Application of computational fluid dynamics to spray

drying
Simon Lo

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Simon Lo. Application of computational fluid dynamics to spray drying. Le Lait, INRA Editions,
2005, 85 (4-5), pp.353-359. <hal-00895610>

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 Lait 85 (2005) 353–359
© INRA, EDP Sciences, 2005 353
DOI: 10.1051/lait:2005024
Original article

Application of computational fluid dynamics

to spray drying

Simon LO*

CD adapco, 200 Shepherds Bush Road, London W6 7NY, UK

Published online 5 July 2005

Abstract – In the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of spray dryers, the Euler-Lagrange
model is used to compute the motions of the spray droplets and the heat and mass transfers between
the droplets and the air stream. Such calculations are performed for hundreds to tens of thousands
of droplets to represent the spray in the dryer. One limiting factor in drying mass transfer is the internal
diffusion of water moisture inside partially dried particles. In order to model this internal diffusion
of water moisture, each particle is represented by a series of concentric spherical shells. A one-dimen-
sional diffusion equation is solved over these shells to obtain the internal distribution and diffusion
of water moisture inside each particle. A key strength of CFD is the ability to carry out what-if and
optimization analyses quickly. As an example, a dryer with a given set of feed conditions was con-
sidered. CFD simulations were carried out with the aim to find the optimum condition for the drying
air. Key information of interest to the plant operator were extracted from the CFD results and pre-
sented in percentages of particles leaving the particle and air exits, and the particle conditions at these
exits in terms of mean diameter, temperature and moisture content. From these results, the operator
of the dryer can easily select the optimum operating conditions, which allows him to achieve the
desired product quality at minimum cost.

spray drying / simulation / computational fluid dynamics

Résumé – Application de la dynamique des fluides calculée par ordinateur (CFD) au séchage
par atomisation. Dans l’analyse de la dynamique des fluides dans les tours de séchage par atomi-
sation, le modèle d’Euler-Lagrange est utilisé pour calculer les déplacements des gouttelettes et les
transferts de chaleur et de masse entre les gouttelettes et le flux d’air. Ces calculs sont réalisés pour
des centaines à des dizaines de milliers de gouttelettes pour représenter la pulvérisation dans la tour
de séchage. Un facteur limitant dans le transfert de masse au cours du séchage est la diffusion interne
d’eau à l’intérieur des particules partiellement séchées. Pour modéliser cette diffusion interne d’eau,
chaque particule est représentée par une série de coquilles sphériques concentriques. La résolution
d’une équation de diffusion mono-dimensionnelle sur ces sphères permet d’obtenir la distribution
et la diffusion interne d’eau dans chaque particule. Un atout majeur de la CFD réside dans la possiblité
de mener rapidement des analyses d’évaluation et d’optimisation. Par exemple, un équipement de
séchage avec un jeu donné de paramètres d’alimentation a été étudié. Les simulations CFD ont été
réalisées dans le but de déterminer les conditions optimales pour l’air de séchage. Les informations-
clés d’intérêt pour l’opérateur ont été extraites des résultats de CFD et présentées en pourcentages
de particules quittant les sorties, et les caractéristiques des particules à ces sorties en termes de dia-
mètre moyen, de température et de teneur en humidité. A partir de ces résultats, l’opérateur de la

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Article published by EDP Sciences and available at http://www.edpsciences.org/lait or http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/lait:2005024

354 S. Lo

tour de séchage peut aisément sélectionner les conditions opératoires optimales lui permettant d’obte-
nir la qualité désirée du produit au moindre coût.

séchage par atomisation / modélisation / dynamique des fluides

1. INTRODUCTION 2.1. Internal diffusion of moisture

Applications of computational fluid The external transport phenomena (from

dynamics (CFD) techniques in analyses of particle surface to surrounding air) and the
spray dryers have been carried out success- internal transport phenomena (with the par-
fully and reported by Straatsma et al. [5], ticles) both play an important role in the
Oakley et al. [4] and others. Most of these drying process.
earlier works assume the flows in the dryers Following Crank [3], the diffusion of
are two-dimensional and axisymmetric in moisture within a droplet is expressed by:
order to reduce the demand on computa-
∂c 1 ∂ 2 ∂c
----- = ----2 -----  r D -----
tional resources. The DrySim CFD soft-
(1)
ware developed by Straatsma et al. [5] is an ∂t r ∂r  ∂r
excellent example of these two-dimen-
sional simulation tools. where r is the radial coordinate, c is the
In collaboration with Straatsma et al. at moisture concentration (kg·m–3), and D is
Nizo food research, we have integrated the the diffusion coefficient (m2·s–1).
DrySim model into a commercial CFD soft-
ware, STAR-CD, so that we can apply the 2.2. Water diffusion coefficient
same modelling technology to fully three-
dimensional geometries. In this paper, we The diffusion coefficient is strongly
will present some details of the mathemat- dependent on the local moisture content and
ical model used and examine some of the temperature. According to Straatsma et al.
results obtained from the CFD simulations. [5] for dairy powders the following equa-
tions can be use to describe the diffusion
coefficient (D) as a function of moisture
2. MATHEMATICAL MODEL content (W) and temperature (T):

