Clasificacion y Seleccion de Secadores Industriales PDF

CHAPTER
TWO
CLASSIFICATION AND SELECTION

OF INDUSTRIAL DRYERS
Arun S. Mujumdar
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.
24 CLASSIFICATION AND SELECTION OF DRYERS
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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
CLASSIFICATION AND SELECTION OF DRYERS 25
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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.
Table 1 Classification of dryers
Criterion Types
Mode of operation • Batch
• Continuous*
Heat input-type • Convection*, conduction, radiation,
electromagnetic fields, combination of heat
transfer modes
• Intermittent or continuous*
• Adiabatic or non-adiabatic
State of material in dryer • Stationary
• Moving, agitated, dispersed
Operating pressure • Vacuum*
• Atmospheric
Drying medium (convection) • Air*
• Superheated steam
• Flue gases
Drying temperature • Below boiling temperature*
• Above boiling temperature
• Below freezing point
Relative motion between • Co-current
drying medium and drying • Counter-current
solids • Mixed flow
Number of stages • Single*
• Multi-stage
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Residence time • Short (< 1 minute)

• Medium (1 – 60 minutes)
• Long (> 60 minutes)
* Most common in practice
The above classification is rather coarse. Just the fluidized bed dryer can be sub-
classified 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
Continuous Dryers: Classification

Major Classes: Layer; Dispersion type
1. Layer type:
a. Conduction, e.g., drum, plate, vacuum, agitated bed, indirect rotary
b. Convective, e.g., tunnel, spin-flash, throughflow, conveyor
c. Special, e.g., microwave, RF, freeze, solar
2. Dispersion type:
a. Fluid bed, vibrated bed, direct rotary, ring, spray, jet-zone
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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 heat-
sensitive 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 50º C to 400º 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 -40º C (as in freeze
drying) to about 300º 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
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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. Stand-
alone 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 bench-
scale 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 pre-
drying stages (e.g., mechanical dewatering, evaporation, pre-conditioning of feed by
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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.
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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.
Table 2 Typical checklist for selection of industrial dryers
Physical form of feed • Granular, particulate, sludge, crystalline,

liquid, pasty, suspension, solution, continuous
sheets, planks, odd-shapes (small/large)
• Sticky, lumpy
Average throughput • kg/h (dry/wet); continuous
• kg per batch (dry/wet)
Expected variation in throughput
(turndown ratio)
Fuel choice • Oil
• Gas
• Electricity
Pre- and post-drying operations
(if any)
For particulate feed products • Mean particle size
• Size distribution
• Particle density
• Bulk density
• Rehydration properties
Inlet/outlet moisture content • Dry basis
• Wet basis
Chemical / biochemical /
microbiological activity
Heat sensitivity • Melting point
• Glass transition temperature
Sorption isotherms (equilibrium
moisture content)
Drying time • Drying curves
• Effect of process variables
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Special requirements • Material of construction

• Corrosion
• Toxicity
• Non-aqueous solution
• Flammability limits
• Fire hazard
• Color/texture/aroma requirements (if any)
Foot print of drying system • 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.
4. SELECTION OF A DRYER BASED ON QUALITY
As the product quality requirements become increasingly stringent and as the

environmental legislation becomes more and more demanding it is often found that we
need to switch from one drying technology to the others. The rising cost of energy as well
as the differences in the cost of fossil fuels versus electrical energy can also affect the
choice of a dryer. Since up to 70 percent of the life cycle cost of a convective dryer is due
to energy it is important to choose an energy-efficient dryer where possible even at a
higher initial cost. Note that energy costs will continue to rise in the future so this will
become increasingly important. Fortunately, improved efficiency also translates into
better environmental implications in terms of reduced emissions of the greenhouse gas
(CO2) as well as NOx resulting from combustion.
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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 0.3-
0.5% (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/ 500-1000 ppm < 50 ppm

Final Dryer
dryer moisture moisture
Batch Continuous
Vacuum tumbler
DIRECT INDIRECT
Fluid bed Paddle dryer
Vibro-fluid bed
Pulsed fluid bed
Vortex (spouted) bed
Column dryer (with mixer)
Batch Continuous
Vacuum tumbler
DIRECT INDIRECT
Column dryer with internal tube Paddle dryer
Multi-stage fluid bed
Figure 1 Schematic diagram of crystallization/drying steps in the production of polyester

chips
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Polymers Chips:
Quality Parameter
HIGH MEDIUM AVERAGE

e.g. for magnetic tape e.g. for speciality fibre, e.g. for PET bottles,
film staple fibre, etc.
A. Crystallizer: fluid bed A. Crystallizer: fluid bed Single column

or pulse fluid bed or crystallizer/dryer with
B. Finish dryer: paddle crystallizer a mixer in the top
Multi-stage fluid bed crystallizer section
with dehumidified air B. Finish dryer: to avoid agglomeration
Column dryer with a
central tube for Low capital/operating
smooth downward cost, smaller space
flow of chips requirements
Figure 2 Possible dryer types for drying of polyester chips
Another example of dryer selection is related to the choice of a suitable atomizer

for a spray dryer. A spray dryer is indicated when a pumpable slurry, solution or
suspension is to be reduced to a free-flowing powder. With proper choice of atomizer,
spray chamber design, gas temperature and flow rate it is possible to “engineer” powders
of desired particle size and size distribution. Table 3 shows how the choice of the
atomizer affects chamber design, size, as well as energy consumption for atomization and
particle size distribution. The newly developed two-fluid sonic nozzles appear to be
especially attractive choices when nearly monodisperse powders need to be produced
from relatively moderate viscosity feeds (e.g., under 250 cp) at capacities up to 80 t/h by
using multiple nozzles. More examples may be found in Masters (1985).
Table 3 Spray drying of emulsion-PVC. Effect of selection of atomizer on spray dryer

performance: A Comparison between different atomizers
Parameter Rotary disk Two-fluid Two-fluid

