Developing a Mechanistic Understanding of Roller Compaction Process

Granulation is a process of size enlargement of the powder particles. It is used in different sectors such as pharmaceutical and food industries to improve the properties of the powder and hence the final product. For example, to produce a tablet that dissolve inside the human body within specific time or to improve the texture and the taste of the chocolate bar.   

The interest of the industry in continuous granulation is growing due to many advantages. Roller compaction is a continuous dry granulation process in which the powder is compressed to produce ribbon. The mechanical properties of the primary particles play an important role in controlling the product quality. This project aims to develop a mechanistic understanding of roller compaction process by investigating the effect of the temperature on the primary powder and hence on the quality of the roller compaction process.

During the course of the project, the student will be trained on different production and analysing techniques that used in powder technology.

The candidate will be invited to the 9^th International Granulation Conference in Switzerland. In addition, the student will be encouraged to attend different conferences of powder technology both inside and outside UK.

Please see this link for information on how to apply: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/cbe/postgraduate/phd/how-apply. Please include the name of your proposed supervisor and the title of the PhD project within your application.

Candidates should have a first class or upper second class honours degree in chemical engineering, control engineering, mathematics, material science, chemistry, or a related discipline. If English is not your first language then you must have an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) average of 6.5 or above with at least 6.0 in each component, or equivalent. Please see this link for further information: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/phd/apply/english-language.