1. INTRODUCTION
Dryer selection has long been practiced as an art rather than science depending more on prior experience and vendors recommendations. As drying technologies have evolved and become more diverse and complex, this has become an increasingly difficult and demanding task for the non-expert not conversant with the numerous types of equipment, their pros and cons, etc. Further, the task is exasperated by the need to meet stricter quality specifications, higher production rates, higher energy costs and stringent environmental regulations. In the absence of in-house experts in drying, there have been some attempts, albeit not fully successful, to develop expert systems for a non-expert to use. It is therefore necessary for an engineer responsible for selection of a dryer or, more appropriately, a drying system to be aware of what is available in the market, what the key criteria are in the selection process and thus arrive at alternative possibilities before going to vendors of such equipment for comparative quotes. It is time and effort well spent since the cost of incorrect selection can be very high. This chapter is intended to give an introduction to this subject; the reader is referred to Mujumdar (1995) for further details. Note that over 80 percent of major chemical companies in Europe each using over 1000 dryers in their production facilities made errors in selecting dryers in the past year alone. What is optimal choice in one location at one point in time may be a wrong choice for another geographic location some years later. Prior use is a definite help but not the only criterion to be used in selecting drying systems.
As an example, concentrated nickel ore is dried in different parts of the world at very high production rates (20-75 t/h) using flash dryers, fluid bed dryers, rotary dryers as well as spray dryers. It is thus not a simple task to select a dryer for such applications based on what is done elsewhere. Over 400 dryer types have been cited in the technical literature although only about 50 types are commonly found in practice. In this chapter, we will examine the key classification criteria for industrial dryers and then proceed to selection criteria with the explicit understanding that the latter is a complex process, which is not entirely scientific but also involves subjective judgment as well as considerable empiricism. It should also be noted that the pre-drying as well as post-drying stages have important bearing on the selection of appropriate dryer types for a given application. Indeed, for an optimal selection of process, one must examine the overall flowsheet as well as the drying system. This chapter will be confined, however, only to the classification and selection of dryers. Another important point to note is that several dryer types (or drying systems) may be equally suited (technically and economically) for a given application. A careful evaluation of as many of the possible factors affecting the selection will help reduce the number of options. For a new application (new product or new process), it is important to follow a careful procedure leading to the choice of the dryers. Characteristics of different dryer types should be recognized when selecting dryers. Changes in operating conditions of the same dryer can affect the quality of the product. So, aside from the dryer type, it is also important to choose the right operating conditions for optimal quality and cost of thermal dehydration. According to a very recent survey conducted by SPIN (Solids Processing Industrial Network, UK, founded by 14 large chemical companies based in Europe) selection of dryers is a key problem faced by all companies (Slangen, 2000). Over ninety percent of the companies had made errors in selection of their new dryers. Sometimes the selection is easy but when a new product is involved or the production capacity required for exceeds current practice, it is not always an easy task. New requirements on safety and environmental aspects can also make the selection more difficult. The SPIN report recommends development of user-friendly expert systems and better standardization to assist with this complex selection process. It should be noted that the selection process is further complicated by the fact that each category of dryers (e.g., fluid bed, flash, spray, rotary) has a wide assortment of sub-classes and, furthermore, each must be operated at optimal conditions to benefit from appropriate selection. Baker (1997) has presented a structural approach for dryer selection, which is iterative. It includes the following steps: List all key process specifications Carry out preliminary selection Carry out bench scale tests including quality tests Make economic evaluation of alternatives Conduct pilot-scale trials Select most appropriate dryer types
Often, for same materials, a specific dryer type is indicated from the outset. If selection is based exclusively on past experience, it has some limitations: If the original selection is not optimal (although it works satisfactorily), the new choice will be less-than-optimal No new drying technologies are considered by default It is implicitly assumed the old choice was arrived at logically, which is often not the case
2. CLASSIFICATION OF DRYERS
There are numerous schemes used to classify dryers (Mujumdar, 1995; van't Land, 1991). Table 1 lists the criteria and typical dryer types. Types marked with an asterisk (*) are among the most common in practice.
Drying temperature
Relative motion between drying medium and drying solids Number of stages
Types Batch Continuous* Convection*, conduction, radiation, electromagnetic fields, combination of heat transfer modes Intermittent or continuous* Adiabatic or non-adiabatic Stationary Moving, agitated, dispersed Vacuum* Atmospheric Air* Superheated steam Flue gases Below boiling temperature* Above boiling temperature Below freezing point Co-current Counter-current Mixed flow Single* Multi-stage
Residence time
* Most common in practice The above classification is rather coarse. Just the fluidized bed dryer can be subclassified into over thirty types depending on additional criteria. Each type of dryer has specific characteristics, which make it suited or unsuitable for specific applications. Details can be found in Mujumdar (1995). Certain types are inherently expensive (e.g., freeze dryers) while others are inherently more efficient (e.g., indirect or conductive dryers). Thus, it is necessary to be aware of the wide variety of dryers available in the market as well as their special advantages and limitations. It should be noted that the aforementioned classification does not include most of the novel drying technologies, which are applicable for very specific applications. The reader is referred to Kudra and Mujumdar (1995) for details on novel drying technologies. Following is a general scheme proposed by Baker (1997) for classification of batch and continuous dryers. Note that there is a more limited choice of batch dryers only a few types can be operated in both batch and continuous modes.
Batch Dryers: Classification (Baker, 1997) (Particulate Solids) Major Classes: Layer (packed bed); Dispersion type
1. Layer type: a. Contact (conductive or indirect type), e.g., vacuum tray, agitated bed, rotary batch b. Convective (atmospheric tray) c. Special types (e.g., microwave, freeze, solar) 2. Dispersion type: a. Fluidized bed/spouted bed b. Vibrated bed dryer
Classification of dryers on the basis of the mode of thermal energy input is perhaps the most useful since it allows one to identify some key features of each class of dryers.
