COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS OF INDUSTRIAL

SCALE SPRAY DRYER

NOOR INTAN SHAFINAS BT MUHAMMAD

Thesis submitted in fulfillment of requirements

For the award of the degree of
Master of Engineering in Chemical Engineering

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA PAHANG

AUGUST 2011

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ABSTRACT

This thesis presents computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling of hydrodynamics

in a co-current spray dryer. At first, the grid dependence studies were performed.
Various modelling strategies were then studied performed to assess the suitability of the
discretisation, solver type and turbulence model. Once the numerical method has been
established, further simulations were then performed using three different turbulent
models, i.e. standard k-ε (SKE), Realizable k-ε (RKE) and the Detached Eddy
Simulation (DES). Multiphase modelling was performed using discrete phase modelling
to model the particle movement inside the drying chamber.
The intermediate grid with 420K cells was used for this work in interest to minimise the
computational time. Furthermore, the unsteady solver was perform due to the
experimental measurement usually taken time averaged quantities which is mimic to
unsteady solver. As for influence of discretization method, the second order scheme was
used for eliminate the error due to numerical diffusion.
The predicted axial velocity, temperature and humidity profile inside the spray drying
chamber were found to be in fair agreement to the experimental data adopted from
literature for all turbulence models tested in this work. A great potential of the Detached
Eddy Simulation with unsteady conditions for predicting the flow pattern in a co-current
spray dryer was uncovered as its provides more accurate predictions compared to the
other models tested in this work.
CFD analysis was also performed for the tall and short pilot scale spray dryer. The CFD
analysis shows that the residence time for particles inside the tall chamber is much
longer than those of shorter drying chamber due to intensive recirculation. Further
analysis on the CFD results also uncovered a longer residence time for smaller particles
as they tend to move around with the air flow and hence resulting in poor product
quality. CFD may be used to further optimise the hydrodynamics in the spray dryer and
hence improving product quality. Furthermore, results from this simulation may be
useful for development of a more comprehensive and accurate model for counter current
spray dryer in the future.
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ABSTRAK

Tesis ini membentangkan berkenaan permodelan hidrodinamik Pengiraan Dinamik

Bendalir (CFD) bagi proses semburan kering aliran seragam. Kajian dimulakan dengan
kebergantungan grid. Pelbagai jenis permodelan dikaji untuk mencari kesesuaian bagi
pendiskritan, jenis penyelesaian dan model gelora. Apabila kaedah berangka telah
diperolehi, seterusnya simulasi di jalankan dengan menggunakan tiga jenis model gelora
iaitu Standard k-ε (SKE), Realizable k-ε (RKE) dan Detached Eddy Simulation (DES).
Permodelan berbilang fasa telah digunakan dengan fasa permodelan diskret untuk
mengkaji pergerakan partikel di dalam kebuk pengeringan.

Jumlah grid yang digunakan adalah 420K untuk mengurangkan masa pengiraan.
Manakala penyelesaian tidak mantap telah digunapakai memandangkan ketika
eksperimen dijalankan kuantiti purata masa yang diambil. Bagi kaedah pendiskritan,
tertib kedua dipilih untuk mengurangkan kesalahan ketika pengiraan.

Jangkaan halaju, suhu dan kelembapan di dalam kebuk semburan kering telah diperolehi
dan ianya menepati dengan data eksperimen untuk semua model gelora yang digunakan.
Walaubagimanapun, model Detached Eddy Simulation yang sebelum ini tidak pernah
digunakan telah menunjukan jangkaan yang paling bagus berbanding model yang lain.

