of loaded drug dose and the surface roughness of the coarse lactose carrier to the fluidisation characteristics of dry powder inhaler formulations’ was co-authored with Jag Shur and Robert Price, also from the Pharmaceutical Surface Science Research Group in the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology at Bath, and Gerald Hebbink from DFE Pharma in Borcolo, The Netherlands.

The primary aim of the work was to investigate the impact of increasing drug concentration on the fluidisation properties of dry powder inhaler (DPI) formulations prepared with carriers having different surface characteristics. The results indicated that the fluidisation properties of the formulations prepared with the carrier that had a higher degree of surface roughness were less susceptible to change in fluidisation properties when the concentration of the drug was increased.

Tim Freeman, Director of Operations at Freeman Technology was part of the judging team. “It was really pleasing to see a strong set of posters and the judges certainly didn’t have an easy task,” he said. “Our congratulations go to Hanne and I’d like to wish her every success with her continuing research work.”

Powder Flow 2011 is a one-day conference that was held in London on 6 December, and followed a successful inaugural event in 2009.  As well as providing the £250 poster prize, Freeman Technology exhibited the FT4 Powder Rheometer at the event.

For details about Powder Flow 2011 go to www.powderflow2011.com

To find out more about the FT4 Powder Rheometer www.freemantech.co.uk

Click here for press release information (PRL550_EN)

Back to top

Freeman Technology, specialist providers of systems and expertise for the measurement of powder flow properties, will be exhibiting the FT4 Powder Rheometer at PowderFlow 2011 (6 December 2011, London, UK), providing an opportunity for delegates to network with company specialists. As part of the company’s continuing support for new research in the field of powder characterisation, Freeman Technology is also sponsoring the £250 poster prize, which will be awarded for the best poster presentation at the meeting.

The FT4 Powder Rheometer is a universal powder tester that uses patented dynamic methodology, fully automated shear cells and several bulk property tests, including density, compressibility and permeability to quantify powder properties in terms of flow and processability. Correlating this data with processing performance enables users to optimise powder processes.

Taking place at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in London on the 6 December, PowderFlow 2011 will focus on the control, regulation and modification of powder flow. The event  is organised by the Formulation Science & Technology Group of the Royal Society of Chemistry and is expected to build on the success of the inaugural 2009 meeting in providing an excellent platform for some of the most important research in powder flow. Seven speakers from the world of powder research will present their latest work.

For details about Powder Flow 2011 go to www.powderflow2011.com

To find out more about the FT4 Powder Rheometer www.freemantech.co.uk

Click here for press release information (PRL508_EN)

Back to top

At AZO GmbH + Co. KG (Osterburken, Germany), one of the world’s leading suppliers of automated raw material handling equipment, the introduction of the FT4 Powder Rheometer has  revolutionised the company’s approach to powder characterisation. Replacing older shear cell equipment and a basic powder tester, use of the FT4 has dramatically reduced  the time taken to reliably characterise a new powder and enhanced AZO’s ability to design and specify optimised solutions uniquely tailored to individual customer needs.

By providing dynamic powder testing capability, the FT4 Powder Rheometer is giving AZO a new set of parameters with which to rationalise the in-process behaviour of powders. This additional information and extra insight is helping the company to develop new, more secure design protocols and to more efficiently identify optimal powder handling solutions for its clients.

“The dynamic testing capability of the FT4 is allowing us to look at our powders in a completely new way,”remarks Michael Mayer, research engineer at AZO. “We’re finding Basic Flowability Energy (BFE) [a dynamic parameter] especially useful because it differentiates powders so sensitively. It’s now the test we first turn to when we get a new material. But aeration testing is really valuable too because it gives us insight into how the powder will behave in unit operations such as pneumatic conveying. The FT4 is fully automated, so all the testing is quick, easy and highly reproducible”.

