Isolating active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) of specified purity and particle size
distribution is an economically important industrial process. Problems with product
composition and performance can arise from uncontrolled processes that occur
during filtration, washing and drying. Physical transformations during these stages are
very poorly understood. We will use both in situ 2D imaging and ex situ 3D
tomography to elucidate the effects of API morphology, particle size/distribution, and
wash solvent miscibility and concentration. The results will inform best practice in
process design and operation to minimise out of specification product via mechanistic
understanding of the dissolution/precipitation/redistribution of impurities and
agglomeration. We hope to pinpoint microstructural variations in the porous bed and
the location of impurities and residual mother liquor inclusions.