Ananlisa CFD juga telah digunakan bagi skala kebuk semburan kering tinggi dan
pendek. Daripada analisa CFD telah menunjukan bahawa masa mastautin untuk
partikel di dalan kebuk yang pendek lagi rendah daripada kebuk pengeringan yang
tinggi kerana edaran semula partikel. Lanjutan analisa ke atas keputusan CFD turut
menemui lebih panjang masa mastautin untuk partikel yang kecil dan memberikan
kurang produk kualiti. CFD mungkin boleh digunakan untuk mengoptimumkan
hidrodinamik dalam proses semburan kering bagi meningkatakan kualiti produk. Oleh
yang demikian, keputusan daripada simulasi ini mungkin berguna untuk
membangunkan model yang lebih komprehensif dan lebih tepat untuk proses semburan
kering jenis aliran tidak seragam pada masa hadapan.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pages

SUPERVISOR’S DECLARATION II

STUDENT’S DECLARATION III

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT V

ABSTRACT VI

ABSTRAK VII

TABLE OF CONTENTS VIII

LIST OF FIGURE XII

LIST OF TABLE XIV

NOMENCLATURE XV

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS XVIII

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Motivation 1

1.2. Objective 3

1.3. Main Contributions Of This Work 4

1.4. Structure Of This Work

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CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Introduction 6

2.2 Fundamental Of Spray Drying Process 7

2.3 Process Overview 8

2.4 Typical Spray Drying Application 11

2.4.1 Food Industry 11

2.4.2 Pharmaceutical Industry 11
2.4.3 Ceramic Industry 12

2.5 Advantages Of Spray Dryer 13

2.6 Experimental Method For Spray Dryer 14

2.6.1 Laser Doppler Anemometer (LDA) 15

2.6.2 Phase Doppler Anemometer (PDA) 15
2.6.3 Particle Image Velocimeter (PIV) 16
2.6.4 Hot Wire Anemometer 16
2.6.5 Microseparator 17

2.7 CFD Studies On Spray Dryer 17

2.8 Summary 24

CHAPTER 3 ASSESSMENT OF CFD APPROACHES FOR SPRAY

25
DRYER

3.1 Introduction 25

3.2 Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) 26

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3.2.1 Conservation of Mass Equation 28

3.2.2 Momentum Equation 29
3.2.3 Energy Equation 29
3.2.4 Turbulence Modelling 29
3.2.5 Multiphase Modelling 34

3.3 Spray Drying Geometry 37

3.4 Spray Drying CFD Approach 38

3.4.1 Boundary Condition 42

3.4.2 Grid Dependent Analysis 43
3.4.3 Comparison Between Steady and Unsteady 46
Simulation
3.4.4 Influence Of Discrezation Method 49

3.5 Summary 52

CHAPTER 4 DETACHED EDDY SIMULATION OF SHORT AND

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TALL SPRAY DRYER

4.1 Introduction 54

4.2 Case A : Short Form Spray Dryer 55

4.2.1 Comparison Of Axial Velocity Profile

59
Without The Spray Injection
4.2.2 Comparison Of Temperature Profile With
61
Spray Condition
4.2.3 Comparison Of Humidity Profile With
65
Spray Condition
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4.2.4 Particle Residence Time Distribution 65

4.2.5 Particle Impact Position 67

4.3 Case B : Industrial Scale Spray Dryer 68

4.3.1 Axial Velocity Profile Without Spray Injection 69

4.3.2 Temperature Profile With Spray Injection 70
4.3.3 Particle Residence Time Distribution 70
4.3.4 Particle Impact Position 71
4.4 Comparison of Short-Form and Industrial Scale Spray
72
Dryer.
4.5 Summary
76

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION FOR

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FUTURE RESEARCH
5.1 Conclusion 77
5.2 Recommendation 78

REFERENCES 80

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS 85
 XII

LIST OF FIGURE

Figure Title Page

2.1 The process stages of spray drying 9

2.2 Product discharge from co-current drying with (A) primary 11

separation in the drying tower and (B) total recovery in the
dedicated separation equipment. Diagram adapted from Master
(1992)

