How Does Spray Dryer Work
How Does Spray Dryer Work
How Does Spray Dryer Work
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A spray dryer takes a liquid stream and separates the solute or suspension as a solid and the
solvent into a vapor. The solid is usually collected in a drum or cyclone. The liquid input
stream is sprayed through a nozzle into a hot vapor stream and vaporized. Solids form as
moisture quickly leaves the droplets. A nozzle is usually used to make the droplets as small as
possible, maximizing heat transfer and the rate of water vaporization. Droplet sizes can range
from 20 to 180 μm depending on the nozzle.There are two main types of nozzles: high
pressure single fluid nozzle (50 to 300 bars) and two-fluid nozzles: one fluid is the liquid to
dry and the second is compressed gas (generally air at 1 to 7 bars).
Spray dryers can dry a product very quickly compared to other methods of drying. They also
turn a solution (or slurry) into a dried powder in a single step, which simplifies the process
and improves profit margins.
Independently of the degree of complexity of the factory, the spray drying process is made of
5 main steps described thereafter.
1.Wet process
Prior to spray drying, the materials to be dried are are in liquid form. The process prior to the
spray dryer aims at conditioning the materials in a way that will make the spray drying
possible and will optimize its yield. Typical process steps in this part of the line are the
following :
– Dissolution / formulation – if the raw material is not available directly in liquid form
– Concentration / evaporation : increasing the total solid will result in a better yield for the
spray dryer
– Heating : heating can help to counterbalance the increase of viscosity due to the
concentration
This atomization is done thanks to 1 or several nozzles. Different nozzle design exist and
must be chosen according to the material and the flowrate in order to give the best results :
– Pressure nozzles
– Rotary nozzles
– 2 fluids nozzles
Air can either be blown co-currently to the product, from the top of the tower, or counter-
current, from the bottom. In many process application counter-current is preferred but for
spray drying co-current has a key interest : the air at the higher temperature contacts 1st the
particles with the highest humidity which helps protecting the particles against over heating.
4.Drying
Drying is actually happening all along the spray drying chamber following the progression of
the solids particles inside. Moisture is removed step by step thanks to a mass and heat transfer
in between the particle and air :
– Constant drying rate : the particle is saturated in liquid, the mass transfer goes as fast as
possible depending especially on the particle surface area
– Falling rate : once the particle surface is not anymore saturated in liquid, the drying will
depend on the capacity of the liquid trapped in the solid particle matrix to diffuse until the
surface in order to evaporate. It is a diffusion controlled process.
– Bubble formation : during the falling rate period, the temperature of the particle increases. If
it reaches a temperature higher than the boiling point of the liquid, it may vaporize in the
particle and expand it creating a bubble.
5.Solids separation
Once the particles are dried it is necessary to collect them. Very often such a separation is
done in cyclones which may be equipped with filters to increase their efficiency.
The powder is collected at the bottom of the spray dryer and pneumatically conveyed to a
cyclone where it is separated with the air. The air in the drying chamber is also sent to another
cyclone where fine, which may have been carried over by the air are separated and sent back
to the main product stream. Humid air is generally rejected but in some case, as it is still hot,
it can be further used for other process operations – pre-heating…
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