Direct dryers also known as convective dryers are by far the most common. About 85 percent of industrial dryers are estimated to be of this type despite their relatively low thermal efficiency caused by the difficulty in recovering the latent heat of vaporization contained in the dryer exhaust in a cost-effective manner. Hot air produced by indirect heating or direct firing is the most common drying medium although for some special applications superheated steam has recently been shown to yield higher efficiency and often higher product quality. Flue gases may be used when the product is not heatsensitive or affected by the presence of products of combustion. In direct dryers, the drying medium contacts the material to be dried directly and supplies the heat required for drying by convection; the evaporated moisture is carried away by the same drying medium. Drying gas temperatures may range from 50 C to 400 C depending on the material. Dehumidified air may be needed when drying highly heat-sensitive materials. An inert gas such as Nitrogen may be needed when drying explosive or flammable solids or when an organic solvent is to be removed. Solvents must be recovered from the exhaust by condensation so that the inert (with some solvent vapor) can be reheated and returned to the dryer. Because of the need to handle large volumes of gas, gas cleaning and product recovery (for particulate solids) becomes a major part of the drying plant. Higher gas temperatures yield better thermal efficiencies subject to product quality constraints. Indirect dryers involve supplying of heat to the drying material without direct contact with the heat transfer medium, i.e., heat is transferred from the heat transfer medium (steam, hot gas, thermal fluids, etc.) to the wet solid by conduction. Since no gas flow is presented on the wet solid side it is necessary to either apply vacuum or use gentle gas flow to remove the evaporated moisture so that the dryer chamber is not saturated with vapor. Heat transfer surfaces may range in temperature from -40 C (as in freeze drying) to about 300 C in the case of indirect dryers heated by direct combustion products such as waste sludges. In vacuum operation, there is no danger of fire or explosion. Vacuum operation also eases recovery of solvents by direct condensation thus alleviating serious environmental problem. Dust recovery is obviously simpler so that such dryers are especially suited for drying of toxic, dusty products, which must not be entrained in gases. Furthermore, vacuum operation lowers the boiling point of the liquid being removed; this allows drying of heat-sensitive solids at relatively fast rates. Heat may also be supplied by radiation (using electric or natural gas-fired radiators) or volumetrically by placing the wet solid in dielectric fields in the microwave or radio frequency range. Since radiant heat flux can be adjusted locally over a wide range it is possible to obtain high drying rates for surface-wet materials. Convection (gas flow) or vacuum operation is needed to remove the evaporated moisture. Radiant dryers have found important applications in some niche markets, e.g., drying of coated papers or
printed sheets. However, the most popular applications involve use of combined convection and radiation. It is often useful to boost the drying capacity of an existing convective dryer for sheets such as paper. Microwave dryers are expensive both in terms of the capital and operating (energy) costs. Only about 50 percent of line power is converted into the electromagnetic field and only a part of it is actually absorbed by the drying solid. They have found limited applications to date. However, they do seem to have special advantages in terms of product quality when handling heat-sensitive materials. They are worth considering as devices to speed up drying in the tail end of the falling rate period. Similarly, RF dryers have limited industrial applicability. They have found some niche markets, e.g., drying of thick lumber and coated papers. Both microwave and RF dryers must be used in conjunction with convection or under vacuum to remove the evaporated moisture. Standalone dielectric dryers are unlikely to be cost-effective except for high value products in the next decade. See Schiffmann (1995) for detailed discussion of dielectric dryers. It is possible, indeed desirable in some cases, to use combined heat transfer modes, e.g., convection and conduction, convection and radiation, convection and dielectric fields, to reduce the need for increased gas flow which results in lower thermal efficiencies. Use of such combinations increases the capital costs but these may be offset by reduced energy costs and enhanced product quality. No generalization can be made a priori without careful tests and economic evaluation. Finally, the heat input may be steady (continuous) or time varying. Also, different heat transfer modes may be deployed simultaneously or consecutively depending on individual application. In view of the significant increase in the number of design and operational parameters it is desirable to select the optimal operating conditions via a mathematical model. In batch drying intermittent energy input has great potential for reducing energy consumption and for improving quality of heat-sensitive products.
3. SELECTION OF DRYERS
In view of the enormous choices of dryer types one could possibly deploy for most products, selection of the best type is a challenging task that should not be taken lightly nor should it be left entirely to dryer vendors who typically specialize in only a few types of dryers. The user must take a proactive role and employ vendors' experience and benchscale or pilot-scale facilities to obtain data, which can be assessed for a comparative evaluation of several options. A wrong dryer for a given application is still a poor dryer, regardless of how well it is designed. Note that minor changes in composition or physical properties of a given product can influence its drying characteristics, handling properties, etc., leading to a different product and in some cases severe blockages in the dryer itself. Tests should be carried out with the real feed material and not a simulated one where feasible. Although here we will focus only on the selection of the dryer, it is very important to note that in practice one must select and specify a drying system which includes predrying stages (e.g., mechanical dewatering, evaporation, pre-conditioning of feed by
solids backmixing, dilution or pelletization and feeding) as well as the post-drying stages of exhaust gas cleaning, product collection, partial recirculation of exhausts, cooling of product, coating of product, agglomeration, etc. The optimal cost-effective choice of dryer will depend, in some cases significantly, on these stages. For example, a hard pasty feedstock can be diluted to a pumpable slurry, atomized and dried in a spray dryer to produce a powder, or it may be pelletized and dried in a fluid bed or in a through circulation dryer, or dried as is in a rotary or fluid bed unit. Also, in some cases, it may be necessary to examine the entire flowsheet to see if the drying problem can be simplified or even eliminated. Typically, non-thermal dewatering is an order-of-magnitude less expensive than evaporation which, in turn, is many-fold energy efficient than thermal drying. Demands on product quality may not always permit one to select the least expensive option based solely on heat and mass transfer considerations, however. Often, product quality requirements have over-riding influence on the selection process (see Section 4). As a minimum, the following quantitative information is necessary to arrive at a suitable dryer: Dryer throughput; mode of feedstock production (batch/continuous) Physical, chemical and biochemical properties of the wet feed as well as desired product specifications; expected variability in feed characteristics Upstream and downstream processing operations Moisture content of the feed and product Drying kinetics; moist solid sorption isotherms Quality parameters (physical, chemical, biochemical) Safety aspects, e.g., fire hazard and explosion hazards, toxicity Value of the product Need for automatic control Toxicological properties of the product Turndown ratio, flexibility in capacity requirements Type and cost of fuel, cost of electricity Environmental regulations Space in plant
For high value products like pharmaceuticals, certain foods and advanced materials, quality considerations override other considerations since the cost of drying is unimportant. Throughputs of such products are also relatively low, in general. In some cases, the feed may be conditioned (e.g., size reduction, flaking, pelletizing, extrusion, back-mixing with dry product) prior to drying which affects the choice of dryers. As a rule, in the interest of energy savings and reduction of dryer size, it is desirable to reduce the feed liquid content by less expensive operations such as filtration, centrifugation and evaporation. It is also desirable to avoid over-drying, which increases the energy consumption as well as drying time.
Drying of food and biotechnological products require adherence to GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) and hygienic equipment design and operation. Such materials are subject to thermal as well as microbiological degradation during drying as well as in storage. If the feed rate is low (< 100 kg/h), a batch-type dryer may be suited. Note that there is a limited choice of dryers that can operate in the batch mode. In less than one percent of cases the liquid to be removed is a non-aqueous (organic) solvent or a mixture of water with a solvent. This is not uncommon in drying of pharmaceutical products, however. Special care is needed to recover the solvent and to avoid potential danger of fire and explosion. Table 2 presents a typical checklist most dryer vendors use to select and quote an industrial dryer.