(sonic) (standard)
Dryer geometry Conical/cylindrical Tall-form Tall-form
H/D ≈ 1.2-1.5 Cylindrical Cylindrical
H/D ≈ 4 H/D ≈ 5
Evaporation 1600 kg/h 1600 kg/h 1600 kg/h
capacity (water)
Chamber (D × H) 6.5 m × 8 m 3.5 m × 15 m 3 m × 18 m
Number of nozzles 1, 175-mm disk 16 nozzles 18 nozzles
15,000 rpm 4 bar pressure 4 bar pressure
Power for atomizer 25 W/kg slurry 20 W/kg slurry 80 W/kg slurry
Capital cost High Medium Medium
Operating cost Medium Low High
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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.
Table 4 Conventional versus innovative drying techniques
Feed type Dryer type New techniques*

Liquid Suspension • Drum • Fluid/spouted beds of inert
• Spray particles
• Spray/fluid bed combination
• Vacuum belt dryer
• Pulse combustion dryers
Paste/sludge • Spray • Spouted bed of inerts
• Drum • Fluid bed (with solid backmixing)
• Paddle • Superheated steam dryers
Particles • Rotary • Superheated steam FBD
• Flash • Vibrated bed
• Fluidized bed (hot air • Ring dryer
or combustion gas) • Pulsated fluid bed
• Jet-zone dryer
• Yamato rotary dryer
Continuous sheets • Multi-cylinder • Combined impingement/radiation
(coated paper, contact dryers dryers
paper, textiles) • Impingement (air) • Combined impingement and
through dryers (textiles, low basis
weight paper)
• Impingement and MW or RF
*New dryers do not necessarily offer better techno-economic performance for all products
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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.)
Drying’96: Proceedings of the Tenth International Drying Symposium, Lodz, Poland.
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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.
CHAPTER
THREE
DRYERS FOR PARTICULATE SOLIDS,

SLURRIES AND SHEET-FORM MATERIALS
Arun S. Mujumdar
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).
38 DRYERS FOR PARTICULATE SOLIDS, SLURRIES…
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2. DRYERS FOR PARTICULATES AND GRANULAR SOLIDS
2.1 Tray Dryers
By far the most common dryer for small tonnage products, a batch tray dryer
(Figure 1) consists of a stack of trays or several stacks of trays placed in a large insulated
chamber in which hot air is circulated with appropriately designed fans and guide vanes.
Often, a part of the exhausted air is recirculated with a fan located within or outside the
drying chamber. These dryers require large amount of labor to load and unload the
product. Typically, the drying times are long (10-60 hours). The key to successful
operation is the uniform air flow distribution over the trays as the slowest drying tray
decides the residence time required and hence dryer capacity. Warpage of trays can also
cause poor distribution of drying air and hence poor dryer performance.
Figure 1 A batch tray dryer
It is possible to convert the batch tray dryer into a continuous unit. Figure 2 shows
the so-called Turbo dryer, which consists of a stack of coaxial circular trays mounted on a
single vertical shaft. The product layer fed onto the first shelf is leveled by a set of
stationary blades, which scratch a series of grooves into the layer surface. The blades are
staggered to ensure mixing of the material. After one rotation, the material is wiped off
the shelf by the last blade and falls onto the next lower shelf. Up to 30 trays or more can
be accommodated.
Hot air is supplied to the drying chamber by turbine fans. In the design shown, the
air is heated indirectly by passage over internal heaters. The wet granular material is fed
at the top and it falls under gravity to the next tray through radial slots in each circular
shelf. A rotating rake mixes the solids and thus improves the drying performance. Such
dryers can be operated under vacuum for heat-sensitive materials or when solvents must
be recovered from the vapor. In a modified design, it is possible to heat the trays by
conduction and apply vacuum to remove the moisture evaporated.
DRYERS FOR PARTICULATE SOLIDS, SLURRIES… 39
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Figure 2 A Turbo dryer
2.2 Rotary Dryers
The cascading rotary dryer is a continuously operated direct contact dryer

consisting of a slowly revolving cylindrical shell that is typically inclined to the
horizontal a few degrees to aid the transportation of the wet feedstock which is introduced
into the drum at the upper end and the dried product withdrawn at the lower end (Figure
3). To increase the retention time of very fine and light materials in the dryer (e.g., cheese
granules), in rare cases, it may be advantageous to incline the cylinder with the product
end at a higher elevation.
Figure 3 A cascading rotary dryer
The drying medium (hot air, combustion gases, flue gases, etc.) flows axially
through the drum either concurrently with the feedstock or countercurrently. The latter
mode is preferred when the material is not heat-sensitive and needs to be dried to very
low moisture content levels. The concurrent mode is preferred for heat-sensitive materials
and for higher drying rates in general.
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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-to-
diameter 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.
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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.
2.3 Freeze Dryers
Highly heat-sensitive solids, such as some certain biotechnological materials,