The teams at AZO are finding that BFE data help to rationalise why certain powders behave well in certain types of equipment. This means that by testing just a small amount of material the company can now identify a suitable processing solution more confidently, ahead of plant trials, which require much larger quantities of material. Other powder properties are also proving highly relevant to performance in specific unit operations. Work to fully exploit the potential of the FT4 is still in its infancy but the expectation is that over the long term it will enable the development of new design algorithms for key processes and significantly extend the company’s knowledge base.

For more information about the AZO Group  http://www.azo.com/.
 
For information about powder characterisation go to www.freemantech.co.uk.

Click here for press release information (PRL528_EN)

Back to top

Stand: #1347

As well as exhibiting the FT4 Powder Rheometer at this year’s AAPS Annual Meeting & Exposition (24-27 October 2011; Washington DC), Freeman Technology will present a poster detailing a comparison of dynamic powder characterisation with traditional tapped density methods for assessing powder flowability. This highlights the greater sensitivity of dynamic methods for predicting the impact of consolidation on flow behaviour, underlining the technique’s value in optimizing manufacturing processes.  In addition, in his role as chair of the AAPS PAT (Process Analytical Technology) focus group, the company’s Director of Operations Tim Freeman, will moderate a sunrise session on Wednesday 26th October covering QBD (Quality by Design) and PAT.

Freeman Technology’s poster ‘Measuring more meaningful powder flow properties – the limitations of “Compressibility Index” data’,  will be displayed from 1pm - 5pm on 24 October in Hall C. It includes new data showing that changes in powder flowability resulting from compaction, as directly measured in dynamic testing, can be an order of magnitude greater than the changes induced in density by tapping. These findings highlight the importance of dynamic characterisation in process related studies, where it can be crucial to understand how compaction influences in-process performance.  Furthermore they provide evidence of how tapped density measurements can be misleading when seeking to understand flow behaviour.

As chair of the AAPS PAT focus group, which primarily resides within the Manufacturing, Science and Engineering section of the society, Tim Freeman is spearheading efforts to shape the group  as a centre of excellence for this important topic. The sunrise debate will consider the links between PAT and QbD, their current status within the pharmaceutical industry and the challenges involved in implementation. In addition, there will be a PAT FG meeting at the conference on Weds 26th Oct, from 12.00 to 1.00. All those interested in PAT are welcome at both events – for full program details click here

For information about powder characterisation go to  www.freemantech.co.uk

Click here for press release information (PRL523_EN)

Back to top

Continuing global success has encouraged powder characterisation company Freeman Technology to relocate into new larger premises based in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire (UK). The brand new 6,000 sq ft global HQ has been fitted out to meet the company's exact requirements for more manufacturing and office space, as well as housing an impressive 300 sq ft applications laboratory.

The move from Freeman Technology's previous home in historic buildings at the foot of the UK's famous Malvern Hills, into this ultra-modern facility, comes just over a decade after the company launched its first powder testing instrument. While sorry to leave behind the picturesque environment, Director of Operations Tim Freeman looks forward to establishing operations in Tewkesbury. 

"I am delighted to be able to report that demand for the FT4 Powder Rheometer continues to grow around the world and across powder processing industries," he said. "As a result, not only are we building more systems, but are continuing to invest in R&D and applications development. This new facility will enable us to scale up our manufacturing and R&D operations and continue to expand well into the future."

Extra laboratory space was high on the list of requirements when searching for new premises.
"As a company we have always invested heavily in R&D but have not previously had the freedom to expand the team," said Tim Freeman. "Now the new laboratory will give us the opportunity for additional in-house research into powder behaviour and processing and allow us to provide even more extensive applications support for our customers." 

Freeman Technology has enjoyed a continued period of growth and success. In 2011 the company has not only added to its UK-based team but has also expanded its global distribution network, with new partnerships covering Japan, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan.

Freeman Technology moved into its new HQ on 2 September 2011. The company's new address is: 

Freeman Technology Ltd
1 Miller Court
Severn Drive
Tewkesbury
Gloucestershire
GL20 8DN
UK

Tel:+44 (0)1684 851 551
Fax: +44 (0)1684 851 552

Click here for press release information (PRL535_EN)

Back to top

New research from powder characterisation specialist Freeman Technology uses the company's FT4 Powder Rheometer  to explore the application of dynamic powder testing in assessing the impact of humidity on powder flow. Members of the Freeman Technology team will be available on the company’s stand at Powtech 2011 (11-13 October, Nürnberg, Germany) to discuss their findings and to demonstrate the FT4 Powder Rheometer.