Pre- and post-drying operations (if any) For particulate feed products
Inlet/outlet moisture content Chemical / biochemical / microbiological activity Heat sensitivity Sorption isotherms (equilibrium moisture content) Drying time
Special requirements
Material of construction Corrosion Toxicity Non-aqueous solution Flammability limits Fire hazard Color/texture/aroma requirements (if any) Space availability for dryer and ancillaries
Drying kinetics play a significant role in the selection of dryers. Aside from simply deciding the residence time required, it limits the types of suitable dryers. Location of the moisture (whether near surface or distributed in the material), nature of moisture (free or strongly bound to solid), mechanisms of moisture transfer (rate limiting step), physical size of product, conditions of drying medium (e.g., temperature, humidity, flow rate of hot air for a convective dryer), pressure in dryer (low for heat-sensitive products), etc., have a bearing on the type of suitable dryer as well as the operating conditions. Most often, not more than one dryer type will likely meet the specified selection criteria. We will not focus on novel or special drying techniques here for lack of space. However, it is worth mentioning that many of the new techniques use superheated steam as the drying medium or are simply intelligent combinations of traditional drying techniques, e.g., combination of heat transfer modes, multi-staging of different dryer types. Superheated steam as the convective drying medium offers several advantages, e.g., higher drying rates under certain conditions, better quality for certain products, lower net energy consumption if the excess steam produced in the dryer is used elsewhere in the process, elimination of fire and explosion hazard. Vacuum steam drying of timber, for example, can reduce drying times by a factor of up to four while enhancing wood quality and reducing net fuel and electricity consumption by up to 70 percent. The overall economics are also highly favorable.
Following is an example of how selection of the dryer is affected by quality of the dried product that may be used as raw material to produce different consumer products. Shah and Arora (1996) have surveyed the various possible dryers used for crystallization/drying of polyester chips from an initial moisture content of about 0.30.5% (w.b.) to under 50 ppm. Aside from low average moisture content it is also necessary to ensure uniform distribution of moisture, especially for some certain products, e.g., production of thin films. The uniformity constraint is less severe if the chips are to be used to make PET bottles. Figure 1 shows schematics of the crystallization/drying steps involved. Generally, it is a two-step process. The material is heat-sensitive. The initial crystallization/drying is faster than the drying step at low moisture levels. A two-stage dryer is indicated and is commonly used. It is possible to use different dryer types for each stage as shown in Figure 2. A single dryer type (e.g., column or packed bed dryer with the chips moving downward slowly under gravity) is cheaper and hence recommended for the lower quality grade but a more expensive fluid bed followed by another fluid bed or column dryer may be needed for the higher quality grade. Note that numerous alternatives are possible in each case. It is also important to operate the dryers at the correct conditions of gas flow rate, temperature and humidity. Dehumidified air is needed to achieve low final moisture contents in accordance with the equilibrium moisture isotherms of the product.
Wet chips
Crystallizer/ dryer
Final Dryer
Batch
Vacuum tumbler
Continuous
DIRECT INDIRECT
Paddle dryer
Fluid bed Vibro-fluid bed Pulsed fluid bed Vortex (spouted) bed Column dryer (with mixer)
Batch
Vacuum tumbler
Continuous
DIRECT INDIRECT
Paddle dryer
MEDIUM
e.g. for speciality fibre, film A. Crystallizer: fluid bed or pulse fluid bed or paddle crystallizer B. Finish dryer: Column dryer with a central tube for smooth downward flow of chips
AVERAGE
e.g. for PET bottles, staple fibre, etc. Single column crystallizer/dryer with a mixer in the top crystallizer section to avoid agglomeration Low capital/operating cost, smaller space requirements
A. Crystallizer: fluid bed B. Finish dryer: Multi-stage fluid bed with dehumidified air
Table 3 Spray drying of emulsion-PVC. Effect of selection of atomizer on spray dryer performance: A Comparison between different atomizers
Parameter Dryer geometry Evaporation capacity (water) Chamber (D H) Number of nozzles Power for atomizer Capital cost Operating cost Rotary disk Conical/cylindrical H/D 1.2-1.5 1600 kg/h 6.5 m 8 m 1, 175-mm disk 15,000 rpm 25 W/kg slurry High Medium Two-fluid (sonic) Tall-form Cylindrical H/D 4 1600 kg/h 3.5 m 15 m 16 nozzles 4 bar pressure 20 W/kg slurry Medium Low Two-fluid (standard) Tall-form Cylindrical H/D 5 1600 kg/h 3 m 18 m 18 nozzles 4 bar pressure 80 W/kg slurry Medium High
New dryers are being developed continuously as a result of industrial demands. Over 250 US patents are granted each year related to dryers (equipment) and drying (process); in the European Community about 80 patents are issued annually on dryers. Kudra and Mujumdar (2000) have discussed a wide assortment of novel drying technologies, which are beyond the scope of this chapter. Suffice it to note that many of the new technologies (e.g., superheated steam, pulse combustion newer gas-particle contactors as dryers) will eventually replace conventional dryers in the next decade or two. New technologies are inherently more risky and more difficult-to-scale-up. Hence there is natural reluctance to their adoption. Readers are encouraged to review the new developments in order to be sure their selection is the most appropriate one for the application at hand. Some conventional and more recent drying techniques are listed in the Table 4.
CLOSING REMARKS
It is difficult to generate rules for both classification and selection of dryers because exceptions occur rather frequently. Often, minor changes in feed or product characteristics result in different dryer types being the appropriate choices. It is not uncommon to find different dryer types being used to dry apparently the same material. The choice is dependent on production throughput, flexibility requirements, cost of fuel as well as on the subjective judgment of the individual who specified the equipment. We have not considered novel dryers in this chapter. Kudra and Mujumdar (2000) have discussed in detail most of the non-conventional and novel drying technologies reported in the literature. Most of them have yet to mature; a few have been commercialized successfully for certain products. It is useful to be aware of such advances so that the user can make intelligent decisions about dryer selection. Since dryer life is typically 25-40 years that effect of a poor prescription can have a long-term impact on the economic health of the plant. It is typically not a desirable option to depend exclusively on prior experience, reports in the literature or vendors recommendations. Each drying problem deserves its own independent evaluation and solution.
REFERENCES
Baker, C.G.J., 1997, Dryer Selection, pp. 242-271, in C.G.J. Baker (Ed.) Industrial Drying of Foods, Blackie Academic & Professional, London. Kudra, T., Mujumdar, A.S., 2000, Advanced Drying Technologies, Marcel Dekker, New York. Kudra, T., Mujumdar, A.S., 1995, Special Drying Techniques and Novel Dryers, pp. 1087-1149, in A.S. Mujumdar (Ed.) Handbook of Industrial Drying, 2nd Edition, Marcel Dekker, New York. Masters, K., 1985, Spray Drying Handbook, Halsted Press, New York. Mujumdar, A.S. (Ed.), 1995, Handbook of Industrial Drying, 2nd Edition, Marcel Dekker, New York. Schiffmann, R.F., 1995, Microwave and Dielectric Drying, pp. 345-372, in A.S. Mujumdar (Ed.) Handbook of Industrial Drying, 2nd Edition, Marcel Dekker, New York. Shah, R.M., Arora, P.K., 1996, Two Fluid Nozzles and their Application in Spray Drying of E-PVC, pp. 1361-1366, in C. Strumillo, Z. Pakowski, A.S. Mujumdar (Eds.) Drying96: Proceedings of the Tenth International Drying Symposium, Lodz, Poland.
