Tableting
Compression & Compaction in
Tablets Formation
Principle of tablet production
Active substance synthesis
Blending and Granulation
Compression
Coating
Package
Compressed tablets
Advantages and disadvantages of compressed
tablets
Types of tablets
Tablet compression machine
Tableting methods
Advantages
Production aspect
Large scale production at lowest cost
Easiest and cheapest to package and ship
High stability
User aspect (doctor, pharmacist, patient)
Easy to handling
Lightest and most compact
Greatest dose precision & least content variability
Coating can mark unpleasant tastes & improve
acceptability
Disadvantages
Some drugs resist compression into dense
compacts
Drugs with poor wetting, slow dissolution,
intermediate to large dosages may be difficult or
impossible to formulate and manufacture as a
tablet that provide adequate or full drug
bioavailability
Bitter taste drugs, drugs with an objectionable
odor, or sensitive to oxygen or moisture may
require encapsulation or entrapment prior to
compression or the tablets may require coating
Types of tablets – Production process
Compressed tablets
Multiple compressed tablets
Tablet within a tablets: core and shell
Multilayer tablet
Sugar coated tablets
Protect tablets from moisture
Mask odor and flavor
Elegance
Types of tablets – Production process
Film coated tablets
Thin film coat
Soluble or insoluble polymer film
Chewable tablets
Rapid disintegrate
Antacid, flatulance: rapid action
Children drug
Effervescent tablets
Dissolve in the water before drink
Ingredients used in tablet formulations
Drugs
Fillers, diluent, bulking agent
To make a reasonably sized tablet
Binders
To bind powders together in the wet granulation
process
To bind granule together during compression
Disintegrants
To promote breakup of the tablets
To promote rapid release of the drug
Ingredients used in tablet formulations (contd.)
Lubricants
To reduce the friction during tablet ejection between
the walls of the tablet and the walls of the die cavity
Glidants
Reducing friction between theparticles
To improve the flow properties of the granulations
Antiadherants
To prevent adherence of the granules to the punch
faces and dies
Ingredients used in tablet formulations (contd.)
Dissolution (enhancers and retardants)
Wetting agents
Antioxidants
Preservatives
Coloring agents
Flavoring agents
Essential properties of tablets
Accurate dosage of medicament, uniform in
weight, appearance and diameter
Have the strength to withstand the rigors of
mechanical shocks encountered in its
production, packaging, shipping and dispensing
Release the medicinal agents in the body in a
predictable and reproducible manner
Elegant product, acceptable size and shape
Chemical and physical stabilities
Tablet production
Powders intended for compression into tablets
must possess two essential properties
Powder fluidity
The material can be transported through the
hopper into the die
To produce tablets of a consistent weight
Powder flow can be improved mechanically by the
use of vibrators, incorporate the glidant
Powder compressibility
The property of forming a stable, intact compact
mass when pressure is applied
Tableting procedure
Filling
Compression
Ejection
A — Die filling
B — Compression
C — Decompression
D — Lower punch
removal and
reapplication of load
to the upper punch
E — Tablet fully
ejected
1 refers to the final
compaction
conditions
Schematic diagram showing the manufacture of single and
bilayer tablets utilising uniaxial compaction.
WET GRANULATION DRY GRANULATION DIRECT
COMPRESSION
1. Milling and mixing of drugs and excipients
2. Preparation of binder 2. Compression into slugs 2. Compression of
solution or roll compaction tablet
3. Wet massing by addition of 3. Milling and screening of
binder solution or slugs and compacted
granulating solvent powder
4. Screening of wet mass 4. Mixing with lubricant
and disintegrant
5. Drying of the wet granules 5. Compression of tablet
6. Screening of dry granules
7. Blending with lubricant and
disintegrant to produce
“running powder”
8. Compression of tablet
Granulation (contd.)
The most common reasons given to justify
granulating are:
To impart good flow properties to the material,
To increase the apparent density of the powders,
To change the particle size distribution,
Uniform dispersion of active ingredient.
Some granulation, when prepared in production
sized equipment, take on a dough-like
consistency and may have to be subdivided to a
more granular and porous mass to facilitate
drying.
This can be accomplished by passing the wet
mass through an oscillating type granulator with
a suitably large screen or a hammer mill with
either a suitably large screen or no screen at all.
Compression
The ultimate test of a tablet formulation and
granulation process is whether the granulation can
be compressed on a high-speed tablet press.
During compression, the tablet press performs the
following functions:
1. Filling of empty die cavity with granulation.
2. Precompression of granulation (optional).
3. Compression of granules.
4. Ejection of the tablet from the die cavity and take-off
of compressed tablet.
Tablet compression machines
Hopperr for holding and feeding granulation to be
compressed
Dies that define the size and shape of the tablet
Punches for compressing the granulation within
the dies
Cam tracks for guiding the movement of the
punches
Feeding mechanisms for moving granulation
from the hopper into the dies
Singe punch machine
The compression is applied by the upper punch
Stamping press
Singe punch rotary machine
Singe punch machine
Upper and
Lower Collar
Collar locker
