Perfect for the size reduction and classification of dry, brittle materials up to Mohs’ 3 hardness into purest ultrafine powders, the compact Hosokawa Alpine Aeroplex AS is an extremely popular spiral jet mill in our product portfolio.
The demanding pharmaceutical, fine chemicals and battery sectors, in particular, enjoy the many benefits of the tailor-made mill, such as consistent high-performance levels, technically innovative designs – manufactured to the most stringent industry standards – and the capacity to produce premium-quality, contamination-free powders. The robust equipment is also chosen for its user-friendliness and for being easy to access, clean, maintain and sterilise.
Available in many sizes and loaded with the latest control technology, the dynamic Aeroplex AS excels at very effectively handling a variety of raw materials, including those that are heat-sensitive or challenging in other ways. Typically, a raw material size of 1.5mm can achieve end product fineness values with a d97 range equal to between 5µm and 30µm.
When purity and uniform ultra-fineness of the milled powder are absolute essentials – such as in the production of high-grade antibiotics, APIs, dry powder inhalants, excipients, fine chemicals and cathode battery materials – the desirable Aeroplex AS spiral jet mill range is an excellent option. In addition, the mill can be supplied as part of a complete process system incorporating our state-of-the-art isolator equipment.
For a highly efficient, state-of-the-art entry level Aeroplex AS Spiral Jet Mill that is affordable, ‘plug and play’ and based on the proven technology of the Aeroplex AS, why not consider the brand-new 200 AS Baseline spiral jet mill, featuring a compact cGMP-compliant and FDA-approved design, an innovative dosing system, reverse jet filters, a complete set of pharma documentation and exchangeable inserts? Perfect for pharmaceuticals and cosmetic powder, the 200 AS Baseline spiral jet mill may be modified for R&D purposes. Please contact us for further information.
The Aeroplex AS spiral jet mill by Hosokawa Alpine is tailor-made for you and available in a wide range of sizes applicable to the demanding requirements of the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries and to best suit your production scale. With this is in mind, the smallest Aeroplex AS (50 AS) can be used on a benchtop in a laboratory environment where R&D tasks and small-scale production of new products can be achieved.
As little as 10 grams an hour can be processed by the Aeroplex AS range, up to a few hundred kilograms per hour, depending on the raw material and the model chosen.
To meet the latest pharmaceutical industry requirements, the Aeroplex AS can be tailor-made to meet cGMP standards and be equipped with a CIP/SIP system. The mill is easier to disassemble, clean, maintain and reassemble than competitor products, thanks to a thoughtful and unique design, which requires fewer components and features a vertically arranged mill housing.
Containment Equipment – Isolators
For a solution that conforms to prevailing pharmaceutical industry requirements, we can contain the Aeroplex AS in a specially designed isolator, tailor-made specifically to accommodate your chosen Aeroplex AS model. To discover our range of innovative range of isolators, please click here or contact us for further information.
Picoline – Piconizer module for spiral jet milling ultra-small amounts of raw products
For benchtop laboratory-scale research and development, Hosokawa Alpine’s multi-tasking Picoline features a collection of interchangeable modules to perform various small-batch processes, including milling, mixing, classification and particle design.
Included in the module range is the Piconizer, which is a tiny version of the Aeroplex AS spiral jet mill for milling small amounts of soft to medium-hard dry materials. Sharing the design and principle of operation of its big brother, the Piconizer module helps to facilitate accurate scale-up of processes and establish end product quality criteria to full production scale.
For further information, please click here.
Multiprocessing System – Aeroplex AS Module for product development
A larger version of the Picoline, the Hosokawa Alpine Multiprocessing System, combines five processing techniques in one, using five exchangeable modules, including a spiral jet mill based on the technology of the Aeroplex AS. Compact and economical, the system can handle larger amounts of raw material than the Picoline and is an excellent mid-scale option for product development and small-scale production purposes to complement the full-size Aeroplex AS.
Extremely popular with pharmaceutical and fine chemical companies the world over, we supply Multiprocessing Systems and full-scale Aeroplex AS equipment to many of our customers, who use both pieces of equipment in collaboration for the development of existing and new products and processes.
For further information, please click here.
200 AS Baseline Spiral Jet Mill
A brand-new entry-level addition to the Aeroplex AS spiral jet mill family, the 200 AS Baseline adopts all the proven technology of the main Aeroplex AS range, but offers even better economic efficiencies, improved user-friendliness and a clever design that is fully cGMP compliant.