pharmaceuticals and foods with high flavor content, may be freeze dried at a cost that is
at least one order-of-magnitude higher than that of spray drying – itself not an
inexpensive drying operation. Here, drying occurs below the triple point of the liquid by
sublimation of the frozen moisture into vapor, which is then removed from the drying
chamber by mechanical vacuum pumps or steam jet ejectors. Generally, freeze drying
yields the highest quality product of any dehydration techniques. A porous, non-shrunken
structure of the product allows rapid rehydration. Flavor retention is also high due to the
low temperature operation (-40o C). Living cells, e.g., bacteria, yeast's and viruses can be
freeze dried and the viability on reconstitution can still be high. Mammalian cells,
however, cannot be preserved by freeze drying. Because of its inherently high cost nature,
freeze drying is not common in the chemical industry.
Most freeze dryers are batch-type with rather low capacities although some
continuous freeze drying units are in operation. Industrial freeze dryers can be of several
types; simple tray freeze dryers are by far the most common. Heat for sublimation is
supplied by conduction through the tray bottom. Vacuum pressure is typically under 25
Pa and the condenser operates at around –40o C. The heaters start at a higher temperature
(say, 120o C) but the temperature drops with time, according to schedules determined
empirically, to lower values, say 40o C over 8-10 hour runs. To minimize drying times,
freeze dryers are program-controlled. Multi-batch freeze dryers are used to permit nearly
equal load on all systems throughout the drying cycle. A number of batch cabinets are
programmed to operate with staggered, overlapping drying cycles.
Tunnel freeze dryer (Figure 4) is basically a large vacuum cabinet into which tray-
carrying trolleys are loaded at intervals through a vacuum lock at one end of the tunnel.
Dried products are unloaded through a vacuum lock at the other end of the drying
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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.
Figure 4 A tunnel freeze dryer
2.4 Vacuum Dryers
Figure 5 A paddle-type vacuum dryer
For drying of granular solids or slurries, vacuum dryers of various mechanical

designs are available commercially. They are more expensive than atmospheric pressure
dryers but are suited for heat-sensitive materials or when solvent recovery is required or if
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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).
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Figure 7 A process schematic of a spray dryer plant
Figure 8 Concurrent, countercurrent and mixed flow spray dryer chambers
It is beyond the scope of this chapter to cover all the important aspects of spray
dryers in detail. The reader is referred to Masters (1991) and Filkova and Mujumdar
(1995) for further information. Here, we will summarize the key aspects of spray dryers in
a tabular form. It must be noted that design of spray dryers depends heavily on pilot scale
testing. It is impossible to scale-up quality criteria for spray dryers. Fortunately, in most
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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.
Figure 9 Typical spray dryer atomizer designs
The design of the spray drying chamber depends on the needed residence time
(see Table 1) as well as the type of atomizers used (see Table 2). The mode of flow, i.e.,
concurrent, counter-current, mixed flow, depends on the desired characteristics of the
product as summarized in Table 3. Finally, Table 4 gives suggested spray dryer system
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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.
Table 1 Residence time requirements for spray drying of various products
Residence time in chamber Recommended for

Short (10-20 s) Fine, non-heat sensitive products; surface
moisture removal, non-hygroscopic
Medium (20-35 s) Fine-to-coarse sprays (dmean = 180 m);
drying to low final moisture
Long (> 35 s) Large powder (200-300 m); low final
moisture, low temperature operation for
heat-sensitive products
Table 2 Atomizer selection criteria
Rotary wheel Pressure nozzle Two-fluid

nozzle
Type of chamber
* Concurrent X X X
* Counter- current - X -
* Mixed (fountain) - X X
Feed type
* Solution/slurries - - X
* Low viscosity X X X
* High viscosity X - X
Slurries
* Non-abrasive X X X
* Slightly abrasive X X X
* Highly abrasive X - -
Feed rate
* < 3 m3 per h X X X
3
* > 3 m per h X X* X*
Droplet size
* 30-120 m X - -
* 120-150 m - X -
X: Applicable; -: Not applicable; X*: Multi-nozzle assembly
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Table 3 Selection of mode of flow in spray drying chamber based on desired powder
characteristics
Dryer design – flow type Characteristics

Concurrent Low product temperature
Mixed flow with integrated To produce agglomerated powder
fluidized beds
Mixed flow (fountain type) 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 Characteristics

Open cycle General; all aqueous feeds
Closed cycle Recovery of solvents; prevention of vapor emissions;
elimination of explosion or fire hazards
Semi-closed; self- Prevent powder explosion (keep O2 content low) yet use
inertizing higher inlet temperature
Table 5 Selection of dry powder collection system
Requirement Recommended system

Low cost, efficient, easy to clean Cyclones
Medium cost, very efficient, high Bag filter
running cost
Large air volumes Electro-static precipitator
Product recovery; fines 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.
a. Rotary wheels (or disk) atomizers

Advantages:
• Handle large feed rates with single wheel

• Suited for abrasive feeds with proper design
• Negligible clogging tendency
• Change of rpm controls particle size
• More flexible capacity
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Limitations:
• Higher energy consumption compared to pressure nozzles

• More expensive
• Broad radical spray requires large drying chamber (cylindrical-conical type)
b. Pressure nozzles
Advantages:
• Simple, compact, cheap