The modelling technique used is gener- b 1,T

ln(DW) = a1,T – --------------------- (2)
ally referred as the Euler-Lagrange method, c 1,T + W
in which the conservation equations for
mass, momentum and energy for the gas and
flow in the dryer are expressed in the Eulerian b 2,W
form and the droplets in the Lagrangian form. ln(DT) = a2,W + ----------- (3)
T
The complete description of these govern-
ing equations and equations representing where a1, b1, c1, a2 and b2 are product
the interactions between the two phases via specific model constants.
drag forces, heat and mass transfers and tur-
bulence can be found in the STAR-CD 2.3. External mass transfer
Methodology Manual [2].
For spray drying applications, the dry- The rate of evaporation at the droplet
ing model is of critical importance. There- surface depends on the partial water pres-
fore we will examine some details of the sure in the droplet surroundings and the par-
drying model below. tial water pressure at the droplet surface.
 Computational fluid dynamics in spray drying 355

The rate of mass transfer (kg·s–1) is there- of the air, xa, expressed as kg_water/kg_dry
fore: air:
M̃ w P w, s P w, ∞ xm
m· = γ A --------  -----------
- – ------------- (4) xa = --------------- (7)
R̃  T T  d ∞
1 – xm

where γ is the mass transfer coefficient, A = where xm is the moisture content based on
πd2 is the surface area of the droplet, R̃ is the total mass (kg_water/kg_water+air).
the universal gas constant, M̃ w is the molec- The water vapour partial pressure in the
ular weight of water, P w, s is the partial free-stream is therefore given by:
pressure of the water vapour in equilibrium
with the powder, P w, ∞ is the water vapour xa Pt
P w, ∞ = -------------------
- (8)
partial pressure in the free-stream, T d is the M̃ w
temperature of the droplet and T ∞ is the gas -------- + x a
temperature in the free-stream. M̃ a
where M̃ a is the molecular weight of air
2.4. Sorption isotherms and P t is the total pressure.
The partial water pressure at the droplet
surface is related to the surface moisture con- 2.7. Heat and mass transfer
tent and the droplet temperature by sorption coefficients
isotherms. For dairy products (and other food
products), the GAB (Guggenheim, Ander- The heat transfer coefficient, h, is given
son, de Boer) equation is widely used [5]: by Ranz-Marshall correlation for a sphere,

W= hd 1⁄ 2 1⁄ 3
Nu = ------ = 2 + 0.6Re Pr (9)
( cg – 1 ) · K · aw K · aw k
Wm· ------------------------------------------------- + ------------------------  (5)
1 + ( cg – 1 ) · K · aw 1 – K · aw
where Nu is the Nusselt number, d is the
where aw is the water activity, W the powder particle diameter, k is the thermal conduc-
moisture content and Wm, cg and K product tivity of the gas phase. The droplet Rey-
specific constants. These constants can be nolds number is given by:
temperature dependent. ρ ud – u d
Re = ------------------------ (10)
2.5. Partial water vapour pressure µ
at droplet surface and the Prandtl number by:
Water activity is the ratio of the partial µ Cp
pressure of water vapour in equilibrium Pr = ---------- (11)
k
with the powder (P w, s ) to the vapour pres-
sure of pure water at the same temperature where ρ is the density, Cp is the heat capac-
( P wa ). Hence, ity and µ is the viscosity of the gas phase.
ud and u are the velocities of the droplet and
P w, s = a w P wa . (6) the gas, respectively.
The mass transfer coefficient, γ , is
2.6. Partial water vapour pressure found from the equivalent correlation:
in the free-stream
γ d = 2 + 0.6Re1 ⁄ 2 Sc 1 ⁄ 3 (12)
The partial water vapour pressure in the Sh = ----------
D AB
free-stream is based on the moisture content
356 S. Lo

Figure 1. Spray dryer with computed particle

tracks.

where Sh is the Sherwood number, DAB is (6) Run the solver to obtain a converged
the diffusivity of water in air. The Schmidt solution.
number is given by: (7) Analyse the solution and produce a per-
µ formance report of the dryer.
Sc = -------------- . (13)
ρ D AB This sequence of steps together with the
model equations described above provide
us a well defined methodology in applying
3. CFD ANALYSIS AND RESULTS CFD in spray drying analyses. This meth-
odology has been encapsulated, with the
3.1. CFD analysis steps defined above automated, in a CFD
software called “es-spraydry” [1] where
In every CFD analysis, it is necessary to “es” stands for expert-system tool.
go through several steps to build the com-
putational model, carry out the computation
3.2. Case study
and analysing the results as follows:
(1) Define the shape and dimensions of the We have a simple dryer shown in
dryer. Figure 1. The outer diameter of the dryer is
(2) Specify the inlet and outlet configura- 9.5 m and an overall height of 14 m. There
tions. are one central air inlet and four circular air
outlets. A rotary wheel atomiser spinning at
(3) Define the atomiser and the spray char- 2600 rpm is used for the atomisation of the
acteristics. feed. The droplets produced are assumed to
(4) Specify the flow rates of feed and drying have a log-normal size distribution and a
air. mean diameter of 100 µm with a geometric
(5) Build a computational mesh. standard deviation of 0.6.
 Computational fluid dynamics in spray drying 357

