• drying
• model
• validation
• pharmaceutical
• powders

The aim of this work is to validate a model for the unit operation of vacuum contact drying for pharmaceutical powders, to predict drying times from small-scale laboratory measurement of drying curves and crystal/solvent properties. After a description of the model and of the software used to run the simulations (COMSOL Multiphysics), a sensitivity study has been done to define the importance of the various parameters and choose the validation strategy for drying under static drying conditions. Experiments on lab-scale for selected compounds have been carried out to obtain the drying curve. All the parameters have been measured and obtained and then simulations have been run. Experimental results have been compared with the simulated ones. Some successful predictions on large scale have been done. The model is still on-testing for the scale-up and for agitated drying, but it is a promising tool to predict drying time for pharmaceutical powders.