• No moving parts
• Low energy consumption
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
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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.
Figure 11 Self-inertizing spray dryer system
Figure 12 A two-stage spray dryer followed by a fluidized bed agglomerator
When the product coming out of the spray dryer is too fine it does not wet readily
and so is harder to reconstitute. To make the product instantly soluble it is agglomerated
in a small fluidized or vibrated fluidized bed, as shown in Figure 12. This two-stage
arrangement is used in the production of instant coffee, milk powder, cocoa, etc. An
extension of this basic concept is the so-called “Spray-Fluidizer” which dries the material
in two stages. The surface moisture from droplets is removed fully, along with some
internal moisture, which takes longer time to come out, in the first stage (spray dryer).
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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 Spray-
Fluidizer.
3.2 Drum Dryers
In drum dryers, slurries or pasty feedstocks are dried on the surface of a slowly
rotating steam-heated drum. A thin film of the paste is applied on the surface in various
ways. The dried film is doctored off once it is dry and collected as flakes (rather than
powder). Figure 13 shows four types of commonly used drum dryer arrangements, which
are self-explanatory. The design of applicator rolls is important since the drying
performance depends on the thickness and evenness of the film applied. The paste must
stick to the surface of the drum for such a drop to be applicable.
Figure 13 Four types of drum dryers in common use
Four key variables influence the drum dryer performance. They are: (a) steam
pressure or heating medium temperature, (b) Speed of rotation, (c) Thickness of film and
(d) Feed properties, e.g., solids concentration, rheology and temperature. Because it
allows good control of the drying temperature, drum dryers may be used to produce a
precise hydrate of a chemical compound rather than a mixture of hydrates.
Vacuum operation of both single- and double-drum dryers are done commercially
to enhance drying rates for heat-sensitive materials, such as pharmaceutical antibiotics.
They are also used when a porous structure of product is desired. When recovery of
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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).
4. DRYERS FOR SHEET-FORM MATERIALS
4.1 Drying of Boards and Sheets
Although not common in the chemical industry, drying of sheet-form materials or

materials in the form of large and small pieces is a major question in paper, textile, coated
or impregnated fabrics, wood processing, food processing, polymer and photographic
film production as well as in the graphic arts industries. Here, we will only review, in a
general way, types of dryers to choose from when the feedstock is other than particulate
or liquid-like. Figure 14 gives a coarse classification of possible dryers – the list is far
from complete, however.
In the following paragraphs, we will review very briefly the main dryer types
suited for such materials.
Drying of Continuous Sheets
Conductive/contact Radiant
Convective
dryers (with mild convection)
Impinging jets (air or
Multi-cylinder dryer for
superheated steam)
paper
Through dryers (for
porous sheets)
MW/RF
Combined modes
(usually as "assists")
Impinging jets + MW
Impinging jets + IR
Impinging jets + throughflow
Figure 14 A coarse classification of dryers for continuous sheets
4.2 Dryers for Continuous Sheets
Convection, conduction as well as infrared dryers can be used for such materials
although combined mode dryers are often more efficient. Paper, coated webs or textiles
are dried on steam-heated cylinders (conduction heating) or jets of hot air may be
impinged on the sheet for convective heating as well. In some cases, it may be desirable
to use infrared heating to augment the drying rate if the material is not very heat-sensitive.
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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).
4.3 Dryers for Piece-Form Sheets
Materials like plywood or chipboard require long residence times to dry.

Impinging jets may be used initially to remove surface moisture; internal moisture comes
out at much slower rate and this can be achieved in a tunnel dryer with modest parallel
flow of drying medium.
4.4 Dryers for Very Thick Sheets (or Odd Shapes)
Here, the drying times may range from days to months. Wood, for example, is
dried in hot air kilns from weeks to months depending on the size of the pieces to be
dried and the type of wood species. Superheated steam drying under vacuum conditions
has been shown to enhance drying rates as well as product quality. Only batch dryers are
suited for these long drying time requirements.
4.5 Drying of Materials in the Form of Thin Wafers
Such problems are encountered in the wood (e.g., wafer board) and food (e.g.,
potato chips) industries. Here, one may use a continuous conveyor or through-circulation
dryer or even the so-called impinging jet-fluidized bed dryer. In the latter, hot air jets
impinge on a thin layer of wet chips, which are conveyed mechanically; the high velocity
jets “pseudo-fluidize” the material to accomplish drying. Wood chips, for example, may
be dried in a rotary or a conveyor dryer.
5. SELECTED DRYERS AND DRYING SYSTEMS
In this section, we will consider the key features and applications of some
specialized dryer types that are used in the chemical and ancillary industries but perhaps
less commonly than that the spray, rotary and fluidized bed types discussed earlier. The
following types of dryers will be discussed briefly: two-stage dryers, flash or pneumatic
dryers, spin-flash dryers, Roto-Louvre dryer, tunnel dryers, band dryers, infrared,
microwave and radio frequency dryers.
Note that most of the dryers mentioned here have several variants that make them
more efficient or otherwise desirable for a given application; here we will cover only the
most basic dryer concepts, however.
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5.1 Two-Stage Dryers
When both surface and internal moistures must be removed from large quantities
of feedstock, it is desirable to look into a two-stage operation, where the two stages may
be the same dryer types (e.g., fluidized bed) or may be different. The fundamental
advantage of such a system is that one can remove the surface moisture rapidly using
dryers or conditions suitable for rapid removal of surface moisture (e.g., using higher gas
temperatures or velocities), and use a dryer allowing longer residence time or gentler
drying conditions as the second stage. A plug flow continuous fluidized bed dryer can be
zoned along its length by lowering the gas temperature from inlet to outlet, for example.
Figure 15 shows a two-stage arrangement, where the top first stage is a well-
mixed fluidized bed dryer for a filter cake which is difficult to fluidize unless it is mixed
with a fluidized bed of lower moisture content.
In this figure, the first stage also uses internal heating panels to increase the drying
rate since this stage receives drying air, which is the exit air from the lower second stage.
The lower stage, which receives the output of the first stage by gravity through a centrally
located discharge tube, is a spiral plug flow fluidized bed dryer, which controls the
particle residence time to yield a uniform product moisture content.
Figure 16 is another example of a commercial two-stage dryer for
crystallization/drying of polyester chips. A small fluidized bed, as the first stage, removes
the readily removable liquid while the tall “column” dryer allows a very long residence
time during which the material crystallizes and dries very slowly.
There are numerous examples of two-stage dryers used commercially; perhaps
they should be considered as viable options more often than they are today to reduce
drying costs and even enhance product quality. Many more examples can be found in
Mujumdar (1995).
Figure 15 A two-stage fluidized bed dryer