3.1 Steps on CFD analysis 37

3.2 Time dependent velocity at position x,y,z = 0,0,0.3m 40

3.3 Steps on CFD 41

3.4 Mesh for spray drying A) Coarse, B) Intermediate, C) Fine 43

3.5 Comparison grid dependent with experimental measurement of 44

gas velocity

3.6 Comparison of experimental axial velocity & computational 47

predictions for spray and time average unsteady technique

3.7 Influence of discrezation method 50

4.1 Axial positions for comparison of measurement and simulation 54

4.2 Comparison of axial velocity between experimental measurement 56

(Kieviet ’97) and SKE, RKE & DES model prediction

4.3 Prediction of axial velocity at z = 0.3 of similar geometry by A) 58

Huang et al. (2006) , B) Anandharamarakrishnan et al. (2010)
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4.4 Comparison of temperature profile between experimental 59

measurement (Kieviet ’97) and SKE, RKE & DES model
prediction

4.5 Comparison of humidity profile between experimental 62

measurement (Kieviet ’97) and SKE, RKE & DES model
prediction

4.6 Prediction of temperature profile of a similar case 64

Anandharamakrishnan et al. (2008)

4.7 Prediction of humidity profile of a similar case 66

Anandharamakrishnan et al. (2008)

4.8 Particle overall primary RTD 67

4.9 Particle impact positions 68

4.10 Axial velocity profile of gas at various radial position 69

4.11 Radial temperature profile of gas at various radial position 70

4.12 Overall particle primary RTD 72

4.13 Particle impact positions on the wall 72

4.14 Ration of Z/H for velocity (Zv) and temperature (Zt) 73

4.15 CFD simulated particles velocity at the same ratio position 74

4.16 CFD simulated particles temperature at the same ratio position 74

4.17 Comparison of short-form and industrial scale spray dryer particle 75

overall primary RTD
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LIST OF TABLE

Table Title Page

2.1 Spray drying – air flow pattern studies. 19

3.1 Boundary conditions used for short form spray dryer simulation. 42
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NOMENCLATURE

Surface area
Constant of eq. (3.16)
Constant of eq. (3.16)
Constant of eq. (3.16)
Interfacial area per unit volume
Constant of eq. (3.7)
Constant of eq. (3.8)
Constant of eq. (3.8)
Constant of eq. (3.8)
Constant of eq. (3.12)
Constant of eq. (3.12)
Drag coefficient
Constant of eq. (3.12)
Convection term
Constant of eq. (3.12)
Constant of eq. (3.12)
Constant of eq. (3.12)
Constant of eq. (3.26)
Heat capacity of the gas.
Particles specific heat

, Diffusion coefficient of water vapor in the gas phase

Diffusion coefficient
̅ Characteristic length scale for DES model
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Particle diameter
E Internal (thermal) energy
Turbulent production term for Spalart-Allmaras model
Gravitational force
I Intensity of turbulence at the inlet
K Kelvin
Turbulent kinetic energy
Thermal conductivity
! Mass of the particle
Pr Prandtl number
$ Pressure gradient
Re Reynolds number
%& Schmidt number
T Temperature
' Particle temperature
( Fluid phase velocity
() Inlet gas velocity
* Density of the fluid
*+ Density of the particle.
,- Constant of eq. (3.8)
, Constant of eq. (3.8)
.̿ Stress tensor
0 Viscosity
*1 Mass velocity vector
∇ Maximum grid spacing
 XVII

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

2D Two Dimension

3D Three Dimension

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

DES Detached Eddy Simulation

LDA Laser Doppler Anemometry

LES Large Eddy Simulation

PDA Phase Doppler Anemometry

PIV Particle Image Velocimetry

RANS Reynolds-averaged Navier Stokes

RKE Realizable k-ε

RTD Residence Time Distribution

SA Spalart-Allmaras model

SKE Standard k-ε

 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 MOTIVATION

Spray drying is the operation of choice for the production of many commercial products
ranging from high value pharmaceuticals to bulk commodities such as dried milk and
detergent powders. The needs of these differing applications vary greatly. When
producing pharmaceutical it is essential to maintain a sterile environment, whilst food
products must be dried in a way that ensures aromas and nutrients are retained.
Detergent powder required tightly controlled physical properties if customers demands
concerning flowability and dissolution rate are to be met and, for any bulk drying
operation, energy efficiency is likely to be a principal concern. The spray drying
operation may be tailored to suit all of these roles and many more.

