DRYER DESIGN

AGEN/CHEN-474 UNIT OPERATIONS IN FOOD PROCESSING

SPRAY DRYER-SD
in a SD, foods are transformed from pumpable liquid into powder the liquid is pumped through a nozzle, where it is atomized the droplets are dried by hot air as they fall to the bottom of the chamber

SPRAY DRYER
feed air heater atomizer air out

air broom

air out

product out

SPRAY DRYING
advantageous for heat sensitive products because the particles are never subjected to a temperature higher than the wet-bulb temperature of the drying air particles residence time is short (3 - 30 s)

SPRAY DRYING OPERATION

is divided into 3 distinct processes - atomization -drying through the contact between the droplets and heated air -collection of the product by separating it from the drying air

ATOMIZATION
the type of atomizer is important because it determines: the energy required to form the spray, size and distribution of the droplets, available heat transfer area, drying rate, droplet speed and trajectory, and final product size types: hydraulic nozzles and rotary nozzles

Pressure Atomizer
used to create droplets by forcing the liquid trough a small orifice (0.4-4mm) maximum flow rate of 1L/h pressure range from 300 to 4000 psig seldom used when feed is highly concentrated (clogging) droplets have narrow range of diameter and the dried product consists of hollow spheres operating costs lower than rotary nozzles

Rotary Atomizer
liquid is fed to the center of the spinning wheel under centrifugal force droplets are guided and shaped by vanes in the wheel droplets are projected horizontally away at 100 to 200 m/s with angular velocities of 10,000 to 30,000 rpm used for slurries and paste (no clogging) produces homogeneous spray mean particle diameter can be controlled by varying rotational speed widely used in the food industry because it can handle a wide range of liquid viscosities and physical property

1- DROPLET-SIZE CALCULATION
vary with nozzle type and feed material estimation can be with following equations, but actual test is required for rotating wheel atomizers:

l L Da =12.2 10 r Nr2 2 l
4

0.6

0.2

0.1

Da=average particle size (m) = surface tension of liquid (lb/min 2 ) l = liquid density (lb/ft 3 ) r = disk radius (ft) = spray mass velocity per foot of disk periphery (lb/ft.min) N = disk speed (rpm) L = disk periphery (ft)

1- DROPLET-SIZE CALCULATION
for pressure atomizers it requires only the pressure drop across the nozzle

500 Da = 1/ 3 P
Da=average particle size (m) P = pressure drop across the nozzle (psi)

2- DRYER CHAMBER DESIGN

depends on the type of atomizer, the airflow pattern, the production rate, when drying heat sensitive product, the temperature profile of the air in the chamber the shape of the drying chamber is a fnc of the droplets trajectory angle as they leave the atomizer the chamber must be sized so that the largest droplets is dry before it contacts a wall

Range of Droplets and Particle Sizes obtained in Spray Dryers (m)

rotating wheels pressure nozzles pneumatic nozzles milk coffee 1-600 10-800 6-300 30-250 80-400

3 - AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT
varies with spray dryer design most common are air heaters and fans most common heater in FI is steam heater (saturated steam at 150 to 200C is used to heat the air up to 10C bellow the steam temperature) centrifugal fans because they produce high air flow rates

4- AIRFLOW PATTERNS
3 airflow patterns: concurrent, countercurrent, mixed flow
concurrent F S G countercurrent F G P G G S G P

4- AIRFLOW PATTERNS
mixed (combined) most used for heat-sensitive product is the concurrent because G product temperature is less than inlet air temperature if high-density products G F countercurrent if size of dryer is limited - mixed S G flow P

5- CALCULATION OF HEAT INPUT

q = ha (T ) As
ha = dry air film coefficient (J/m^2K) = temperature of solid (K) T = temperature of thedry air (K) As = surface area of the solid (m^2)

6- CALCULATION OF THERMAL EFFICIENCY

=
& G(T Twb )CPA + m( Twb )CPF & M CH h fg

MCH=chamber evaporation capacity (kg water/s) hfg = latent heat of vaporization (J/kg) G = airflow rate (kg/s) m = feed flow rate (kg/s) . CPA = heat capacity of air (J/kgK) CPF = heat capacity of the feed (J/kgK) T = air temperature (C) = feed temperature (C)

7- PRODUCT COLLECTION
if the product separates from the air at the bottom of the conical chamber, it is removed through a auger it is common to product to remain entrained in the air stream, so cyclones are used to recover the product

8- USE OF SPRAY DRYERS

flavor encapsulation: food flavorings are combined with gums and carbohydrates before drying to prevent loss of volatile

9- FOOD QUALITY FACTORS

volatile retention is a problem with SD - loss of volatile is minimized by increasing the particle diameter (as), decreasing feed temperature (lower the liquid-phase diffusion coefficient), and decreasing the air temperature (minimizing particle expansion) thermal degradation is a problem for droplets that remain in the hot portion of the dryer for too long

10- Drying Time

t=

h d

2 L fg o

8ka(T Twb)

d h (Mcr Me)
2 p c fg

k 12 aTave

do = initial diameter of droplet (m) dc = droplet diameter at critical moisture Mcr (m) ka = thermal conductivity of air (W/mK)
DTave = average temp. difference between air and product (C)

FLASH OR PNEUMATIC DRYERS

in a PD the food, powder or particles, is continuously dried in a vertical duct while being conveyed by the heated air one or more cyclones are used to separate the dried material from the exhaust air small particle sizes (less than 2 mm) and concurrent operation allow the use of relatively air temperatures without overheating the product

SCHEMATIC OF A PNEUMATIC DRYER

wet product fan feeder cyclone exhaust air

burner fan

dry product

VELOCITY CALCULATIONS
two limit velocities are important in fluidization and pneumatic transport of solids, the fluidization velocity, vf, and entrainment velocity, ve

gD p ( w ) = 180 (1 )
2

ve =

gD

( s

18