FROM SINGLE PARTICLE TO FLUID BED DRYING KINETICS

The concept of a normalized single particle drying curve has been integrated into a generic, heterogeneous fluid bed model in order to describe batch fluid bed drying. Drying curves have been measured for both single particles and fluid beds. Two different coarse-grained materials, aluminum silicate and a technical product, have been used. In general, fluid bed drying curves appear to be predictible on the basis of single particle data and with the help of the model. Dificulties may arise mainly with particles of low sphericity and a large initial moisture content. Model parameters are in the range indicated by general fluidization literature. However, Sherwood numbers for particle-to-fluid mass transfer in the- fluid bed are significantly lower than the values for single particles. This can hardly be attributed to bubbling and bypassing, since these effects have been explicitly accounted for in the model.     

Experimental study and simulation of vibrated fluidized bed drying

The paper addresses numerical simulation for the case of convective drying of seeds (fine-grained materials) in a vibrated fluidized bed, analyzing agreement between the numerical results and the results of corresponding experimental investigation. In the simulation model of unsteady simultaneous one-dimensional heat and mass transfer between gas phase and dried material during drying process it is assumed that the gas-solid interface is at thermodynamic equilibrium, while the drying rate (evaporated moisture flux) of the specific product is calculated by applying the concept of a “drying coefficient”. Mixing of the particles in the case of vibrated fluidized bed is taken into account by means of the diffusion term in the differential equations, using an effective particle diffusion coefficient. Model validation was done on the basis of the experimental data obtained with narrow fraction of poppy seeds characterized by mean equivalent particle diameter (d_S,d = 0.75 mm), re-wetted with required (calculated) amount of water up to the initial moisture content (X₀ = 0.54) for all experiments. Comparison of the drying kinetics, both experimental and numerical, has shown that higher gas (drying agent) temperatures, as well as velocities (flow-rates), induce faster drying. This effect is more pronounced for deeper beds, because of the larger amount of wet material to be dried using the same drying agent capacity. Bed temperature differences along the bed height, being significant inside the packed bed, are almost negligible in the vibrated fluidized bed, for the same drying conditions, due to mixing of particles. Residence time is shorter in the case of a vibrated fluidized bed drying compared to a packed bed drying.     

Drying of Carrots in a Fluidized Bed. II. Design of a Model Based on a Modular Neural Network Approach

Abstract

The present paper deals with the design of a neural network type model for drying of carrots, which includes the associated transport mechanisms of the process. The model uses the operational variables and the time as input parameters. Two sub-layers of linear and sigmoidal nodes make up the hidden layer, to represent the external and internal resistances to the diffusion of water vapors during the drying process. The single output node weights the contribution of each mechanism of the drying process to predict the exit moisture content of the product. This model was used to predict the drying of carrot particles in a mechanically fluidized bed dryer reported in a previous paper [Reyes, A.; Alvarez, P.; Marquardt, F. Drying of carrots in a fluidized bed: I.- effects of drying conditions and modeling. Drying Technology 2002, 20 (7), 1463–1483.]. Simulated drying curves obtained with this model fits adequately the curves determined experimentally for the most operation conditions, which would indicate that this model is appropriate to be used for rough estimations in the design, the selection of optimal operational conditions, and the scaling up of dryers.     

Predicting drying kinetic and undesired agglomeration during drying of granules containing amorphous water-soluble substances in a continuous horizontal fluid bed dryer

Various industries use fluid bed dryers for the drying of larger granules produced by extrusion, pan agglomeration or spray granulation. During such drying processes secondary agglomeration is undesired due to an increasing amount of oversize particles. In the current study the drying of granules containing amorphous substances is modelled. The model is based on the laws of heat and mass transfer as well as heat and mass balances around a differential volume element of the fluid bed. For each location in the bed and for different drying parameters the calculated moisture and temperature values are used to estimate the surface viscosity of the granules. The calculated viscosity allows estimating the risk of secondary agglomeration of granules. Viscosity values which are estimated for different drying conditions are compared with the experimentally determined amount of oversize particles. An increasing amount of oversize particles can be observed if the viscosity of the amorphous substance is below 10⁴ Pa s.     