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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
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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.
Figure 17 Schematic of a simple flash dryer
Design of the feeding system is crucial in flash dryer design. For free-flowing
powdery solids, a screw feeder or a rotary valve may be used effectively. Pasty or sticky
materials need to be pre-conditioned by blending them with dried product using a single
or twin-shaft paddle blender and then dispersed mechanically using a kicker mill or one
of several other designs of rotating disperser. The product may be collected in cyclones,
baghouses and the very fine material removed prior to exhaust in wet scrubbers.
Flash dryers utilizing superheated steam as the drying medium have some unique
quality and energy advantages over air drying systems. More recently, flash dryers
consisting of inert media have been employed at pilot scales to dry slurries and
suspensions, which are sprayed onto them. The particles are coated thinly by the slurry
and dried rapidly as a thin film. Attrition due to inter-particle collisions and shrinkage-
induced breakage of the dried film allows entrainment of the dry powder into the drying
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gas for collection in a cyclone or baghouse. This process is yet to be commercialized,

however.
5.3 Spin-Flash Dryers
This dryer is basically a mechanically agitated fluidized bed designed for very
short residence times so it is suited for removal of only the surface moisture. It is suited
for drying sludges, pulps, pastes, filter cakes, high viscosity liquids, without the use of an
atomizer. As shown in Figure 18, a rotor placed at the bottom of the chamber serves to
disperse the feed, which falls by gravity onto it. Hot drying air enters the chamber
tangentially and spirals upwards carrying and drying the dispersed particles. The exhaust
containing the dried powder is cleaned and the powder recovered. Heavier wet particles
remain within the chamber for a longer time and are broken up by the rotor – only the
dried fine powder escapes to the gas cleaning system. This type of dryer can be a
replacement for the more expensive spray dryer (which needs more thermal energy
because the feed is wetter due to the pumpability requirements and also expensive
because of the need for an atomizer). Such dryers are recommended for some special
applications only although numerous materials have been dried successfully in such units
at capacities up to 10 tons per h. They are more expensive than the conventional flash or
fluidized bed dryers. Care must be taken to ensure in pilot tests that there is no danger of
product accumulation on the walls due to stickiness.
Figure 18 A spin-flash dryer
5.4 Roto-Louvre Dryer
This dryer type is a modification of the conventional rotary dryer, in which the
drying gas contacts the wet particles rather inefficiently as the particles shower down
from the flights and get exposed to the axial cross-flow of the gas. In a Roto-Louvre
design, (Figure 19) the slowly rotating (2-3 rpm) horizontal drum is fitted with
longitudinal louvres which make a tapered drum within the external drum. Diameters up
to 3.5 m and lengths up to 12 m have been built commercially. The particles form a
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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.
Figure 19 A Roto-Lourve rotary dryer
5.5 Tunnel Dryers
In this simple dryer concept, cabinets, trucks or trolleys containing the material to
be dried are transported at an appropriate speed through a long insulated chamber (or
tunnel) while hot drying gas is made to flow in concurrent, countercurrent, cross-flow or
mixed flow fashion (Figure 20). In the concurrent mode, the hottest and driest air meets
the wetted material and hence results in high initial drying rates but with relatively low
product temperature (wet-bulb temperature if surface moisture is present). Higher gas
temperatures can be used in concurrent arrangements while in counter-current dryers the
inlet drying gas must be at a lower temperature if the product is heat-sensitive. If the
material to be dried is not heat-sensitive and low residual moisture content is a
requirement, one may employ higher gas temperatures in the countercurrent arrangement
as well. Combination flow or cross-flow arrangements are used less commonly. The latter
offer high drying rates but the tunnels must be designed to fit the trolleys snugly so the
drying gas flows through the material much like a through-circulation packed bed dryer.
Total drying times that can be handled range from 30 minutes to 6 hours.
___________________________________________
Figure 20 A tunnel dryer
5.6 Band Dryers
For relatively free-flowing granules and extrudates that may undergo mechanical
damage if they are dispersed, band dryers are a good option. It is essentially a conveyor
dryer wherein the band is a perforated band over which the bed of drying solids rests.
Drying air at rather low velocities flows upwards through the band to accomplish drying.
Clearly, this type of dryer is not a good choice for very wet or very fine solids. If the bed
depth is large (over 10-15 cm) there may be a significant moisture profile in the bed with
the solids resting on the band over dried and overheated. One option to alleviate this
problem is to reverse the gas flow direction alternately over the length of the dryer. This
evens out the moisture profile while increasing the drying rate as well. Another option is
to cause mixing of the bed at appropriate interval of space. In some commercial designs,
so-called multi-pass dryers, several bands are stacked one above the other and the
material is made to drop under gravity from the higher to the next lower band which
causes some random mixing of the material before it undergoes further through-
circulation drying. It is possible to use a temperature profile along the length of the
conveyor so that the drier product can be exposed to lower gas temperatures if that is
desired. Also, the final section may be a simple cooler so the product is ready for
packaging or storage. Residence times from 10 minutes to 60 minutes are economically
feasible. These dryers are quite versatile and can handle relatively large and arbitrary-
shaped particles that may be heat-sensitive and fragile at the same time. Gas cleaning
requirements are minimal as low gas velocities are used. Also, power requirements for air
handling are low due to the low pressure drops needed. In commercial designs of very
large band dryers, it is important to ensure uniform distribution of the product on the band
and also uniform distribution of the air flow within the chamber of the dryer to ensure
uniform product moisture content. A schematic of a single-pass band dryer is shown in
Figure 21.
__________________________________________
Figure 21 A single-pass band dryer
5.7 Infrared Dryers
Infrared (IR) dryers may be gas-fired ceramic radiators or electrically heated