As per spray drying usually is the end point of the process and also influences the
quality of the final product, more attention was paid to it over the last two decades.
However, the flow pattern inside is complicated, and the understanding of the
underlying processes has been poor. Thus with only empirical developments, it is

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unlikely to achieve satisfactory process intensification and further improvement in the

performance of spray dryers.

In the recent year, there is a lots of experimental work had been performed, to ensure
the quality of the spray dryer production. The quality of the product from spray dryer
processes can be determined by using advanced methods such as Laser Doppler
Anemometer (LDA), Phase Doppler Anemometer (PDA), Particle Image Velocimeter
(PIV) and Hot Wire Anemometer. This methods still has their limitations; hence to set
up these techniques were difficult and very expensive in a large-scale spray dryer.

However, lack of high quality experimental data, primarily due to the often complicated
nature of the process and difficulty of making the necessary detailed measurements, is
currently hampering the development of CFD-based design and analysis of spray dryers.
It is quite possible that perhaps the numerical predictions are almost as reliable as
experimental data that can be obtained within the spray dryer chamber under operating
conditions. Nevertheless, there are still some limitations to the CFD approach since it
does not typically include reliable and validate models for quality changes, attrition or
agglomeration of particles that can occur within the chamber.

Therefore, Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) can be used as a design tool or as a

design guide to compare the drying and hydrodynamics performance of different spray
chamber geometry. It is too expensive to test the effects of all parameters
experimentally. Recent rapid developments in CFD and ever-increasing computing
power at decreasing cost makes it feasible to evaluate spray dryer design without
undertaking expensive experimental pilot or laboratory test. Although simulation of the
complex transport phenomena that occur in a spray dryer cannot yet be modelled with
high accuracy, the results are, nevertheless, useful to guide design and operation of
spray dryers when coupled with some empirical experience.
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1.2 OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to develop a modelling method for hydrodynamics. This work
addresses the operational aspects of spray drying performance focusing on the effect of
various parameters such as, on particle histories in drying chamber, heat/mass transfer
coefficient in the drying chamber, heat consumption intensity per unit evaporation rate
and volumetric effectiveness and the impact of the geometry design on the airflow and
particle motion in drying chamber. The goal is to contribute to a better fundamental
understanding of drying operation to improve the current spray drying technology.

This thesis aims to develop a state-of-the-art CFD based design and analysis
methodology for spray drying plants. This design methodology enables the optimisation
of spray dryers in terms of more compact (intensified) plant, greater energy efficiency
and higher product yield while maintaining product quality. The project results will
assist the spray dryer designer to control the drying gas flow pattern, the droplet/particle
trajectory and the heat and mass transfer process to prevent product degradation and
deposition on the chamber walls.

The first objective of this project is to develop and validate a CFD based model to
predict the flow patterns and overall drying performance of a conventional spray dryer
by comparing the results with publish results. The effects of operating parameters,
different layout on the drying performance and airflow patterns are studied as well. The
first part of this work deals with modelling of the spray dryer and was carried out to
evaluate the most appropriate turbulence model and modelling strategy (grid dependent,
discretisation) for prediction of mean and turbulence flow in a spray dryer.

The second objective of the project is to evaluate industrial-scale spray dryer

geometries that yield better volumetric effectiveness and higher heat/mass transfer
performance than the conventional designs. The 3D of CFD model is used to evaluate
those designs.
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1.3 MAIN CONTRIBUTION OF THIS WORK

In this work, the Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) was employed to solve a turbulence
flow in spray dryer as it is relatively new and has not been applied previously for
modeling of spray dryer. Extensive validation of the DES model for predicting the
performance of spray dryer was carried out. The previous studies either under or over
predicts the experimental data due to shortcomings of the turbulence model used

The Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) turbulence model is capable of resolving the
anisotropic turbulence which is never been used for modelling of spray drying
(Kuriakose and Anandharamakrishnan, 2010). Therefore, DES was employed to gain
insight into complex turbulence physics and to create data bases for turbulence-model
improvement and validation. Furthermore, the unsteady CFD simulation employed in
this work has never been extensively studied and represent a new area of research.

