Fluid Bed Processors

For more than 50 years, GEA has supplied advanced fluid bed processing plants for blending, granulating, drying, pelletizing and coating to the pharmaceutical industry. This includes small capacity systems designed for R&D as well as industrial size plants for the batch production of pharmaceutical compounds under cGMP conditions.

Granulating, Drying, Pelletizing and Coating

Every granulation and drying plant from GEA is a unique union of proven technology and individual solutions. Based on standard components such as our  high shear mixer granulators and fluid bed dryers, we supply plants for cGMP production configured to meet your specific requirements.

Using proven standard components, GEA makes plant design both simple and flexible. User-selected process modules, filters, control systems and air preparation units can be combined in a system that meets your process requirements exactly. This modular approach ensures that qualification and validation procedures are kept to a minimum. 

Top-Spray Granulator: The top-spray granulator agglomerates finer particles into larger, free flowing granulates in a one-pot process. Ingredients are mixed and preheated by an upward flow of heated air. Granulation occurs by spraying liquid into the fluidized powder. The granules are subsequently dried with heated air. The top-spray granulator can also be used for top-spray coating, layering from liquids and instantizing. Special features include a selection of air distributors and one-pot processing.

Spray Dryer Granulator: The spray dryer granulator transforms suspensions or solutions into dry, free-flowing, dustless granules. A suspension or solution of the substance to be dried is sprayed onto warm air, simultaneously drying and agglomerating the product. Batch or continuous discharge is available; in continuous mode, the product is discharged at a controlled rate to maintain an optimum bed height. Special features include batch or continuous discharge, easy scale-up and a compact design.

Drying: Warm air is blown through a perforated distributor to rapidly and gently dry the formulation until the required residual moisture content is reached. Moisture evaporated from the product is exhausted with the drying air. Special features include a selection of air distributors and short processing times.

Research and Development

Highlighting the importance of R&D, GEA offers complementary laboratory scale units, capable of processing batch sizes from 100 g to more than 25 kg.

Combining versatility with benchtop practicality, the STREA-1™ is one of the most recognizable process machines in the pharmaceutical industry. Specifically designed to process fine powders, pellets, granules, crystals and tablets, the STREA-1™ is the flexible choice when taking the first steps towards process optimisation.

For true flexibility and as an introduction to production-scale processing, the MP-1 is the machine of choice. Capable of performing any fluid bed process, the MP-1 features a diverse range of options, including high efficiency drying, top spray granulation, bottom spray pellet coating (Precision-Coater™) and side spray granulation/coating (FlexStream™).