Slangen, H.J.M., The Need for Fundamental Research on Drying as Perceived by the European Chemical Industry, to appear in Drying Technology An International Journal, 18(6), 2000. van't Land, C.M., 1991, Industrial Drying Equipment: Selection and Application, Marcel Dekker, New York.
THREE
CHAPTER
1. INTRODUCTION
Wet materials come in different physical forms and are required to be dried to different desired specifications. Over 400 different dryer types have been proposed in the technical literature although only about 50 types are commonly used and readily available from various vendors. No two dryers are identical even when used for drying nominally the same material. Even minor changes in feed condition and/or product specification may make the two dryers different in design or in operation or both. Mujumdar (1995), among many others, have provided detailed classification schemes and selection criteria of dryers; major topics of study by themselves. In this chapter the focus is on providing a brief overview of the more common drying equipment (which naturally excludes the novel drying techniques, many of which have come on stream only recently and are not yet readily available on the market). It is also not extensive enough to cover all types and sub-types of dryers. However, it will allow the reader to obtain a quick understanding of the key features, main advantages and limitations of the various dryer types and their modifications. For ease of presentation, the chapter is categorized according to the physical form of the feedstock to be dried since the first qualification of the selected dryer is the ability to physically handle the feedstock and the dried product themselves. For an in-depth discussion of various dryer types the reader is referred to Mujumdar (1995).
In this type of dryer, a wide assortment of granular products of diverse shapes, sizes and size distributions can be processed by proper design of the internal flights and lifters. Special internals are needed for materials that tend to form large lumps that must be broken to avoid major problems in the later stages of drying. The lifters lift the material to the top of the drum where it showers down in the form of cascades. The major heat and mass transfer processes are accomplished during the flight of the particles from the top to the bottom of the drum by gravity. The drying medium is in cross-flow with respect to the cascading particles. Clearly, particles with terminal velocities below the cross-flow gas velocity will be entrained and collected in the gas cleaning equipment. The cascading action may cause severe attrition of fragile materials, especially when the drum diameter is large. Although numerous attempts have been reported which permit calculation of particle residence times in rotary dryers, the design of commercial units is still based on pilot tests and empirical rules (often proprietary) based on prior experience with similar material and similar design of rotary dryer hardware. The drying process is essentially intermittent. It is intense during the cascading motion under gravity when the particles contact the cross-flowing hot gas stream. When the particles settle on the drum wall as a bed and carried upward by the revolving shell, there is a soaking or tempering period when the temperature and moisture content fields in the particles tend to equalize before the particles are exposed to the convective drying condition again. Rotary dryers can be designed for drying time from 10 to 60 minutes. If large retention time is needed for removing the internal moisture in the falling rate period, it is possible to use a smaller shell diameter at the wet end for surface moisture removal with low holdup of material in the drum and then increase the shell diameter at the dry end to allow longer retention time with larger holdup. In some designs, it is possible to use a pneumatic conveyor to carry the product out of the dryer. Thermal efficiencies of rotary dryers vary widely in the range of 30-60%. For good efficiency, the product holdup (typically 10-15 percent of volume) should be such as to cover the flights or lifters fully. The lifters should be carefully designed to ensure good cascading action, avoiding large clusters of material falling from the flights. Length-todiameter ratios of 4 to 10 are common in industrial practice. Rotary dryers can be operated at very high temperatures to accomplish various reactions in addition to or instead of simple drying; these units are referred to as kilns. It is necessary to line the shell of rotary kilns with suitable refractory materials. In order to enhance the drying rates in the rotary dryer without raising the gas temperature or gas flowrate excessively, it is possible to introduce steam-heated tubes or coils within the shell. Aside from providing additional energy for drying, such internals can also help with redistribution or delumping of the material. Of course, it is possible to use internal heaters only if the material does not stick to the walls of the internals. A new variant of the classical rotary dryer uses a central axial header for the drying gas that is injected at discreet intervals along the length of the rotating shell directly into the kilning bed of particles. This type of flow distribution is more effective for heat and mass transfer and results in volumetric heat and mass transfer coefficients up to two times larger than those in the cascading dryer. However, this design is not suited for all types of materials.
Rotary dryers are very flexible, very versatile and are especially suited for high production rate demands. On the negative side, they are typically less efficient, demand high capital costs and significant maintenance costs depending on the material being dried. They are not recommended for fragile materials and for low production rates. Finally, it is useful to note that while most of the continuous rotary dryers are operated under near atmospheric pressure, the term vacuum rotary dryer refers to an entirely different class of dryers. It is, in fact, an indirect type batch dryer because of the difficulty of maintaining vacuum under continuous feeding and discharge conditions. Here, the horizontal cylindrical shell is stationary while a set of variously designed agitator blades revolves on a central shaft to agitate the material contained in the dryer shell. Heat is supplied by heating the shell jacket using condensing steam or a thermal fluid. In larger units, the central agitator shaft and the blades may also be heated. The agitator may be a single- or double-spiral. The outer blades are set close to the wall and may have a scraper attached to keep the material from building up on the walls and deteriorating the thermal performance of the unit. This type of dryer is useful for handling heat-sensitive materials, which dry at lower temperatures because of the vacuum conditions.
chamber. Low pressure steam is used to heat the plates on which the trays sit. Liapis and Bruttini (1995) have provided a detailed analysis of the drying characteristics, costs and details on various freeze dried products.
there are risks of fire and/or explosion. Single-cone and double-cone mixers can be adapted to drying by heating the vessel jackets and applying vacuum to remove moisture. Figures 5 and 6 show two vacuum dryers available commercially. The paddle dryer is suited for sludge-like materials while the vacuum band dryer is good for thin pastes or slurries. The material forms a film over the heated band; it may boil and form a highly foamy, porous structure of very low bulk density.
Figure 6 A band-type vacuum dryer 3. DRYERS FOR SLURRIES AND SUSPENSIONS 3.1 Spray Dryers
Over 20,000 spray dryers are presently in use commercially to dry products from agro-chemicals, biotechnologicals, fine and heavy chemicals, dairy products, dyestuffs, mineral concentrates to pharmaceuticals in capacities ranging from a few kg per h to 50 tons per h evaporation capacity. Liquid feedstocks, such as solutions, suspensions or emulsions can be converted into powder, granular or agglomerate form in one step operation in spray dryer. Figure 7 gives a process schematic for a spray dryer plant. Atomized feedstock in the form of a spray is contacted with hot gas in a suitably designed drying chamber. Proper selection and design of the atomizer is vital to the operation of the spray dryer as it is affected by the type of feed (viscosity), abrasive property of the feed, feed rate, desired particle size and size distribution as well as the design of the chamber geometries and mode of flow, e.g., concurrent, countercurrent or mixed flow (see Figure 8).
cases, it is found that the larger scale dryer provides better quality product than the one obtained in smaller scale pilot tests. Aside from drying rate and quality tests, it is also important to check potential of deposits in the drying chamber as this may lead to fire and explosion hazards. Essentially, three major types of atomizers are used in practice. They are: (a) Rotary wheel (or disk) atomizers, (b) Pressure nozzle and (c) Two-fluid nozzle. Figure 9 shows some typical atomizer designs. Ultrasonic and electrostatic atomizers can also be used for special applications to produce monodisperse sprays but they are very expensive and low capacity units. Most spray dryers operate at slight negative pressure. New designs may use low pressure chambers to enhance drying rates at lower temperatures to dry highly heat-sensitive products.
layout depending on the feedstock characteristics, e.g., presence of organic solvents, danger of fire or explosion. Collection of the dried powder from the spray dryer is also an important issue. Table 5 lists general recommendations for the selection of the dried powder collection system.