1.4 STRUCTURE OF THIS WORK

The structure of the reminder of the thesis is outlined as follow;

In the chapter 2, the literature pertaining to the fundamental of the spray dryer process,
i.e., pre-concentration, droplet atomisation and drying, contact of droplet and drying
medium, are reviewed. The general design, advantages and typical application of a
spray dryer are also discussed. Summary of the previous works on a spray dryer,
especially those related to advance experimental and modelling techniques are also
presented.

Chapter 3 was presents the CFD approach applied for spray dryer, including the
turbulence modelling, discretisation schemes, grid dependent and solution procedures.
This chapter also presents the validation of a CFD model using a published data by
Kieviet (1997). Detail assessment of the turbulence models, grid analysis and
discretisation were also presented.
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Chapter 4 discussed the performance of two different turbulence, i.e. URANS and DES
for spray dryer modelling. The results for axial velocity, temperature profile and
humidity profile for spray dryer were compared with predicted results, and experimental
data are presented. This chapter also investigates the particle residence time in a spray
dryer using visual basics based tools to analyse the particles history data obtained from
the CFD simulation.

Finally, the conclusions of this study are given in chapter 5. The recommendations for
future work which might be derived from the model developed in this work were
discussed.
 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. INTRODUCTION

Spray drying is a suspended particle processing technique that utilizes liquid

atomisation to create droplets, which are dried into individual particles while moving in
a hot air (Masters, 1991). Over 20,000 spray dryers are estimated to be presently in use
commercially around the world to dry products from biotechnology, dairy and
pharmaceutical product (Mujumdar, 2000). Liquid feed stocks, e.g; solutions can be
converted into powder from in a one-step operation in a spray dryer (Master, 1991 &
2002; Filkova & Mujumdar, 1995; Huang and Mujumdar, 2003).

Different types of spray dryers are used for various purposes in different fields ranging
from laboratory sale to industrial sectors. During the last three decades spray drying has
undergone an intensive research and development, so that the modern spray drying
equipment can meet the requirements to produce a powder with tailor-made
specifications required by the end user. One of the first spray drying patents was applied
for in 1901 by the German Mr. Stauf, who sprayed the milk by nozzles into a chamber
with warm air. The first real break-through, however, was in USA in 1913, when the

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American Mr. Grey and the Dane Mr. Jensen developed a nozzle spray dryer and started
to produce and sell drying installations on a commercial scale (Westergaard, 1978).

The first rotary atomiser was developed by the German Mr. Kraus in 1912, but not until
1933, when the Danish engineer Mr. Nyrop filed his world patent, which was the real
break-through of atomisation (Master, 1997).

2.2 FUNDAMENTAL OF SPRAY DRYING PROCESS

Spray drying is a process producing a dry powder from liquid or slurry by rapidly
exposing with a hot gas. As shown in Figure 2.1; the basic unit operation of spray
drying process consist of;

1. Pre-concentration of liquid: The limit on the extent of pre-concentration of the

feed is dictated by liquid viscosity. The viscosity must not be too high as it
cannot be pumped or atomised. In this case, spray drying must have at least 25-
30% total solid concentration of liquid feed (Dickinson, 1986)

2. Atomization (creation of droplets) : In Spray Dryers the powder quality depends

upon various parameters. The liquid feed which can be solutions, suspension,
emulsion or slurries is atomized to a spray that consists of fine droplets.
Normally, there are two different atomization methods; rotary disc or centrifugal
atomizers and nozzle atomizers including pneumatic nozzle and pressure nozzle.

3. Drying in stream of hot, dry air. : The drying medium, such as air, is heated by
steam, electricity etc. Then it will be sent into the drying chamber through the
hot air dispenser.

4. Recovery of the dried product: the liquid spray is mixed with the hot drying
medium in drying chamber. Then the volatile is evaporated into drying medium
dried into particles or powder.
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2.3 PROCESS OVERVIEW

At its simplest level, spray drying involves the feed, in the liquid or slurry form, being
sprayed into a drying medium. This is normally hot air. In more detail, the spray drying
process may be considered as being composed as illustrated in Figure 2.2

The atomization of a pumpable feed to form a spray is the key characteristic of spray
drying. Two principle types of atomizer are used in industry; rotary atomizers making
use of centrifugal energy; and pressure nozzles which exploit pressure energy to atomise
the spray. Multiple injection levels may be used to handle higher flow rates. Whichever
the type of injector chosen, the initial droplet diameter normally will be in the range 20-
500 µm. the result of the atomization must be a spray which provides optimum
evaporation conditions leading to the desired characteristic in the dried product
(Handscomb, 2008).