panels. The IR wavelength range is from 0.1 µm to 100 µm, which generates heat in the
exposed physical body. The wavelength ranges 0.75 - 3.0 µm; 3.0 - 25 µm and 25 - 100
µm are referred to as near IR, middle IR and far IR ranges, respectively. Industrial
radiators are of two types: (1) Light radiators (near IR), e.g., quartz glass with peak
radiation intensity at 1.2 µm and (2) Dark radiators, e.g., ceramic (3.1 µm) or metal
radiators (2.7 - 4.3 µm).
While convection can yield heat fluxes of the order of 1-2 kW m-2, radiation can
yield much higher levels of heat flux, i.e., 4-12 kW m-2 (light radiators) or 4-25 kW m-2
(dark radiators).
In many drying operations, the evaporation rates feasible are not high enough to
require IR radiators, however. There are some niche applications for IR dryers in some
certain industries, e.g., drying of coated paper, booster drying of paper in paper machines.
They offer the advantages of compactness, simplicity, ease of local control and low
equipment costs. Also, in combination with convection, IR dryers offer the potential for
significant energy savings and enhancement in drying rates with better product quality.
On the negative side, the high heat flux may scorch product and enhance fire and
explosion hazards. Clearly, IR must be used in conjunction with convection or vacuum.
Good control is essential for the safe operation, i.e., IR power source must be cut off if
there is upset in the process which may lead to overheating of the product.
5.8 Microwave (MW) and Radio Frequency (RF) Drying
Unlike conduction, convection or radiation, dielectric heating heats a material

containing a polar compound volumetrically, i.e., thermal energy supplied at the surface
does not have to be conducted into the interior, as limited by Fourier's law of heat
conduction. This type of heating provides the following advantages:
• Enhanced diffusion of heat and mass
• Development of internal pressure gradients which enhance drying rates
• Increased drying rates without increasing surface temperatures
• Better product quality
___________________________________________
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.
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
INNOVATION IN DRYING TECHNIQUES

AND FUTURE TRENDS
Arun S. Mujumdar
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
64 INNOVATION IN DRYING TECHNIQUES
___________________________________________
technology; it must be technically feasible and cost-effective compared to the current

technology.
2. INNOVATION: TYPES AND COMMON FEATURES
It is interesting to begin with Webster's Dictionary’s meaning of innovation, which is

innovation, n.:
• The introduction of something new

• A new idea, method, or device
Notice that it does not use adjectives like better, superior, improved, more cost-
effective, 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
INNOVATION IN DRYING TECHNIQUES 65
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• 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 far-
sighted!
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
Figure 1 Foster's S-curve
Table 1 lists examples of some new drying technologies that were developed via
technology-push versus market-pull. In some cases, a sharp distribution or grouping in
just two types is not possible since a “market-pulled” development may require a
“technology-push” to succeed.
__________________________________________
Table 1 Examples of new drying technologies developed through technology-push and

market-pull
Technology-push* Market-pull**
Microwave/RF/induction/ultrasonic Superheated steam dryers – enhanced
drying energy efficiency, better quality product,
reduced environmental impact, safety,
etc.
Pulse combustion drying – PC developed Impulse drying/Condebelt drying of paper
for propulsion and later for combustion (also need technology-push)
applications
Vibrating bed dryers – originally deve- Combined 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
3. SOME EXAMPLES OF INNOVATIVE DRYING TECHNOLOGIES
Since one must think in terms of drying systems (including pre-drying operations,
such as dewatering), we will include in our listing some innovative dewatering
technologies as well.
For lack of space, it is impossible to include schematics of all the dryers
mentioned in this chapter. Details are available in the chapter on Special Drying
Technologies and Novel Dryers by Kudra and Mujumdar (2000). Only the innovative
aspects will be mentioned here. It should be noted that the focus here is on innovation and
not on dryers per se.
3.1 Mechanical Dewatering
To reduce the thermal load on dryers, it is important to minimize the water content
of the wet feed material. Conventionally, this is done using vacuum or pressure filters,
decanters, centrifuges, etc. With colloidal materials, e.g., waste streams from tertiary
treatment of paper mills, food processing wastes, tailings from coal mines or oil sands,
dewatering is difficult due to the small particle sizes (< 5 m) involved. In recent years,
the following novel processes have evolved successfully, partly as a result of technology-
push and partly as a result of market-pull.
• Electro-osmotic dewatering (EOD) – application of a DC field to a bed of

colloidal suspension
___________________________________________
• 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.
3.2 Fluidized Bed Dryers (FBDs)
FBDs have become very popular over the past three decades owing to their
numerous favorable features for drying of particulates that can be fluidized. Table 2 of
Chapter 5 summarizes the enormous number of possible variants of FBDs that are now used
to dry not only particulates (which was the original idea) but also slurries, pastes,
continuous webs and sheet-form materials. Large pieces that cannot be fluidized by
themselves can be immersed in a fluidized bed of smaller fluidizable inert particles and
dried. Most of the variants shown are used in industrial drying applications to varying
extent. Many users seem to be unaware of some of these innovative modifications of the
FBDs.
Interestingly, by fluidizing only parts of the particulate bed at a time, it is possible
to effect a major saving in energy costs, e.g., so-called pulsed fluid beds (Gawrzynski and
Glaser, 1996). In batch fluidized bed drying, a control strategy that keeps the bed
temperature constant by adjusting heat input saves energy (and time) while enhancing the
quality of heat-sensitive products (Devahastin and Mujumdar, 1999). Such a dryer based
on a fuzzy logic control is already on the market.
3.3 Spouted Bed Dryers (SBDs)
These are essentially modified fluidized beds of larger particles belonging to