Type of chamber * Concurrent X X X * Counter- current * Mixed (fountain) X Feed type Solution/slurries * X * Low viscosity X High viscosity X * Slurries * Non-abrasive X X * Slightly abrasive X X * Highly abrasive X Feed rate * < 3 m3 per h X X 3 * > 3 m per h X X* Droplet size * 30-120 m X * 120-150 m X X: Applicable; -: Not applicable; X*: Multi-nozzle assembly
Two-fluid nozzle
X X X X X X X X X* -
Table 3 Selection of mode of flow in spray drying chamber based on desired powder characteristics Dryer design flow type Concurrent Mixed flow with integrated fluidized beds Mixed flow (fountain type) Characteristics Low product temperature To produce agglomerated powder
For coarse sprays in small chambers; product no heat-sensitive Counter-current flow Products which withstand high temperatures; coarse particles; high bulk density powders Table 4 Spray dryer system layout System layout Open cycle Closed cycle Semi-closed; selfinertizing Characteristics General; all aqueous feeds Recovery of solvents; prevention of vapor emissions; elimination of explosion or fire hazards Prevent powder explosion (keep O2 content low) yet use higher inlet temperature
Table 5 Selection of dry powder collection system Requirement Low cost, efficient, easy to clean Medium cost, very efficient, high running cost Large air volumes Product recovery; fines Recommended system Cyclones Bag filter
Electro-static precipitator Cyclone + wet scrubber
Since the choice of the atomizer is very crucial it is important to note the key advantages and limitations of the wheel and pressure nozzles, which are most common in practice. Although both types may be used for the same feedstocks, the product properties (bulk density, porosity, size, etc.) will be different.
Limitations: Higher energy consumption compared to pressure nozzles More expensive Broad radical spray requires large drying chamber (cylindrical-conical type)
Limitations: Low capacity (flow rates) High tendency to clog Erosion can change spray characteristics
Figure 10 Spray dryer schematics. (a) Wheel atomizer; (b) Single or two-fluid nozzle
Figure 10 shows schematics of two spray dryers, one fitted with a wheel atomizer (cylindrical-conical) and the others with a nozzle atomizer (single or two-fluid), which is a cylindrical vessel. These figures also show other components of the system, i.e., feed tank, filter, pump, air heater, fan cyclone, exhaust fan. Figure 11 shows the layout of a spray dryer system, which is self-inertizing and used to handle materials with high risk of fire and explosion. Here, excess air entering the system passes through the burner flame and used as combustion air, thus inactivating it.
The final moisture content is achieved in a fluidized bed located at the bottom of the spray chamber as an integral part of it. This two-stage arrangement makes the drying process very efficient and economic. The fluidized bed drying unit can be replaced with a through circulation band dryer at the bottom of the chamber; this concept is the basis of the so-called Filtermat dryer used for sticky and sugar-rich materials which are hard to dry. The spray chamber in this case is much wider at the bottom, unlike the SprayFluidizer.
solvents is an issue, once again, vacuum operation is recommended. When recovering high boiling point solvents such as ethylene glycol, lowering the pressure depresses the boiling point. For a detailed description and discussion of the various types of drum dryers, the reader is referred to Moore (1995).
Convective
Impinging jets (air or superheated steam) Through dryers (for porous sheets)
Combined modes
Impinging jets + MW Impinging jets + IR Impinging jets + throughflow
For drying of thin permeable sheets, it is possible to draw drying air through the sheet for highly enhanced drying rates. Combined through and impingement drying is a particularly attractive option for drying of tissue or newsprint, for example. Furthermore, it is possible to use superheated steam as the drying medium in place of air or combustion gases. For thin sheets, the total drying time may be in the order of seconds (e.g., tissue paper) to several minutes (e.g., textiles).
Figure 16 A commercial two-stage dryer for crystallization/ drying of polyester chips 5.2 Flash Dryers
Figure 17 shows a schematic of the simple flash (pneumatic) dryer system. Here, the wet feed is dispersed mechanically into a hot gas stream (commonly air, combustion gases) and conveyed for long enough time to allow drying of the particulates in the size range of 10-500 microns during their transport. Clearly, only surface moisture of small particles can be removed economically in such a system of reasonable length of the insulated conveying tube. Most dryers are thus adiabatic and use a flash tube of circular and uniform cross-section. In some cases, the tube may diverge and converge, may have sudden expansions and contractions. The tube may be heated through the wall to keep up the temperature driving force as the gas loses its energy to the particles in the forms of heat of vaporization and sensible heat. Noncircular cross-section (e.g., rectangular with rounded corners) and tubes of non-rectilinear configurations (e.g., in the form of a ring) are also employed for special applications. For details, see Mujumdar (1995). Flash dryers may be used to dry heat-sensitive solids in view of the short exposure time to the drying medium. They have low capital cost although, in some cases, the ancillary equipment (e.g., disperser, blender if solids backmixing is needed prior to dispersion, heat exchangers, product collection devices) may cost much more than the basic flash dryer tube itself. There is a risk of fire and explosion so care must be taken to avoid flammability limits in the dryer. The dryer must be designed with suitable rupture disks to minimize damage in the event of an explosion. The dryer has small foot print (e.g., small floor area) since the flash tube generally rises vertically so the flow of
particulates against gravity increases the residence time in the tube of a given length. When it is feasible, it is a good idea to consider a flash dryer. It does cause attrition, however. It can be used as the first stage of a two-stage dryer system to remove only the surface moisture fast and cheaply while a higher residence time dryer (e.g., fluidized bed) may be deployed as the second stage. Removal of the surface moisture also helps fluidize the material well aside from reducing the size of the fluidized bed unit.
gas for collection in a cyclone or baghouse. This process is yet to be commercialized, however.
gently rolling fluidized bed at the bottom of the inner drum as the drying gas is introduced. The resulting heat and mass transfer rates are much greater than those achieved in a conventional rotary dryer. This may reduce the size of the dryer by up to 50 percent. However, the added complexity of the equipment increases the initial cost. Product handling is gentler and hence results in less attrition.