The manner in which the spray droplets contact the drying medium determines their
subsequent drying behavior and in turn greatly influences the properties of the final
product. The form of spray-air contact is determined by the location of the atomizer
relative to the air inlet. Broadly speaking, the flow may be considered either ‘co-‘ or
‘counter-current’.

In the co-current arrangement, the product and air pass through the dryer in the same
direction. This is by far the most common arrangement, (Zbicinski and Zietara, 2004),
and it is especially suited to the drying of heat sensitive products. As the wet feed
immediately gets in contact with the hottest air, drying is rapid and the drying air cools
accordingly. The product temperature remains around the wet bulb temperature
throughout the initial drying period. Subsequently, the product is in contact with cooler
air and is at no point subject to thermal degradation. Counter-current operation offers
greater thermal efficiency as the liquid feed and air enter at opposite ends of the drier.
However, this means that driest material is exposed to the hottest air. Consequently, the
set up is only suitable for products, which are non-heat-sensitive. There are also dryer
designs, which combine co-and counter-current flow pattern, and these are termed
mixed-flow driers (Bayly et al. 2004).
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Figure 2.1 : The process stages of spray drying.

The choice of how to contact the spray with the drying air is determined by the material
being dried and desired product properties. Co- and counter- current arrangements give
different particle morphologies due to the different particle temperature histories. This
can lead to counter-current set ups producing a less porous product with higher bulk
density. (Southweel & Langrish 2000 and Harvie et al., 2001). Slower evaporation
reduces the tendency to puff, lowering the particle's porosity. However, as mentioned
above, the configuration may only be used for product, which can withstand heat
treatment. Conversely, co-current driers feature rapid evaporation preventing high
particle temperature. The downside is that such high drying rates are more likely to
cause particle expansion or fracture, producing non-spherical, porous particles
(Mujumdar, 2008).
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Once the dried product has performed, a final separation stage is necessary. Two
principle systems may be identified. In the first, primary separation occurs in the drying
tower itself, with the majority of the product being removed from the base of the tower.
The remaining product exists entrained in a separate air discharge stream, which is sent
to secondary separation equipment, e.g; cyclone, bag filter or electrostatic precipitators,
(Perry and Green, 1997). The second system operates with total recovery of the dried
product in the separation equipment. This places great importance on the efficiency of
the separation system employed reasons, can only be used with co-current set-up.

Figure 2.2 : Product discharge from co-current drying system with; (A) primary
separation in the drying tower, and (B) total recovery in the dedicated separation
equipment. Diagram adapted from Master (1992)
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2.4 TYPICAL SPRAY DRYING APPLICATION

Spray drying is unit operation for drying liquids or slurry products has been used in
various industries. Although first reported in 1872 patent, its first significant application
was in 1920 for spray drying milk and detergent products. For a period of
approximately 70 years since then, the spray was used for producing dairy products,
detergent, polymers, ceramics, metal powder, food ingredients, flavors, and enzymes. It
is a continuous production of dry powder, granulated or agglomerated with low
moisture content (Anandharamakrishnan et al., 2007; Charm, 1971; Master, 1991).
Some example of such industrial process are described as follows.

2.4.1 Food Industry

Spray drying offers almost limitless application possibilities for food industry. The dairy
industry is the major food sector utilizing the spray drying technique in order to meet
the ever-increasing demand of dried milk product. Other dairy materials such as butter
milk, lactose, caseinates, cheese, ice-cream and yoghurt are also dried to meet consumer
demand. (Chen, 2008) . The role of spray drying in the coffee industry is outlined by
Siretz, 1964. Spray drying in coffee is covered in a patent (Huste et al. 1964). Adoption
of spray drying of citrus fruit has led to improvement in the quality of fruit powder
(Urbanek et al. 1966). The mechanism of spray drying is suited where selection of
system and operation is the key to high nutritive and quality powder of precise
specification. The spray drying of tomatoes, apples, bananas and vegetables where skim
milk is used as a carrier is reported by Breene and Coulter (1967).