Bibliography of Literature on Fundamentals and Applications of Vibration in Particle Processing

This article describes the results of calculations of specific energy consumption, E _s , performed on a well-mixed fluidized bed dryer simulator. Exhaust air temperature–humidity loci required to yield a specified outlet moisture content were also determined. Most of the calculations related to solids whose drying rate was gas-film controlled. Six model drying curves were employed to examine the effects of drying rate and hygroscopicity in addition to the normal operating parameters. The results indicated that E _s was highest for slow-drying hygroscopic solids and lowest for fast-drying, non-hygroscopic solids. Specific energy consumption increased with decreasing bed temperature and outlet moisture content and with increasing heat loss but was independent of solids loading and airflow rate. For both the aforementioned solids and a much slower drying material (wheat), there was close agreement between the zero heat loss data and a single theoretical curve approximating the performance of an ideal adiabatic dryer. Distinct differences between the behavior of well-mixed and plug flow fluidized bed dryers are reported.     

Drying of Sodium Acetate in a Pulsed Fluid Bed Dryer

Sodium acetate crystals obtained from the reaction of acetic acid with sodium hydroxide are usually dried in rotary or fluidized beds. In this study, a batch pulsed fluid bed dryer with a 0.18 m² cross‐sectional area was used in an attempt to reduce energy consumption and increase productivity. Drying curves of sodium acetate were determined for different conditions: inlet air temperature of 65 and 80 °C and pulsation frequency of 0 rpm (conventional fluidized bed), 500 and 900 rpm (pulsed fluid bed). A 2² factorial design was used to analyze the results. The intermittent flow helped to break agglomerates and provided better contact between particles and the gas. Drying rates were higher under pulsed fluidization when compared to conventional fluidization. Conventional fluidized bed drying consumed 2.5 times more energy at 80 °C. The influence of temperature on the drying rate was also evident.     

HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER DURING DRYING OF A LIQUID FILM FROM THE SURFACE OF A SINGLE INERT PARTICLE

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the results of theoretical and experimental studies on drying of aqueous suspensions of finely dispersed solids sprayed over the surface of an inert ceramic sphere. The effects of temperature and air velocity on kinetics of heat and mass transfer as well as peeling off the layer of a dry material from the sphere surface are described. The mathematical model of a drying process based on simplified ?gradientless? approach to transfer phenomena is proposed. The adequacy of the model developed for drying of the wet coat from a single sphere to the real drying process taking place in a bed of particulate carrier is confirmed by results of drying of several organic dyestuffs in an industrial spouted bed dryer with inert particles.     

DYNAMIC EVALUATION OF THE DEHYDRATION RESPONSE CURVES OF FOODS CHARACTERIZED BY A POULTICE-UP PROCESS USING A FISH-PASTE SAUSAGE. II. A NEW TANK MODEL FOR A COMPUTER SIMULATION

For a computer simulation of dehydration curves of foods, a new tank model is proposed that uses fish-paste sausage for drying that is accompanied by a poultice-up process. The model is proposed separately and is dependent on the moisture contents in Regions I (W ₀ > 100%-d.b.) and II (W ₀ < 100%- d.b.) and described by a two-term exponential expression for the two-tank model in Region I and a single-term exponential expression for a single tank model in Region II. The dehydration constants that appeared in the two equations could be evaluated quantitatively by the TPD, NMR, and SEM data obtained. By using the model equations, all the dehydration curves obtained under any drying condition were simulated, and the calculated curves agreed satisfactorily with the experimental curves derived from various drying conditions.     

Numerical Study of Two-Stage Horizontal Spray Dryers Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

This article presents the findings of a numerical simulation model of the spray-drying process in a two-stage horizontal chamber design with the aid of a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model. The model describes heat, mass, and momentum transfer between two phases; namely, a continuous gas phase and a discrete phase of droplets (or particles), using the finite volume method. In this study, a new two-dimensional horizontal spray dryer (HSD) geometry is considered as a pilot study into the spray-drying process in this novel chamber configuration. The tested model is able to predict some important features of the spray-drying process, such as air flow patterns indicating recirculation zones and particle trajectory plots. Some performance parameters for spray drying, such as the rate of evaporation, average volumetric heat and mass transfer rates, etc., are calculated and discussed. This two-stage drying process especially applicable for the horizontal spray dryer (HSD) model is investigated and modeled. The bottom wall of the HSD is assumed to be a shallow fluid bed used for second stage drying. In this article, the fluid bed drying conditions are changed and compared. The drying within the fluid bed itself is not modeled in this study, however. It is shown that the particle residence time is higher when the fluid bed is included. The drying performance of this two-stage horizontal spray dryer is expected to be better than that of a single-stage dryer.     

