GEA Germany Launches Commercial-Production-Scale Continuous Film Coating System

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 6, GEA Germany launched the ConsiGma FC Flex production-scale film coating system at the CPHI 2026 exhibition held in Milan, Italy, extending the previously lab-scale ConsiGma FC Lab process to commercial production scale. The equipment is aimed at the pharmaceutical, dietary supplement, and chemical industries, and can continuously apply protective or functional film coatings to tablets, capsules, and granules.

The ConsiGma FC Flex features a modular design and can be configured with 3 interchangeable coating drums, with a throughput capacity ranging from 3 to 90 kg/h; a single production sub-batch is approximately 9 kg, and one complete coating cycle takes about 6 minutes. Under continuous operating conditions, a single unit can process up to approximately 2,160 kg in 24 hours, and overall capacity can be further increased by adding coating modules.

The system retains the drum diameter and core coating geometry of the lab-scale equipment, while the commercial-scale equipment expands processing capacity mainly by adjusting drum depth and the number of nozzles. The spray distance, coating dynamics, and key process parameters established during R&D can be directly transferred to production-scale equipment, reducing the need to re-optimize the process when moving from lab formulation development to commercial production.

During coating, tablets form a free-fall motion under the action of the high-speed drum and airflow, passing through the spray zone approximately 1.5 times per second to achieve 360-degree surface coverage. According to GEA data, this structure can keep the coating material weight gain below 2%, reduce coating solution usage by about one-third compared with traditional processes, and is also suitable for softer, fragile, and irregularly shaped tablets.

The equipment comes standard with an OEB4 containment level and integrated cleaning nozzles; with the addition of CIP cleaning and BUCK containment valves, it can be upgraded to OEB5–OEB6 level for the production of highly active pharmaceutical ingredients. Loading and unloading are carried out through a split-valve system to reduce the risk of dust exposure and cross-contamination.