2.4.2 Pharmaceutical Industry

Some pharmaceuticals occur in crystal form, making them difficult to use. Crystalline
products do not dissolve easily in water and are absorbed slowly, so they are currently
unused because of bioavailability (the way and speed that your body absorbs medicine).
Spray dryers dry the compound once it has been dissolved in water for easier
 12

absorption. Because drugs that are in crystal form are harder for your body to use, spray
dryers make them more readily available and usable for pharmaceutical companies.
Spray drying can offer commercial and medical advantages with encapsulation because
it helps give particles the ability to be controlled in a time-release pattern (such as a six-
or 12-hour allergy, headache, or cold medicine). The substance is spray-dried and then
compressed into a capsule form. Prolonged release of antibiotics allows a reduction in
the dosage or concentration, and can be effective when treating chronic illnesses.
Because of the process used to develop spray-dried products, vitamin and mineral
content loss is kept to a minimum. Typical pharmaceutical examples include spray dried
enzymes such as amylase, protease, lipase.

2.4.3 Ceramic Industry

Spray drying is applicable to tile and electronic press powders, and plays an important
role in the industrial development of high performance (advanced) ceramics. The ability
to meet particle size distribution requirements, produce a spherical particle form, and
handle abrasive feedstocks is an important reason for the widespread use of spray dryers
in the ceramic industries. Spray drying is one of the most efficient ways to convert
ceramic slurries into a free-flowing powder. It has been used for decades to process
clays for whitewares manufacturing as well as to produce oxide ceramics such as
aluminas, ferrites, steatites and titanates. Hard ferrites (barium and strontium ion oxides)
are used extensively in the manufacture of permanent magnets. Soft ferrites (manganese
and nickel-zinc-ion oxides) are used to produce electromagnets. Spray dryers with
nozzle atomizers produces the final course powder from clacined materials. Steatite
materials used to manufacture electrical insulators is generally produced in spray dryers
using nozzle atomizers. Carbide (tungsten, titanium, tantalum and niobium) suspended
in organic milling liquids is spray dried with nozzle atomizers. These dryers are close
cycle because of the explosive hazard caused by the organic materials (Steinhoff, 1973).
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2.5 ADVANTAGES OF SPRAY DRYER

In the world of industrial dryers, there are few types that accept pumpable fluid as feed
material at the inlet end of the process and produced dry particulate at the outlet. Spray
drying. Spray drying is unique in its ability to produce powders with a specific particle
size and moisture content without regard for the capacity of the dryer and the heat
sensitivity of the product. This flexibility makes spray drying the process of choice for
many industrial drying operations.

The main advantages of spray drying are the short contact time, making it suitable for
drying heat-sensitive materials and good control of the product particle size, bulk
density and continous and economic process allowing the production of good quality
powders is established (Peréz and Farrias, 1995, Sinnot et al., 2005)

The particle size can be easily controlled by atomisation of the rate of liquid feed and
the design of the hot gas inlet. The correct spray dryer design and atomization
techniques can increase yield products that required classification. Spray dryers can
typically produce between 30 to 500 micron average particle sizes, in a bell-shaped
distribution.

The shape of most spray dried particles is spherical, which provides for fluid-like flow
properties. This makes many downstream operations, such as packaging, pressing,
filtering, and handling easier and less costly.

Spray drying produces the most homogeneous product for multi-component solutions
and slurries. Each particle will be of the same chemical composition as the mixed feed.
The heat and mass transfer during drying occur in the air and vapor films surrounding
the droplet. This protective envelope of vapor keeps the particle at the saturation
temperature. As long as the particle does not become "bone-dry", evaporation is still
taking place, and the temperature of the solids will not approach the dryer outlet
temperature. This explain why many heat sensitive products can be spray dried easily at
relatively high inlet temperatures.