Table I. Summary of model data. conditions exiting the dryer at the particle
and air exits. Several CFD calculations
Material processed = milk powder were performed with different air flow rates,
Dry solid density at 20 °C = 1542 kg·m–3 the results are summarized in Table II.
Water diffusion coefficients according to equa-
tion (2)
The results were further analyzed against
At T = 283 K, a1 = –22.64, b1 = 0.8962,
the operation requirements graphically in
c1 = 0.03981
Figures 2 to 4. The range of air flow rates
At T = 343 K, a1 = –20.95, b1 = 0.6721, which satisfy the requirements are listed in
c1 = 0.05679 Table III. From the analysis we would select
Sorption isotherm, GAB coefficients according to use an air flow rate of 55 000 kg·h–1 for
to equation (5) minimum operating cost, in terms of cost in
Wm = 0.059, cg = 11.4, K = 1 supplying the drying air.

3.3. Computational details

The dryer is required to process a feed
at a rate of 4990 kg·h–1, a temperature of The CFD model used in the analysis has
25 °C and a solid content of 55% w/w. Dry- 20902 cells, 100 parcels of droplets were
ing air is to be supplied at 185 °C with a used to represent the spray. Converged
moisture content of 1% w/w. We need to solutions for all cases were obtained within
find the optimum air flow rate which will 200 iterations. The CPU times for the cases
satisfy the following requirements: range from 4000 to 7555 s on an Intel P3,
1.2 GHz computer.
(1) 90% of particles exit the bottom parti-
cle exit.
(2) Mean particle moisture content is less
4. CONCLUSION
than 9% w/w.
(3) Mean particle temperature is less than In this paper we reviewed the details of
100 °C. the drying model incorporated into the CFD
A summary of the model data used in calculations. The drying model includes a
the simulations is provided in Table I. From transport equation for the internal diffusion
the CFD results we monitored the particle of the water moisture inside each particle.

Table II. Particle conditions at exits.

Air flow Particle Exit Air Exit

% diameter Temperature Moisture % diameter temperature Moisture
kg·h–1 (µm) (°C) (% w/w) (µm) (°C) (% w/w)
45 000 87.1 125 72.7 12 12.9 72.3 100 3.3
50 000 87.1 126.2 83.2 11 12.9 63.7 103.8 2.3
53 000 90 124 87 10 10 65 104 3
55 000 91.5 120 90.4 9.1 8.5 86.2 107 3
60 000 88.7 122.8 96.3 9 11.3 76.6 113.1 2.2
63 000 90.5 120 101 8.1 9.5 88.9 116 2.5
65 000 88.8 122.6 102.3 8.9 11.2 78.7 117 1.9
70 000 76.3 125.6 105 8.6 23.7 90.2 121 2.2
358 S. Lo

Figure 2. Percentage of parti-

cles leaving dryer at particle
exit.

Figure 3. Average moisture

content of particles leaving
particle exit.

Figure 4. Average temperature

of particles leaving particle exit.

Table III. Determination of air flow rate satisfy operation requirement.

Requirement Air flow rate Plot

(kg·h–1)
(1) 90% of particles exit the bottom particle exit 53 000 – 65 000 Fig. 2.
(2) Mean particle moisture content less than 0.09 Greater than 55 000 Fig. 3.
(3) Mean particle temperature less than 100 ° C Less than 63 000 Fig. 4.
Satisfy all 3 conditions. 55 000 – 63 000
 Computational fluid dynamics in spray drying 359

Equations for the diffusion coefficient and to carry out systemic analysis of their dryers
sorption isotherm appropriate for daily and to ensure their dryers are operating at
products were described. optimum conditions.
A simple case study was used to illus-
trate the ability of CFD in performing opti-
mization analysis. The optimum air flow REFERENCES
rate was determined for a given set of oper-
ating conditions and quality requirements [1] CD adapco Group, London, UK, es-
spraydry Tutorial Manual, 2004.
for the powder product. From the analysis
we obtained the range of air flow rate which [2] CD adapco Group, London, UK, STAR-CD
Version 3.20 Methodology Manual, 2004.
would satisfy the operational requirements.
We then selected the minimum air flow rate [3] Crank J., Mathematics of diffusion, Oxford
from this range so that the product can be University Press, UK, 1967.
produced at minimum cost. [4] Oakley D.E., Bahu R.E., Computational
modelling of spray dryers, Comput. Chem.
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