Patent ID: 8231375

Claim:
An apparatus for the continuous wet granulation of a powder material, consisting essentially of: a barrel having a granulation chamber provided between a first part (B) and a second part (B′) of said barrel, the first part (B) being provided with at least one first inlet ( 1 ) connected with said granulation chamber for receiving said powder material and for supplying it to said granulation chamber and with at least one second inlet ( 2 ) connected with said granulation chamber for receiving a granulating liquid and for supplying it to said granulation chamber, said granulation chamber having an aperture ( 9 ) for discharge of granules from said barrel, and at least one continuously operated transporting means (S) provided in said granulation chamber for advancing said powder material toward the end of said granulation chamber while granulating said powder material with the aid of said granulating liquid, each said transporting means (S) comprising at least a first transport zone ( 4 ) at its rear end and optionally one or more additional transport zones ( 6 ), an agglomeration zone ( 5 ) downstream from the first transport zone ( 4 ) and optionally one or more additional agglomeration zones ( 7 ), and a second transport zone ( 8 ) at its front end, each agglomeration zone ( 5 , 7 ) being positioned between two transport zones ( 4 , 6 , 8 ), said at least one first inlet ( 1 ) and said at least one second inlet ( 2 ) of the barrel being positioned above the at least one first transport zone ( 4 ) of each said at least one transporting means (S), wherein said aperture ( 9 ) has a shape tightly fitting the terminal portion of said at least one transporting means (S) for directly discharging said granules from the granulation chamber without developing a pressure gradient at the exit of the granulation chamber.