This research will be of particular interest to manufacturers working to improve their ability to control and more effectively manage this aspect of powder processing.  The new data indicate that moisture adsorbed from the environment can have a range of effects, depending on the powder type, whether hydrophobic or hydrophilic, and the results challenge the simplistic conclusion that all adsorbed moisture is detrimental to powder flow. Furthermore the work shows that under conditions of either low or extremely high humidity the impact of moisture on powder flow properties is not linear.

The conclusion is that no single powder property precisely captures the effects of humidity but that measurement and analysis of a combination of bulk and dynamic powder properties does provide a degree of insight.

To find out more about these humidity studies, to learn more about dynamic powder characterisation, or to see the FT4 Powder Rheometer in action, visit the Freeman Technology stand at Powtech Hall 6-444.  www.freemantech.co.uk

Click here for press release information (PRL489_EN)

Back to top

Researchers at the RCPE (Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering) in Graz, Austria, are finding the reproducibility of the  FT4 Powder Rheometer from Freeman Technology  crucial to the success of their work on modelling powder behaviours. The RCPE is a unique internationally operating European research institute in the area of pharmaceutical process and product development, and a focal point for rational and science-based development of novel pharmaceutical drug products, as well as their manufacturing processes.

The FT4 is being used in a number of areas, one of which is the development of models that support the optimisation of powder blending, a critically important industrial operation.  A notable success has been achieved with models that allow the successful correlation of powder blend characteristics with the properties of the constituents.

Commenting on his group’s use of the FT4, Deputy Director of the RCPE Dr Simon Fraser said, "Reproducibility was a major factor in our choice of powder testing instrument for this work. The FT4 delivers extremely high reproducibility, greater than that achievable with alternative techniques and instruments, giving us the cleanest possible data sets for modelling. Added to that we have enjoyed highly knowledgeable support from Freeman Technology who have engaged with and encouraged this research from the outset."

Using a Design of Experiments (DoE) approach and multivariate data analysis (MVDA), the research team has developed reliable models for the prediction of a number of different blend properties. NIR spectroscopy has been used to monitor the efficiency of blending in further trials conducted to link off-line tests on constituents and well-defined powder blends with the actual industrial powder blending process. This work continues with more experiments planned.

The FT4 Powder Rheometer delivers precise and highly reproducible dynamic, shear and bulk powder measurement.  Automated well-defined measurement protocols include a conditioning step, prior to analysis to provide the most stable of baselines for measurement. Sensitive and flexible, the FT4 is widely used for process-related studies across the pharmaceutical industry and other industry sectors.

For information about RCPE Graz please visit http://www.rcpe.at

Details of Freeman Technology and the FT4 at www.freemantech.co.uk

Click here for press release information (PRL487_EN)

Back to top

Recently published, and now available for download, ‘Reflecting on Powder Testing: Ten Years of Making Powders and Processes Fit’ is a personal perspective from Tim Freeman, director of operations at Freeman Technology. It describes the company’s progress in the field of powder testing over the past decade, and the role played by the FT4 Powder Rheometer. The article is available at www.freemantech.co.uk.

Progress in powder testing has involved a move away from the idea that a single number can fully define the complexities of powders, and a realisation that new methodologies must reflect the environment in which a powder is processed. The FT4 uses dynamic methodology, fully automated shear cell testing  and bulk property measurement  to quantify the flow properties of powders. Freeman Technology’s expertise in the application of powder characterisation techniques means that the FT4 consistently provides relevant, reproducible results that support every aspect of powder handling – from development and formulation , through manufacture and day-to-day troubleshooting to final QC.

For further information about Freeman Technology and the FT4 Powder Rheometer, visit www.freemantech.co.uk.

Click here for press release information (PRL489_EN)

Back to top