The Need for a Pilot Mill
Before moving to large scale production milling, it is often necessary to carry out further product and process testing with a pilot mill, as part of an intermediate stage before large sums of capital are committed to full scale production. This is achieved through pilot milling, where products are milled using a process that is fully representative of and simulating that used for large scale production.
Pilot milling aims to identify the critical parts of the process so that instructions for production and process controls can be provided to manufacturing staff. This stage ultimately intends to overcome and avoid the issues that can occur with scale-up processing. Pilot plant scale-up studies are useful for better predicting the effects of a many-fold increase in scale as it is often not possible to successfully design a large scale production process using only laboratory data.
A pilot mill is used for producing small quantities of product for sensory, chemical, microbiological evaluations, limited market testing, shelf-life and storage stability studies. The data collected from pilot plant experiments is crucial in deciding whether or not to proceed to full scale production processing. If the decision is to go-ahead, data obtained during pilot milling is then used to design and construct a large scale production plant or modify an existing one.
Pilot milling also provides an opportunity for staff working in R&D and full scale production to share knowledge and findings regarding the product experimentation. Staff can analyse and compare data at this stage to validate that the process on the pilot mill is scalable and comparable to large scale production.
Read our white paper on Conical Milling: How to effectively scale-up from lab to pilot to production.
Produce Scalable Results with an M10-U Pilot Mill
Hanningfield’s Uni-Mill M10-U provides results that can be straightforwardly correlated to production scale batches; ultimately minimising experimentation and reducing the overall duration of the pilot phase.
Our pilot mill is perfect for low capacity production applications, with a 127mm screen enabling a throughput up to 400kgs/hr (depending on application specifics). There are multiple screens (different hole sizes and shapes) available which are all easily interchangeable with the unit, so you are able to achieve the required particle size.
During pilot plant experimentation, it is important to work closely with the conical mill supplier to benefit from their process knowledge and industry experience. Hanningfield has 30 years experience working in the pharmaceutical industry and has a team of employees who are able to help you understand the capabilities and limitations of the machine, given your exact scale-up requirements, prior to any purchase or hire commitments.
Get in Touch
If you would like to speak to one of our experts regarding our Pilot Mills or you would like a quote for one of our products, send us a message using our Contact Form or call us on +44 (0)1702 549 777.
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