SIZE SEPARATION
Muluken N.
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Size separation
❖ In pharmaceutical industry, the control of particle size and
size range is of great importance
❖ Various methods of size reduction is used but it is not
necessarily that they will produce the desired size particles
and of uniform size
Objectives of size separation
❖ To facilitate the flowability of powders
❖ To facilitate the proper mixing of granules and powders
❖ To ensure uniformity of dose
o To do this, the powder particles should have particle size
distribution with a narrow range
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Size separation…
❖ The successful formulation of DFs from the view points of
both physical stability and pharmacological response depends
on the particle size achieved in the product
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Size separation by Sieving
❖ Sieving/sifting is a process by which d/t grades of powders
are separated from each other
❖ Sieves are made up of wood or metal which is fitted with a
wire cloth made of copper, steel, silk or nylon
❖ Each sieve is given a number which
indicates the number of meshes of
standard diameter present in length
of 1 inch,
▪ E.g. no 5 sieve has 5 meshes in
1 inch in each direction
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Size separation by Sieving…
❖ Sieving is the most widely used method for size separation
and measuring the particle size distribution because it is:
▪ Inexpensive
▪ Simple and rapid
▪ Little variation b/n operators
❖ Sieving involves the mechanical shaking of a sample through
a series of successively smaller sieves and the weighing of
the portion of the sample retained on each sieve
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Size separation by Sieving…
❖ Sieve of d/t sizes are arranged simultaneously one above
the other and fit into each other in such
a way that the coarsest sieve is on the
top followed by other sieves in
increasing order of their mesh numbers
❖ The particles smaller than the mesh
size will pass through the sieve and
over size particles will be retained on
the sieve.
❖ After shaking for required period of time
the weight of each fraction is determined
and the percentage is calculated.
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Size separation by Sieving…
❖ Size analysis by sieving is influenced by:
▪ The type of motion
▪ Time of sieving
▪ Load or thickness of powder
❖ Sieves should be used and stored with care, since a sieve is of
little value if the meshes become damaged
❖ Particles, if small enough, will pass through a sieve easily if it
is shaken, tapped or brushed
❖ There are two methods of sieving
▪ Mechanical sieving
▪ Wet sieving
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Size separation by Sieving…
Mechanical sieving method
❖ Mechanical sieving devices are usually based on methods
that agitate or brush the sieve or use centrifugal force
1. Agitation methods:-
❖ Sieves may be agitated in a number of d/t ways:
▪ Oscillation
▪ Vibration
▪ Gyration
2. Brushing methods
❖ In large scale production a horizontal cylindrical sieve is
employed, with a spiral brush rotating on the longitudinal
axis of the sieve
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Size separation by Sieving…
3. Centrifugal methods
❖ Mechanical sieves of this type normally use a vertical
cylindrical sieve with a high speed rotor inside the cylinder
so that particles are thrown outwards by centrifugal force.
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Size separation by Sieving…
Standards or grading of powders
❖ Standards of powders for pharmaceutical purposes are laid
down principally in the BP which states that the degree of
coarseness or fineness of powder is differentiated and
expressed by the size of the mesh of the sieve through which
the powder is able to pass
❖ The BP specifies five grades of powder which gives the name
by which the grade of powder is known and the number of
the sieve through which all the particles must pass
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Size separation by Sieving…
❖ What is coarse powder?
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