Simulation of true moving bed adsorptive reactor: Detailed particle model and linear driving force approximations

A new true moving bed (TMB) adsorptive reactor model with a detailed particle approach is presented introducing the formulation of the mass balance for the solid phase in counter-current moving systems. The system studied here is the enzymatic inversion of sucrose into fructose and glucose and subsequent separation of glucose/fructose; the reaction occurs both in the outer fluid phase and inside particles. Model equations include film mass transfer, intra-particle diffusion resistance, axial dispersion for the outer fluid phase, plug flow of the solid phase and linear adsorption equilibrium of glucose/fructose. This new model is compared with previous LDF-type approximations for reactive systems and applied to pure separative TMB process. The numerical solution of model equations is obtained for transient and steady state with commercial and public domain packages (gPROMS and COLNEW). The influence of the particle size and reaction rate constant is analyzed in the (γ₂×γ₃) reactive/separation region.     

A NEW MODEL FOR FLUID BED DRYING

ABSTRACT

A new model is proposed which calculates fluid bed drying curves without any adaptation of the Sherwood number between panicles and gas. Even the fine-structure of experimental data, i.e. the influence of bed height and gas flow rate, is predicted reliably. This is achieved by considering backmixing of the suspension gas in the kinetic parameter and not in the driving potential. A traditional derivation with reduced driving potential fails in the comparison with experimental results.     

Numerical Study of Two-Stage Horizontal Spray Dryers Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

This article presents the findings of a numerical simulation model of the spray-drying process in a two-stage horizontal chamber design with the aid of a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model. The model describes heat, mass, and momentum transfer between two phases; namely, a continuous gas phase and a discrete phase of droplets (or particles), using the finite volume method. In this study, a new two-dimensional horizontal spray dryer (HSD) geometry is considered as a pilot study into the spray-drying process in this novel chamber configuration. The tested model is able to predict some important features of the spray-drying process, such as air flow patterns indicating recirculation zones and particle trajectory plots. Some performance parameters for spray drying, such as the rate of evaporation, average volumetric heat and mass transfer rates, etc., are calculated and discussed. This two-stage drying process especially applicable for the horizontal spray dryer (HSD) model is investigated and modeled. The bottom wall of the HSD is assumed to be a shallow fluid bed used for second stage drying. In this article, the fluid bed drying conditions are changed and compared. The drying within the fluid bed itself is not modeled in this study, however. It is shown that the particle residence time is higher when the fluid bed is included. The drying performance of this two-stage horizontal spray dryer is expected to be better than that of a single-stage dryer.     

Development of a tribolelectric procedure for the measurement of mixing and drying in a vibrated fluidized bed

Fluidization of fine, pharmaceutical powders makes them easier to dry, coat and mix. Fine powders, however, are difficult to fluidize well with gas flow only. Vibration can often help achieve smooth fluidization at a lower gas flow. The objective of the present study was, thus, to develop reliable and quick experimental methods to characterize mixing and drying in vibrated fluidized beds of fine powders.Effective mixing is critical in many industrial applications and, in gas-solid fluidized beds, requires gas velocities greater than the minimum bubbling velocity (U_mb). There are a number of techniques available for determining U_mb. However, they often are impossible or impractical to use in an industrial application. A new measurement technique involving the use of triboelectric probes was developed. Signal characteristics obtained from sophisticated signal analysis were used to identify the minimum bubbling velocities. These predictions corresponded well with the values obtained from more traditional laboratory methods such as the bed pressure gradient.In a fluidized bed, particles hitting a metal probe will generate a small triboelectric current. Triboelectric probes are able to detect rapid changes in particle surface properties. Surface properties of the particles were modified by wetting the particles in a low shear mixer. This change was detected by triboelectric probes at various locations inserted throughout the bed. The water adsorbed on the particles will begin to evaporate when exposed to the gas stream and the surface properties of the particles will gradually return to their original dry state. The triboelectric probes were able to monitor this drying process. The effects of vibration amplitude on the mixing and drying rate of the bed were also determined.     

Contact drying of mechanically agitated particulate material in the presence of inert gas

A model permitting the calculation of drying rates during contact drying of mechanically agitated particulate material in the presence of inert gas is introduced. The so-called penetration theory is used to calculate the heat transfer from the heating surface to the bed. The mixing intensity is described with an empirical parameter, the mixing number N_mix. Calculated drying rate curves are compared with drying rates measured in three different disc dryers.     

