Thepulsed-sprayfluid-bedgranulation(PSFBG)processwasinvestigatedandoptimizedusingdefinitivescreeningdesign,arecentlyproposednewclassofthree-leveldesignofexperimentmethod.Suchadesignenabledquadraticmodelstobeestablishedthatdescribedtheeffectofsixinputprocessparameters-inletairtemperature,inletairhumidity,bindersprayrate,atomizationpressure,pulseperiod,andpulsewidth-onthegranulequalityinaPSFBGprocess.Mathematicalmodelsofthemeanparticlesize,relativesizedistributionwidth,productionyield,andporosityweredevelopedtoquantifytherelationshipsbetweentheinfluencingfactorsandcriticalqualityattributes.Onthebasisofconstraintsonthedesiredgranuleproperties,adesignspaceforPSFBGwasdeterminedandrangesoftheoperatingparametersweredefined.Anacceptabledegreeofpredictionwasconfirmedbyvalidationexperiments,demonstratingthereliabilityandeffectivenessofusingdefinitivescreeningdesigntostudythePSFBGprocess.Thismethodcanacceleratescreeningandoptimizationofthisprocesswithinalargemultidimensionaldesignspace.