Geldart's D group (e.g., grains, beans) that have a characteristic internal recirculatory
motion and a spout (or fountain) at the top free surface. The particle motion is regular
rather than chaotic (or random) as in the fluidized bed. Table 7 of Chapter 5 shows some
of the variants of the SBDs, which could be used to dry not only larger particulates but
also slurries and pastes. Using internal draft tubes, two-dimensional design and/or a
mechanical spouting action, it is possible to eliminate or alleviate several of the
weaknesses of the conventional axisymmetric SBDs. These are very simple devices
__________________________________________
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).
3.4 Impinging Jet Dryers (IJDs)
Impinging jets (IJs) provide the best configuration for convective heat/mass
transfer to a surface. For optimal design, it is important to choose the right geometry for
the nozzles as well as the right operating conditions. IJs are used in paper, photographic
film, textile, coatings, veneer, etc., industries extensively; sometimes in conjunction with
infrared heat sources between modules of IJs. In some cases (e.g., textiles, double-sided
coated papers, pulp sheets), the web may be supported by jets impinging on both sides of
the web for contactless drying. IJs can be used also to dry particles or chips by pseudo-
fluidizing a bed supported on a conveyor belt.
In order to improve the drying rates even further, it is important to find ways of
enhancing the conventional impinging jet heat transfer rates. One way to do this is to
attach a collar that causes oscillations and vortex shedding in the jet exit flow to a tubular
nozzle. The so-called SOJIN (Self-Oscillating Jet Impinging Nozzle) has been shown to
enhance the heat transfer rate significantly (Chinnock and Page, 1994). No application in
drying has been reported so far although the concept is a truly innovative result of
technology-push. Use of a gas-particle impinging jet has also been found to yield
significant enhancement in impingement heat transfer.
3.5 Drying of Paper
Table 2 summarizes the various drying technologies for paper, both conventional
and alternates are being considered (de Beer et al., 1998). While a need exists for an
improved drying technology for paper to replace the century-old multi-cylinder dryers,
none is on the horizon yet. The Condebelt dryer developed by Tampella-Valmet, Finland
for linerboard has already been successfully commercialized in Finland and South Korea.
The superheated steam dryer concept for paper first proposed and initially demonstrated
by the author in 1981 has yet to be validated at mill scale. Paper dried in superheated
steam using impinging jets and/or through drying has been shown to yield better strength
properties especially when the pulp is mechanical pulp, i.e., has low lignin content.
Mechanical pulp is so-called high-yield pulp since one can obtain a higher yield of
mechanical pulp per ton of wood used. Chemical pulp is low yield and highly polluting,
i.e., environmentally unfriendly. Thus, by using steam drying one can use less amount of
chemical pulp and yet produce newsprint of good mechanical strength. Therefore, steam
drying of paper saves energy as well as resources. However, the dryer becomes
mechanically complex to design and operate.
Table 2 Comparison of several paper drying technologies
Measure Possible saving on Number and State of the art Bottlenecks for Motivation for Expected costs
Fuel Electricity type of further development of new paper
groups working development mill
on development
Dry sheet 100% Increase because of higher If any, paper Commercial for Fundamental; no High-speed Low:
pressing demands; manufacturers bulky grades of technology machinery, energy elimination of
decrease because of less paper; no exists for conservation, drying section
pumping power and research for other broadening field
elimination of drying grades of application
section
Impulse drying 50-75%, depending on Increase because of higher Machinery Several pilot Fundamental/ Paper quality Medium:
the in- and out-going pressing demands and manufacturers and plants; technical: sheet improvement, high- reduction of
consistency and the heating press (IR, large research experiments with delamination, speed machinery, drying section.
type of heating induction); decrease insti- IR and induction paper quality energy conservation, New equipment
because of shorter drying tutes heating; speed size of machinery
section. Probably net approx. 240-400
increase m/min.
Press drying 50-75%, depending on Increase because of higher Machinery Large number of Fundamental: Paper quality Medium:
the in- and out-going pressure demands; manufacturers and pilot scale delamination, improvement, energy reduction of
consistency and the decrease because of large research experiments operational conservation, shorter drying section.
type of heating shorter drying section and insti- speed is limited machine possible New equipment
less refining tutes
Condensing belt Approx. 20% Increase because of One machinery Pilot plant is Standard: High-speed Medium:
drying pressing demands and manufacturer being built with a increasing operation, paper reduction of
extra vacuum suction length of 18 m machine speed quality improvement, drying section.
boxes; decrease because of and a web width energy conservation, New equipment
elimination of of 0.7 m size of machinery
conventional drying
section
Airless drying Almost 100% Increase because of power One small research Not tested yet for Technical: air Energy conservation, Medium:
for compressor; decrease institute (one to paper drying tightless with cost reduction reduction of
because of elimination of three persons) continuous drying section.
drying section drying New equipment
Superheated 60-75% Increase due to power for McGill Univ., Basic R&D; Air infiltration Quality, energy Medium:
steam drying compressor; decrease due VTT (Finland) lab/pilot scale at high machine conservation reduction of
(impinging jets, to smaller drying section tests speeds drying section.
through drying) 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.
3.6 Rotary Dryer
Rotary dryers have been the workhorses of many industries that produce high