When an alternating electromagnetic field is applied to a lossy dielectric material, heat is generated due to friction of the excited molecules with asymmetric charges, e.g., water. This is a result of ionic conduction or dipole oscillations (Strumillo and Kudra, 1986). The radio frequency range extends from 1-300 MHz while the microwave range is from 300 to 3000 MHz. However, only specific frequency ranges are permitted for industrial heating applications, i.e., ranges 13.56, 27.12 and 40 MHz for RF and 915 (896 in Europe) and 2450 MHz for MW. Bound and free waters have different loss factor. Since loss factors increase with temperature there is a danger of runaway, i.e., an accelerated heating rate causing a thermal damage to the material. Table 6 summarizes the basic characteristics of MW and RF techniques. The main limitation of MW and RF drying is that the technique is highly capital-intensive. It also consumes high-grade energy, i.e., electricity, and the conversion efficiency to dielectric field is only in the order of 50%. Thus, these techniques are suited only for special applications involving very high value products, extremely long drying time to remove traces of moisture or to obtain products of special characteristics not obtained otherwise. It is therefore not surprising that MW/RF drying is used only in special niche applications. Further, these techniques are used mainly to boost drying capacity (to remove free water rapidly without generation of large thermal gradients in the material) or to remove the last few percent of water which comes out very slowly. Generally, dielectric heating is combined with convection or vacuum to reduce the energy consumption. Microwave vacuum drying and microwave freeze drying are among the commercial drying technologies that have so far found some applications. Microwave freeze drying is typically carried out at temperatures well below the triple point of water. Typical conditions are: pressure in the range of 500 Pa and temperature of 40o C. Use of excessive power as well as maldistribution of power due to nonhomogeneities in the frozen solids can cause problem in MW drying. The main hurdle to commercialization of MW freeze drying is the high cost. Numerous laboratory and pilot scale studies have been reported on MW drying at atmospheric as well as vacuum conditions. It is also possible to pipe microwave energy in various dryer configurations, e.g., fluidized bed, spouted bed, vibrated bed or tray dryers, to enhance convective drying rates. Unfortunately, while all these techniques do provide significant enhancement of the drying time required, the initial and operating costs are such that the enhancement obtained does not offset the added cost. Drying of treated grapes in combined microwave and convection dryer has been shown to be very rapid and energy-efficient. However, the costs ate prohibitively high.
CLOSING REMARKS
The reader probably now has a sense of the bewildering array of dryer designs that one could possibly use for a given application. As noted in Chapter 2, selection of dryers and drying systems is not a task to be taken lightly since it can lead to major costs and even catastrophic failures. Since the dryer will typically last 25-40 years in operation, the incremental cost (in terms of capital costs, operating costs, loss of productivity, loss of product quality, etc.) persists over a long period. One must devote the necessary time,
effort and even budget to the selection phase to avoid paying for it over the lifetime of the dryer. Retrofitting an existing malfunctioning dryer can be expensive with long payback times. It is strongly suggested that the newly emerging technologies of drying should be evaluated closely before selecting the time-honored drying schemes. Finally, the user is encourages to make the preliminary selection of one or more possible systems before enlisting the assistance of a vendors who typically specialize is a narrow range of drying equipment for obvious reasons.
REFERENCES
Filkova, I., Mujumdar, A.S, 1995, Industrial Spray Drying Systems, pp. 263-307, in A.S. Mujumdar (Ed.) Handbook of Industrial Drying, 2nd Edition, Marcel Dekker, New York. Strumillo, C., Kudra, T., 1986, Drying: Principles, Applications and Design, Gordon and Breach, New York. Liapis, A.I., Bruttini, R., 1995, Freeze Drying, pp. 309-343, in A.S. Mujumdar (Ed.) Handbook of Industrial Drying, 2nd Edition, Marcel Dekker, New York. Masters, K., 1991, Spray Drying Handbook, Longman Scientific & Technical, Burnt Mill, Essex. Moore, J.G., 1995, Drum Dryers, pp. 249-262, in A.S. Mujumdar (Ed.) Handbook of Industrial Drying, 2nd Edition, Marcel Dekker, New York. Mujumdar, A.S. (Ed.), 1995, Handbook of Industrial Drying, 2nd Edition, Marcel Dekker, New York.
CHAPTER
FOUR
1. INTRODUCTION
As an operation of pre-historic origin, one would normally not associate drying with innovation. Since whatever products need to be dried currently are being dried with existing technology (some literally centuries old) it is often hard to justify the need for innovation and concomitant need for R&D in drying and dewatering to the layman. This is reflected in the relatively low level of R&D resources drying is able to attract as opposed to some of the exotic bio-separation processes, which on an economic scale may be an order-of-magnitude less significant. It is interesting to note, however, that some 250 patents the titles of which contain words dryer, drier or drying in them are issued by the US Patent Office each year. Only about ten percent or less of this number is being issued in some of the other unit operations, e.g., membrane separations, crystallization, adsorption, distillation. There appears to exist a negative correlation between a current level of industrial interest and academic research activity, at least as measured by the number of publications in the archival literature. It is instructive to start our discussion here with a definition of innovation, types of innovation and then identifying the need for innovation in drying as well as the features common to some of the novel drying technologies. Finally, we close by briefly mentioning some of the novel technologies developed in the past decade or two. At the outset, it is important to recognize that novelty per se is not an adequate justification for embracing new
technology; it must be technically feasible and cost-effective compared to the current technology.
Notice that it does not use adjectives like better, superior, improved, more costeffective, higher quality, etc., to qualify an innovation. In our vocabulary, however, we are not interested in innovation for the sake of novelty or even originality of concept but for the sake of some other positive economic attributes. I prefer instead the following definition given by Howard and Guile (1992): A process that begins with an invention, precedes with development of the invention, and results in the introduction of new product, process or service in the marketplace To make it into a free marketplace, the innovation must be cost-effective. What are the motivating factors for innovation? For drying technologies, I offer the following list; one or more of the following attributes may call for an innovative replacement of existing products, operation or process. New product or process not made or invented heretofore Higher capacities than current technology permits Better quality and quality control than currently feasible Reduced environmental impact Safer operation Better efficiency (resulting in lower cost) Lower cost (overall)
Innovation is crucial for their very survival of industries with short time scales (or life cycles) of products/processes, i.e., a short half-life (less than one year, as in the case of some electronic and computer products). For longer half-lives (e.g., 10-20 years typical of drying technologies) innovations come slowly and less readily accepted. The management of innovation depends on the stage it is at. Thus, Initially, value comes from rapid commercialization Later, value comes from enhancing product, process or service
At maturity, value may come from discontinuing and embracing newer technology.
