Essay
Unit 4C - Making Aspirin
- Institution
- PEARSON (PEARSON)
Essay of 11 pages for the course Unit 4 - practical scientific procedures at PEARSON (4C Making Aspirin)
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Making headache tablet: aspirinIndustrial manufacture of aspirin
In industry aspirin is made in a batch process, and in much higher
quantities than you would make it in a lab, as it is very high demand.
To produce hard aspirin tablets, corn starch and water are added to
the active ingredient (acetylsalicylic acid). These bind the aspirin
crystals together, and add bulk to the tablet, as without them the size
of the tablet would be too small to handle. Only a small part of the
aspirin tablet is made of acetylsalicylic acid. Some lubricant such as
vegetable oil, stearic acid, talc, or aluminium stearate are also added
to stop the mixture sticking to the machinery.
Weighing
1. First the corn starch, the acetyl salicylic acid and the lubricant
must be weighed separately in sterile canisters to ensure the
correct proportions of each are used and the dosage of the active
ingredient will be accurate.
Mixing
2. The corn starch is then added to cold purified water, heated, and
stirred until a paste is formed. The corn starch, the acetylsalicylic
acid and some of the lubricants are next poured into the sterile
canister. These ingredients are all mixed up inside the canister.
This also allows air to be removed from the product.
3. Then the mixture is portioned into small units called slugs, which
are approximately 2 cm in size.
Dry screening
4. A hand-held stainless-steel spatula is then used to push small
batches of slugs through a mesh screen. A Fitzpatrick mill is a
device used to filter large batches in major manufacturing
facilities. The mixture is combined gently in a rotary granulator
and sifter before the remaining lubricant is added. During the
, compression phase, the lubricant prevents the mixture from
sticking to the tablet press.
Compression
5. The mixture is compressed into tablets, either by a single-punch
machine or a rotary tablet machine for larger scale production.
Although power-driven single-punch machines predominate,
hand-operated variants are still readily accessible.
Testing
6. The tablets are then tested for hardness and other quality
controls. This is an important part of the process. All machines
are sterilised before beginning the production to ensure that the
product is not contaminated or dilutes in any way. And to ensure
accuracy and dosage amount, operators perform periodic checks,
keep meticulous batch records, and administer necessary tests.
Tablet thickness and weight are also controlled.
Bottling and packing
7. The tablets are moved to an automated bottling assembly line
where they are distributed into glass or plastic bottles made of
polyethylene, polypropylene, or polyethylene that are clear or
coloured. The bottles have cotton packing on top, a sheer
aluminium top, and a child-proof plastic and rubber cover that
seals everything. The circular edge of the lid is next covered with
a sheer, round plastic band. It acts as an extra seal to prevent.
8. After that, the bottles are labelled with the product details and
the expiration date. The bottles are then put into separate
cardboard boxes, depending on the manufacturer. Then, in order
to prepare for delivery to distributors, the packages or bottles are
boxed in bigger cardboard boxes.
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