Drying Of Pastes In Spouted Beds Of Inert Particles: Design Criteria And Modeling

ABSTRACT

The drying of pastelike materials can be performed well in spouted beds (SB) of inert particles. In this work the drying performance of pastes in conical pastes in conical spouted beds is analyzed as a function of column dimensions, fluid flow characteristics and paste properties. imulated data on fluid flow together with the experimental results on drying of different pastelike materials are presented and discussed to provide criteria for the design of a conical spouted bed dryer for suspensions.     

EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF A MECHANICALLY STIRRED SPOUTED BED DRYER

ABSTRACT

In order to increase the movement of the particles in the annular region of a conical spouted bed, a mechanical stirrer was incorporated. This led to a study of the fluid dynamics of the conical spouted bed of inert particles under different operating conditions: mass of inert particles, ratio of inert particles to suspension volumes, type of stirrer (2 designs) and stirrer speed.

The action of the stirrers resulted in increased movement of the particles, especially at low rpm values (≤ 90 rpm), with the loss of the annular region, and thus approaching the beds behavior to that of a fluidized bed. To characterize this novel type of spouted beds, the “minimum spouting flow” (Q_ms) parameter which is used usually was replaced by the “minimum pseudo-fluidizing flow” (Qmpr). The value of Q_mpf decreases when the agitation in the bed increases. A correlation for Q_mpf with the different operating conditions was developed.

Drying suspensions in the stirred spouted bed shows a considerable increase of drying capacity, over units without agitation.     

Diffusion-Controlled Batch Drying of Particles in a Novel Rotating Jet Annular Spouted Bed

Abstract

Results are presented for batch drying of rewetted wheat (used as model particles) in a newly developed annular spouted bed in which the drying air jet rotates slowly thus spouting bed intermittently. For particles drying in the falling rate period intermittent spouting is shown to result in significant energy savings with small increase in the drying time. A finite element simulation is employed to evaluate the effective moisture diffusivity of the test material which is nonspherical in geometry. Further, advantages of variable spouting and heating of the spouting air are demonstrated by a parametric study of the simulation model.     

Microwave-Assisted Atmospheric Freeze Drying of Green Peas: A Case Study

Atmospheric freeze drying (AFD) is based on the sublimation of ice due to a pressure gradient (convective drying), and is a dehydration process for temperature-sensitive products. Since the process is slow in general, microwave radiation (MW) was applied in order to increase the sublimation in fluid and fixed bed conditions at drying temperatures of ?6°C, ?3°C, and 0°C. The modified Weibull model was used to describe the drying behavior for all investigations. With 280 Watt power supplied to the magnetrons, it was possible to reduce drying time by approximately 50%. The drying efficiency was approximately 30%, while the SMER was increased by 0.1 to 0.3 kg_waterkWh^?1, which gives better energy efficiency for the microwave drying system used in this investigation. The product quality (color reduction and particle size/porosity) was well preserved in fixed bed drying at ?6°C and ?3°C, while the product quality was reduced significantly in microwave AFD experiments at 0°C and in a fluid bed. The drying rates of AFD in a fluid bed condition were not as high as those in a fixed bed. MW-AFD in a fixed bed condition at temperatures of ?6°C and ?3°C performed best regarding product quality, drying time, and process control.     

Thermal breakthrough analysis for determination of energy equilibrium data in a fluidized bed

The aim of this work was to predict energy equilibrium values in a bench-scale fluidized bed (FB: 105 × 200 mm), using a thermal breakthrough analysis (TBA). For this purpose, a simple “unsteady state” energy balance was proposed by harnessing dynamic model approach on the basis of heat exchange between the bed and the gas. To investigate thermal behavior of the bed, low temperature runs at different flow rates (5.2 ≤ Q₀, m³ h⁻¹ ≤ 7.4) and heating rates (97 ≤ q, kJ h⁻¹ ≤ 765) were carried out. FB was heated by means of an electrical heater (10 × 50 mm) horizontally immersed into the bed particles for heating period and then the power input was terminated for cooling period. The bed temperatures (T_B) were continuously measured for obtaining thermal breakthrough curves for all periods. Temperature-time data were used for extracting bed-to-gas heat transfer film coefficients (h_BG) from linear forms of proposed model. The model was also employed for calculating amounts of shared energies by fluidized bed phases (q_y − q_x). A good agreement between experimental values and model values of T_B was found. The results were thus confirmed by proposed model. The latter may be successfully used to predict energy equilibrium data for e.g. drying or combustion.