Cronimo: Cone Mill

Cronimo cone mills are typically used in pharmaceutical manufacturing industry for the following applications:

• Calibrating
• Delumping
• Size reduction
• Sieving
• Milling
• Product Recovery

Operation:

Cronimo cone mills utilize a vertical, "bottom-driven" impeller blade which, depending on application, uses air or nitrogen to seal the rotor shaft. Product falls vertically down into the perforated cone, (which may be referred to as a "calibration cone") where it is thrown against the inside walls of the cone by centrifugal force. The particles are reduced in size by the action of the rotating impeller blade that imparts centrifugal forces on the material, which forces the material through the holes in the cone. The perforated cones are interchangeable and come some with different sized and shaped holes to suit the application. The speed of the impeller blade also has an effect on the size and shape of the resulting particles: low blade speed results in relatively larger particle sizes while higher speeds create smaller sized particles.

The gap between the impeller blade and the calibrating cone also has an important effect on the milling process. Cronimo mills are supplied with spacer rings that makes it easy to adjust the gap between the blade and the cone. The rotor and motor assemblies are dynamically balanced and the Cronimo air or N2 shaft seal prevents the build-up of material at the shaft and eliminates the possibility of seal material from getting into the product. The shaft speed is variable and the rotor drive shaft disconnects from the mill body via a tri-clamp fitting for easy assembly, disassembly and cleaning. The inlet hopper comes with an inlet-in-position safety sensor.

Cronimo cone mills are classified by the major feed inlet diameter of the cone in inches. Cronimo cone mills range in size from 3 inches for formulation development, 5 inches for production or clinical trial batches and 8 inch diameter production units.

 The different versions can be adapted to work in areas with potentially explosive dust and vapors, in which case they can be equipped with explosion-proof motors and pressurized cabinets suitable for different zone requirements. Cronimo cone mills are available as stand-alone or dedicated units designed to work inline with a granulator or fluid bed dryers, either before or after the dryer. The modular design provides delivery of special configurations such as special heights, shaft lengths and funnels for loading and/or discharging into bins.

Introducing the Cronimo Cone ID^TM System:

A chip encoded with a unique specification code is installed in the cone to identify the cone and enable operation of the mill. The hardened chip is highly resistant to electrical, mechanical, magnetic and chemical degradation.

The Cone ID system confers the following advantages:

• Accurately and reproduce ably identifies a specific cone
• Allows the cone to be identified with a specific production lot
• Ensures that a product is processes by its designated cone
• Reduces human error
• Aids in process registration
• Aids in process validation