The beauty of the 200 AS Baseline is that it is compact, ‘plug and play’ and a standard design that is available at an extremely affordable price. Features such as direct material feeding, made possible by the uniquely innovative dosing system, as well as exchangeable inserts that reduce maintenance costs and allow the processing of challenging materials, only add to the many benefits of this spiral jet mill, which can be scaled down for R&D purposes to process quantities up to 100gms, using a modification package.
For further information about the 200 AS Baseline Spiral Jet Mill or any of our jet milling products, please feel free to get in touch with us on +44 (0)1928 755100 or complete our short enquiry form – we would be delighted to help you choose the best spiral jet mill equipment or jet milling process system for your needs.
The Hosokawa Alpine Aeroplex AS is trusted by many international blue-chip pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries, who choose this high-performance spiral jet mill for accurately processing brittle, crystalline dry materials into sophisticated, ultrafine powder of premium quality and optimum purity levels – including antibiotics, active pharmaceutical ingredients, excipients and dry powder inhalants, as well as cathode material for battery production.
Additional materials suitable for the Aeroplex AS include acids, iron oxide, sodium hydroxide, carmine, mica, silicone, zinc stearate, diatomaceous earth, lactose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, polysorbate, titanium oxide, cellulose, polyurethane, proteins, vitamins, nutraceuticals and dental compounds.
The Hosokawa Alpine Aeroplex AS is a high-performance milling and classifying solution that is inspired by Hosokawa Micron Group’s ground-breaking powder, granule and bulk material processing expertise.
Featuring a flat, cylindrical grinding chamber, the spiral jet mill’s originality is founded in its innovative use of high-pressure air to mill the raw material into ultra-fine powder and a simple, yet considered design without bearings, shaft seals or lubricants to potentially contaminate any processing material. In addition, the mill’s configuration and special hinged-back door ensures the equipment is easy to operate, clean, maintain and sterilise.
Air is injected tangentially into the grinding zone via Laval nozzles in the nozzle ring. As a result, a spiral jet of air and high-pressure is created, which can be as much as 1 bar overpressure when operated without the introduction of any raw materials. An integrated injector, charged with compressed air, ensures that the material is introduced effectively via the feed chute, despite the overpressure present in the equipment.
Material circulates close to the nozzle ring and is intercepted repeatedly by the jets of air exiting the nozzles. Size reduction of the material occurs as a result of the particles of material colliding with each other and the nozzle ring to create ultrafine powder, which is conveyed into the discharge.
Classification is caused by the spiral flow of air, so only successfully powdered material can exit the equipment; centrifugal force ensures that any remaining coarse particles continue to be milled in the grinding zone until they are the correct size. Only at that point can the remainder of the finely milled powder be discharged, meaning an extremely high-quality end product, free of oversized particles.
Thanks to the design of the Aeroplex AS’s mill housing in the discharge area, a finer particle classification and sharper top cut can be achieved by the whirlpool vortex created as the processing material becomes lighter and finer.
The amount of material introduced into the grinding zone in relation to the air flow in the equipment has a significant bearing on the fineness of the powder it creates. With more material in the grinding zone, the spiral flow of classifying air in the discharge area decreases in strength and the centrifugal force is lower, resulting in more air turbulence that, consequently, leads to a coarser product.
Different nozzle angles can also be used to help achieve the optimal fineness for your requirements. In these circumstances, the complete nozzle ring must be exchanged.
The Hosokawa Alpine Aeroplex AS can be purchased as an individual piece of milling and classification equipment but may also be supplied as part of a larger, integrated process system, including containment equipment such as an isolator, tailor-made and designed especially for your requirements.
The 100 Aeroplex AS process system is particularly popular with the main players in the pharmaceutical industry, who prefer the user-friendly and compact nature of the design and excellent cost-versus-performance ratio. Designed to meet the stringent requirements of this highly regulated industry, the Hosokawa Alpine pharmaceutical design has fewer components and no dead spaces, helping to ensure a contamination-free end product.
Trusted throughout the world by leading pharmaceutical and fine chemical manufacturing companies, Hosokawa Micron Group is well-known for equipment innovations and game-changing powder processing techniques that can deal with even the most challenging raw materials. These innovations are complemented by a first-class in-house project management and engineering service – from feasibility studies, product testing and initial design conception to equipment delivery, commissioning and maintenance.
Our powder processing equipment portfolio is underpinned by extensive lifecycle management services and friendly, efficient customer care to support you during the decades of service you can expect to enjoy from Hosokawa Micron Group equipment and process systems.
Such is the efficiency of the Aeroplex AS’s spiral jet design, the air flowing into the equipment’s Laval nozzles is injected into the grinding chamber at the speed of sound.
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