This book had its origins in a meeting between two (relatively) young
particle technology researchers on Rehobeth Beach in Delaware in 1992
near the holiday house of Reg Davies (then Director of the Particle
Science and Technology Research Center in Dupont). As we played in the
sand, we shared an excitement for developments in particle technology,
especially particle characterization, that would lead operations such as
granulation to be placed on a sound scientific and engineering footing.
The immediate outcome from this interaction was the development of new
industry short courses in granulation and related topics which we taught
together both in Australia and North America. This book follows closely
the structure and approaches developed in these courses, particularly
the emphasis on particle design in granulation, where the impact of both
formulation properties and process variables on product attributes needs
to be understood and quantified. The book has been a long time in the
making. We have been actively preparing the book for at least five
years. Although the chapters have relatively good bibliographies, this
book is not a review of the field. Rather it is an attempt by the
authors to present a comprehensive engineering approach to granulator
design, scale up and operation. It is exciting for us to see the
explosion of research interest around the world in this area in the last
five to seven years. Some of the most recent work will have to find its
way into the second edition.
