Fabrication of Agglomerated Lactose Using Fluidized Bed for Good Compressibility

In this work, a fluidized bed agglomeration process was used to produce agglomerated lactose with good compressibility. In the fluidized bed agglomeration, large lactose crystals were used as the core materials, fine-milled lactose particles were bound to the surface of large lactose cores, and lactose solution was used as the binder. A suspension of lactose solution is sprayed onto the fluidized lactose particles, forming liquid bridges among the large and small lactose particles to form agglomerated lactose. Good hardness of 75-88 N was achieved for the agglomerated lactose. The particle size and bulk density can be controlled. The effects of agglomeration parameters, including solution concentration and temperature, atomizing pressure, peristalsis speed, and material temperature, were investigated for the agglomeration result and the characteristics of the agglomerated lactose. The result also shows that high solution temperature and high solution concentration can improve fluidized bed agglomeration efficiency.