The crusher is an important machine in the processing of Chinese medicinal materials and the production process of Chinese medicinal preparations, but the use of traditional grinding machinery has certain limitations in the particle size of powder, powder yield, powder yield and the preservation of effective ingredients, etc., for materials with special properties, such as heat sensitivity, low melting point, and easy to destroy the composition of medicinal materials are also helpless. Moreover, China has rich traditional Chinese medicine resources, and the previous extensive processing means can not meet the requirements of traditional Chinese medicine production. The air flow grinding technology will provide a new way for the development of ultra-fine traditional Chinese medicine powder with better curative effect and better varieties.
Air flow comminution technology and its characteristics
Air mill is the use of materials under the action of high-speed air flow, to obtain huge kinetic energy, causing high-speed collision between material particles in the crushing chamber, intense friction, while high-speed air shear effect on the material, so as to achieve the purpose of crushing materials, it can process raw materials into very fine powder (<10μm). The application of this technology is almost throughout all fine processing industries, such as chemical, pharmaceutical, food, plastics, mining, metal materials, etc., and occupies a special position in many specific powder fields. It has the following characteristics:
1. Low crushing temperature, can crush heat sensitive, low melting point materials. According to the Joule-Thomson effect of the high-speed jet stream, when the gas is sprayed by the nozzle and adiabatic expansion, the gas will cool itself, thus cancelling the heat generated by the collision and friction of the material.
2. Short production cycle, high yield. Due to high-speed collision and closed crushing, the probability of collision between materials is large, and the dust is not leaked.
3. Products with high purity (less pollution) and uniform particle size distribution can be obtained (cumulative frequency up to D95 or more).
4. For some materials that have to be crushed by wet method, they can also be crushed by dry method by air flow crushing to obtain uniform and fine powder.
5. Can achieve a variety of joint operations, crushing can achieve drying operation.
Attention of air flow grinding technology in fine processing of Chinese medicine
Air flow grinding technology is an advanced grinding technology, its application to the fine processing of traditional Chinese medicine research has just started, there are still many problems.
Is the process controllable:
Compared with ordinary inorganic minerals, traditional Chinese medicine has both commonalities and its own characteristics. Whether its crushing process is controllable is the core issue of whether this technology can be applied to the fine processing of traditional Chinese medicine, which needs to be studied in the following two aspects:
First, combined with the general characteristics of the powder and the characteristics of Chinese medicinal materials, the preparation process is determined as follows: medicinal materials → preliminary crushing → air crushing → cyclone separation → quality inspection → packaging → finished products.
The second is to screen and optimize the preparation process parameters: ① dry moisture: drying is to control water, and water often affects the characteristics of the material, it is generally believed that the less water, the easier to crush, requiring moisture <4%, as an indicator to screen and optimize the drying method, drying temperature, drying time and other factors. ② Air crushing parameters: The main technical parameters of the air crushing machine include the diameter of the crushing chamber (m), the crushing pressure (Mpa), the feeding pressure (Mpa), the air consumption (m3.min-1), the processing capacity (kg.h-1), the power of the air compressor (kw), the feeding particle size, etc. The product particle size was selected as the experimental index, orthogonal experimental design was carried out and the technical parameters of the jet mill were optimized. (3) Powder classification parameters: The main parameters that affect the particle size of the classification are the speed of the centrifugal air classifier, the feeding amount, and the secondary air volume. The particle size was used as the index for orthogonal screening of powder classification parameters.
How to choose product identification indicators:
Chinese medicine powder is a collection of many individual particles, the properties of the powder is not only affected by the properties of individual particles, but also important to the interaction between particles, so a comprehensive reflection of the quality of the powder contains two important parameters: single particle parameters and powder coefficient parameters.
However, its basic characteristic parameters such as particle size, particle size distribution, specific surface area, wettability and fluidity are the main research objects.
How to apply Chinese medicine ultrafine powder:
One is to solve the problem of powder accumulation
The specific surface area of the material increased significantly after the ultramicro, and the surface energy was high, so there was a strong mutual attraction and reached a stable trend. In order to prevent the accumulation of powder and make it in a monodisperse state, appropriate surface treatment and packaging technology can be adopted.
The second is to solve the technical problems existing in the chemical extraction process
There are only two ways to use Chinese medicine: extraction and direct application. From the extraction point of view, there are two problems, one is the dispersion of the powder, the other is the gelatinization in the extraction process, which needs to be solved by screening and optimizing the extraction process parameters (including extraction temperature, extraction time, extraction solvent type, etc.).
The third is to solve the technical problems of in vitro dissolution determination
From the point of view of the direct application of traditional Chinese medicine, the core problem of the preparation made of ultrafine traditional Chinese medicine powder is the establishment of in vitro dissolution technology. The measure to solve this problem is to investigate the method of screening dissolution medium and dissolution method, and select the index component comprehensively.
The application time of micropulverization method of Chinese medicinal materials is not long, many varieties are still under study, Beijing Yanshan Zhengde Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd. is the earliest contact with the Chinese medicine ultrafine mill manufacturers, through the introduction of Taiwan technology to develop the most advanced Chinese medicine ultrafine mill, and Beijing University of Chinese Medicine cooperation research the technical feasibility of ultrafine grinding. After more than ten years, the properties of many kinds of Chinese medicinal materials are still being studied.
The fourth is to solve the technical problems of pharmacodynamic verification
Pharmacodynamics is the most powerful verification means to show whether the Chinese medicine powder can preserve the active ingredients and enhance the efficacy. It has been reported that micro-powder can significantly improve the pharmacodynamic activity of medicinal materials through the pharmacodynamic studies of ultra-fine powder preparations and traditional process preparations, but the establishment of verification methods needs further research.
Application status and prospect of air flow comminution technology in fine processing of traditional Chinese medicine
At present, there are few varieties of Chinese medicine developed by air crushing technology, mainly limited to some rare and valuable fine materials with unique effects. American ginseng, ginseng, pearl, panax notoginseng, pollen, etc., have been reported, but the experimental data are not much, and the development of some health care products is just starting, and they have not formed a broad market.
The introduction of air crushing technology into the processing of Chinese medicine can create a new crushing technology, which not only enriches the content of traditional processing, but also brings a new look to the processing and production of Chinese medicine, and becomes a new technology growth point of Chinese medicine industry.
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