Note that management must be agreeable to discontinuing a currently viable technology in the interest of future of the company if the technology has reached its asymptotic limit of performance. This principle applies to all technologies. Numerous studies have appeared in the literature on the fundamental aspects of the process of innovation. One of the models of the innovation process assumes a linear progress from (a) discovery of laws of nature to (b) invention to (c) development of a marketable product or process in this order. It is well known, however, that some of the truly remarkable revolutionary technologies evolved well before the fundamental physics or chemistry responsible for their success was worked out. I believe that true innovation is nonlinear even chaotic trial-and-error, serendipitous process. Therefore, it is difficult to teach innovation in a logical sense although one could presumably encourage creativity or try to remove blockages in the process of creativity. What may be classified as innovations can represent different characteristics. Following is a list of the quality parameters of innovations in general (Howard and Guile, 1992): Innovation establishes an entirely new product category Innovation is the first of its type in a product category already in existence Innovation represents significant improvement in existing technology Innovation is a modest improvement in existing product/process
Innovations trigger technological changes, which may be revolutionary or evolutionary. From our experience, we know that the latter are more common. They are often based on adaptive designs, have shorter gestation periods, shorter times for market acceptance and are typically a result of market-pull something the marketplace demands, i.e., a need exists currently for the product or process. These usually result from a linear model of the innovation process (an intelligent modification of the dominant design is an example). Revolutionary innovations, on the other hand, are few and far between, have longer gestation periods, may have larger market resistance and are often a result of technology-push, where development of a new technology elsewhere prompts design of a new product or process for which market demand may have to be created. They are riskier and often require larger R&D expenditures as well as sustained marketing efforts. The time from concept to market can be very long for some new technologies. It is well known that the concept of a helicopter appeared some 500 years before the first helicopter took to the air. The idea of using superheated steam as the drying medium was well publicized over one hundred years ago, yet its real commercial potential was first realized only about fifty years ago and that too not fully. In fact it is not fully understood even today! Most recent example of this long gestation period is the Condebelt drying process for high basis weight (thick grades) paperboard proposed and developed by late Dr. Jukka Lehtinen for Valmet Oy of Finland. It took a full twenty years of patient and high quality R&D before the process was first deployed successfully.
The vision required by the management teams of such organizations must be truly farsighted! It is natural to inquire if it is possible to predict or even estimate the best time when the marketplace requires an innovative technology or the mature technology of the day is ripe for replacement. Foster's well-known S curve (Figure 1; Foster, 1986), which gives a sigmoid relationship between product or process performance indicators and resources devoted to develop the corresponding technology, is a valuable tool for such tasks. When the technology matures (or is saturated in some sense), no amount of further infusion of R&D resources can enhance the performance level of that technology. When this happens (or even sooner), time is right to look for alternate technologies which should not be incremental improvements on the dominant design but truly new concepts, which once developed to their full potential, will yield a performance level well above that of the current one. As proven by Foster with the help of real world examples, the performance versus effort (resources) curve occurs in pairs when one technology is replaced by another. They represent discontinuity when one technology replaces another and industry moves from one S-curve to the next.
Resources
Performance
Table 1 Examples of new drying technologies developed through technology-push and market-pull
Technology-push* Microwave/RF/induction/ultrasonic drying Market-pull** Superheated steam dryers enhanced energy efficiency, better quality product, reduced environmental impact, safety, etc. Impulse drying/Condebelt drying of paper (also need technology-push)
Pulse combustion drying PC developed for propulsion and later for combustion applications Vibrating bed dryers originally deveCombined spray-fluid bed dryers to loped for solids conveying improve economics of spray drying Impinging streams (opposing jets) origi- Intermittent drying enhance efficiency nally developed for mixing, combustion applications *Technology originally developed for other applications applied to drying **Developed to meet current or further market demand
Interrupted electro-osmotic dewatering periodic interruption of power by shorting the electrodes. This process is more effective than the continuous one for fundamental reasons Combination of vacuum filtration with EOD both steady and intermittent applications Combined field dewatering EOD coupled with ultrasonic field Vibration-assisted micro-filtration superior to cross-flow filtration
While some of the above innovative concepts have been commercialized successfully, there is still a potential to improve and exploit them further. Some of these processes could be coupled with a batch drying operation similar to that of a conventional Nutsch filter or combined filter-dryer. Filter-dryers are batch units that avoid transfer of the contents from one unit to another and thus avoid potential of contamination a particularly attractive feature for the pharmaceutical industry. Novel dewatering techniques could be coupled with drying giving a synergistic benefit overall.
which have not been exploited fully yet. It is noteworthy that for particles with primarily internal resistance to heat and mass transfer (e.g., grains) use of intermittent heating of the spouting air as well as intermittent spouting can lead to a substantial saving in energy costs with possible improvement in quality. This is achieved in the rotating jet spouted bed (Jumah et al., 1996).
Bottlenecks for further development Fundamental; no technology exists for broadening field of application Fundamental/ technical: sheet delamination, paper quality
Commercial for bulky grades of paper; no research for other grades Several pilot plants; experiments with IR and induction heating; speed approx. 240-400 m/min. Large number of pilot scale experiments Pilot plant is being built with a length of 18 m and a web width of 0.7 m Not tested yet for paper drying Basic R&D; lab/pilot scale tests
Impulse drying
50-75%, depending on the in- and out-going consistency and the type of heating
Machinery manufacturers and large research institutes Machinery manufacturers and large research institutes One machinery manufacturer
Paper quality improvement, highspeed machinery, energy conservation, size of machinery Paper quality improvement, energy conservation, shorter machine possible High-speed operation, paper quality improvement, energy conservation, size of machinery Energy conservation, cost reduction Quality, energy conservation
Press drying
50-75%, depending on the in- and out-going consistency and the type of heating Approx. 20%
Medium: reduction of drying section. New equipment Medium: reduction of drying section. New equipment
Airless drying
Almost 100%
One small research institute (one to three persons) McGill Univ., VTT (Finland)
60-75%
Technical: air tightless with continuous drying Air infiltration at high machine speeds
Medium: reduction of drying section. New equipment Medium: reduction of drying section. New equipment
Because of the enormously capital-intensive nature of the papermachine it is difficult to introduce a totally new drying technology in a large scale. Most likely, the initial mill-scale testing will take place in smaller machines producing specialty papers and not commodities like newsprint, or tissue, where the potential benefits of successful deployment are enormous. The dilemma in introducing innovative technologies is that no one wants to be the first in the field due to the higher risk levels involved.
While much of the laboratory and pilot scale work in this area was done in the former USSR, no commercial ISD suppliers exist in the rest of the world. ISDs have strong potential to replace conventional flash dryers in some applications once the problems of scale-up are resolved. See Tamir (1992) for additional information on ISDs.
newer two-fluid sonic nozzles (Shah and Arora, 1996). It is easy to see the advantages of the sonic nozzle as it yields a smaller drying chamber, lower power consumption for atomization and also a better monodisperse powder. More recently, ultrasonic nozzles are being tested for high value, low production rate product applications (e.g., pharmaceutical, biotech products) using a spray chamber at low pressures. For high production rates two-stage or three-stage spray dryers are most cost-effective. The final stage (fluid bed or vibrated bed) can also granulate or agglomerate the product for easy handling, better rehydration characteristics, etc.
Table 3 Spray drying of emulsion-PVC. Effect of selection of atomizer on spray dryer performance: A Comparison between different atomizers
Parameter Dryer geometry Evaporation capacity (water) Chamber (D H) Number of nozzles Power for atomizer Capital cost Operating cost Rotary disk Conical/cylindrical H/D 1.2-1.5 1600 kg/h 6.5 m 8 m 1, 175-mm disk 15,000 rpm 25 W/kg slurry High Medium Two-fluid (sonic) Tall-form Cylindrical H/D 4 1600 kg/h 3.5 m 15 m 16 nozzles 4 bar pressure 20 W/kg slurry Medium Low Two-fluid (standard) Tall-form Cylindrical H/D 5 1600 kg/h 3 m 18 m 18 nozzles 4 bar pressure 80 W/kg slurry Medium High
To reduce the footprint of the drying system and fully contain the powder within the spray chamber, Niro A/S have introduced integrated particulate filters within the drying chamber near the roof of the dryer so that external cyclones are not needed (Masters, 1999). Figure 2 shows a spray dryer with a second stage dryer and a filter assembly at the top. Figure 3 compares the plant layouts for the conventional system versus the new integrated filter system. Design of the new atomizers which consume less power (e.g., low rpm disk atomizers) or produce a more uniform spray (e.g., sonic or ultrasonic nozzles) are central to advances in spray drying technology. Operation under vacuum or using superheated steam may also find niche applications as a result of some unique properties such processing may impart to the powders produced. Finally, multistage operations involving spray drying as the first stage to remove the surface moisture and hence the surface stickiness of the particles as well as to engineer the product size and geometry, followed by less-expensive drying technologies such as fluid bed, vibrated bed, through circulation conveyor drying, will no doubt become increasingly common in the future.
Batch dryers are commonly used to dry small quantities or when the drying times are very long (of the order of several hours, days or even months as in the case of some certain wood drying applications). They are common in the pharmaceutical industry for the former reason while they are used in the wood industry and for freeze drying of ultraheat-sensitive products in the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries for the latter reason. Some dryers can operate in both batch and continuous modes, e.g., fluid beds. On the other hand, most continuous dryers cannot operate in the batch mode, e.g., spray, rotary, flash dryers. There is a limited choice of dryers for batch drying.
Figure 2 Spray drying chamber with integrated fluid bed and particulate filters
Figure 3 Plant layouts. (A) Conventional layout (B) Powder containment layout
Among some of the recent developments in batch drying one may cite the following: Combined filtration and drying in a single unit, e.g., Nutsch dryers used in the pharmaceutical industry to minimize chances of contamination during transfer of a wet cake from a filter to a dryer. Use of intermittent and/or time-dependent drying, e.g., varying the drying air temperature or velocity with time to match the requirements of the instantaneous drying kinetics. The drying air temperature can be varied from a higher initial value in the constant rate drying regime when the surface moisture is being removed to a lower value when the critical moisture is reached. For heat-sensitive materials reducing the heat input as the moisture content decreases ensures that the product temperature will not exceed a prespecified permissible value during drying. Numerous studies have been reported in the literature on intermittent drying using variable air temperature, air velocity, pressure of drying chamber as well as intermittent supply of other forms of energy, e.g., microwave or infrared radiation. The possibilities are immense and limited only by the imagination of the designer.
CLOSING REMARKS
A summary is provided on a selection of novel drying processes as well as trends in drying technologies. No pretense is made that the list is all-inclusive; it is only illustrative. Some of the common features of innovations are identified. There is need for further R&D and evaluation of new concepts. A collaborative interaction between academia and industry is most likely to lead to improved drying and dewatering technologies of the future. Most innovations are likely to be evolutionary and driven by market-pull. There will be fewer revolutionary innovations driven by technology-push because the market penetrability of such innovations is difficult and unpredictable. Since many of the conventional drying technologies have reached or are close to maturity further influx of R&D is unlikely to yield major dividends in several of these areas. R&D investment is needed in the development of new technologies and understanding of the existing ones so that they may be scaled-up and optimized confidently. While no mention was made here of the role of basic research to enhance the fundamental understanding of drying and dryers it is indeed a key factor in identifying and testing new drying concepts and dryer designs. If mathematical models of drying could be developed that considered not only the transport phenomena but also product quality predictions they could be a valuable engineering design tool for development of novel dryers. In the meantime, it is necessary to test and validate new concepts of drying in the laboratory and if successful then on a pilot scale. The willingness of industry to accept a certain amount of risk will be central to the development of new drying technologies in the coming decade.
REFERENCES
Chinnock, P.S., Page, R.H., 1994, Turbulent Heat Transfer with a SOJIN, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Turbulence, Heat and Mass Transfer, Lisbon, Portugal, pp. 15.41-15.46. de Beers, J., Worrell, E., Blok, K., 1998, Long-Term Energy-Efficiency Improvements in the Paper and Board Industry, Energy, 23, pp. 21-42. Devahastin, S., Mujumdar, A.S., 1999, Batch Drying of Grains in a Well-mixed DryerEffect of Continuous and Stepwise Change in Drying Air Temperature, Transactions of the ASAE, 42, pp. 421-425. Foster, R., 1986, Innovation - The Attacker' s Advantage, Summit Books, New York. Gawrzynski, Z., Glaser, R., 1996, Drying in a Pulsed-Fluid Bed with Relocated Gas Stream, Drying Technology-An International Journal, 14, pp. 1121-1172. Howard, W.G., Guile, B.R. (Eds.), 1992, Profiting from Innovation, The Free Press, New York. Hosseinalipour, S.M., Mujumdar, A.S., 1997, A Model for Superheated Steam Drying of Particles in an Impinging Stream Dryer, pp. 537-574, in I. Turner, A.S. Mujumdar (Eds.) Mathematical Modeling and Numerical Techniques in Drying Technology, Marcel Dekker, New York. Jumah, R.Y., Mujumdar, A.S., Raghavan, G.S.V., 1996, Batch Drying Kinetics of Corn in a Novel Rotating Jet Spouted bed, Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 74, pp. 479-486. Kudra, T., Mujumdar, A.S., 1995, Impinging Stream Dryers, pp. 539-566, in A.S. Mujumdar (Ed.) Handbook of Industrial Drying, 2nd Edition, Marcel Dekker, New York. Kudra, T., Mujumdar, A.S., 2000, Advanced Drying Technologies, Marcel Dekker, New York. Masters, K., 1999, Full Containment Spray Drying, Drying Technology-An International Journal, 17, pp. 2341-2348. Shah, R.M., Arora, P.K., 1996, Two Fluid Nozzles and their Application in Spray Drying of E-PVC, pp. 1361-1366, in C. Strumillo, Z. Pakowski, A.S. Mujumdar (Eds.) Drying96: Proceedings of the Tenth International Drying Symposium, Lodz, Poland.
Tamir, A., 1992, Impinging Streams and Their Applications in Drying, pp. 209-223, in A.S. Mujumdar (Ed.) Drying' 92, Vol. 1, Elsevier, Amsterdam. von der Eltz, H-U., Schon, F., 1984, The Remaflam Process, pp. 350-364, in A.S. Mujumdar (Ed.) Drying' 84, Hemisphere, Washington. Yamato, Y., 1996, A Novel Rotary Dryer with Through Air Combination, pp. 624-630, in C. Strumillo, Z. Pakowski, A.S. Mujumdar (Eds.) Drying96: Proceedings of the Tenth International Drying Symposium, Lodz, Poland.