tonnage products. They are generally capital-intensive, less efficient but very flexible.
Use of steam tubes immersed within the rotating shell makes the cascading rotary dryer
thermally more efficient. However, there has not been much true innovation in this
technology for some time.
Recently, Yamato Sankyo Mfg. Co. of Tokyo, Japan has patented a simpler design
of the rotary dryer wherein the drying air is injected into the bed of material being carried
in a rotating cylindrical shell through a multiplicity of pipes branching off from a central
pipe. The heat and mass transfer rates are almost doubled with all the resulting
advantages of smaller size, simplicity and lower cost (Yamato, 1996). Such a dryer is not
suited for all types of materials normally handled by a cascading rotary dryer, however.
When feasible, the Yamato design can reduce dryer volume by a factor of two for similar
operating conditions. This is a major advantage of this truly innovative idea in rotary
drying.
3.7 Impinging Streams Dryers (ISDs)
The impingement zone created by the head-on collision of two confined turbulent
streams of gas or gas-particle is particularly favorable for high heat/mass transfer rates. It
also is a zone wherein de-agglomeration, atomization or dispersion of particles can occur.
Larger particles have a longer residence time in the confined opposing jet flow field due
to their higher inertia. Impinging streams are thus ideal for flash drying of particulates,
pastes or slurries. Several stages of impingement zones can be generated to reach the
desired final moisture content. Kudra and Mujmdar (1995) have classified the wide
assortment of ISDs although only a few have been studied so far. Most recently,
Hosseinalipour and Mujumdar (1997) examined, via computational fluid dynamic
modeling and Monte Carlo simulations, a novel two-dimensional ISD using superheated
steam as the carrier medium. Effects of the degree of superheat, operating pressure and
jets Reynolds number were examined numerically assuming a power law model for the
falling rate drying kinetics. New criteria are formulated to characterize performance of
dispersion dryers. Experimental validation is required although the computed results do
appear physically plausible. The model predicts the number distribution function for
particle moisture content and residence time. Particle Biot numbers were assumed to be
small and the maximum number of particles tracked in the Eulerian-Lagrangian
simulation was limited to 2000 owing to the enormous computer time required.
___________________________________________
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.
3.8 Remaflam Drying of Textiles
This by far is the most exotic and innovative drying process. By mixing the fuel
with the liquid (water) to be evaporated and combusting it in a controlled manner, where
the energy is needed, the drying is both efficient and rapid. The dryer is effectively a
combustion chamber (at 600o C) wherein the fabric residence time is just equal to the
time required for complete drying. A 34% methanol solution in water gives an ideal fuel-
water mixture to accomplish combustion to meet the drying needs. It is unfortunate that
this idea is not generally applicable to many other products. Details are available in von
der Eltz and Schon (1984). Use of alcohol as the fuel has the additional advantage of
environmentally friendly, pollution-free combustion. Among its other advantages noted
by the manufacturer are:
• Smaller space (~ 1 m long)
• Easily cleaned and maintained
• No energy wastage due to over drying
• Energy consumption unaffected by width of fabric
• Fully automatic control, safe operation
Among the limitations are cost variability of methanol, extra care needed in
transportation, handling, and storage of methanol, non-suitability for drying knitted
goods, limitation of fabric speed and possible “singing” or melting of edges. The idea of
producing heat exactly where it is needed to evaporate the moisture does not have wide
applicability, however.
3.9 Spray Drying
Today, over 20,000 spray dryers are in operation around the world. It is often
considered a mature technology. However, there is still ample scope for improvement,
particularly in the following:
• Higher production rates (using multi-stage designs)
• More uniform (ideally monodisperse) particle size distribution – determined
by atomizer design
• Containment of powder – preferably within dryer chamber
• Reduction or elimination of deposits on walls which lead to fire hazard,
large down time and high maintenance costs
• Better designs using modern CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
Table 3 compares the performance of a 1600 kg/h capacity spray dryer for
production of emulsion PVC using rotating disk, conventional two-fluid nozzles and
__________________________________________
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 Rotary disk Two-fluid Two-fluid

(sonic) (standard)
Dryer geometry Conical/cylindrical Tall-form Tall-form
H/D ≈ 1.2-1.5 Cylindrical Cylindrical
H/D ≈ 4 H/D ≈ 5
Evaporation 1600 kg/h 1600 kg/h 1600 kg/h
capacity (water)
Chamber (D × H) 6.5 m × 8 m 3.5 m × 15 m 3 m × 18 m
Number of nozzles 1, 175-mm disk 16 nozzles 18 nozzles
15,000 rpm 4 bar pressure 4 bar pressure
Power for atomizer 25 W/kg slurry 20 W/kg slurry 80 W/kg slurry
Capital cost High Medium Medium
Operating cost Medium Low 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, multi-
stage 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.
___________________________________________
3.10 Batch Dryers
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 ultra-
heat-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 pre-
specified 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 Dryer-
Effect 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.
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.)
Drying’96: 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.) Drying’96: Proceedings of the Tenth
International Drying Symposium, Lodz, Poland.

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CHAPTER

CLASSIFICATION AND SELECTION

As an example, concentrated nickel ore is dried in different parts of the world at

• List all key process specifications

Table 1 Classification of dryers

Residence time • Short (< 1 minute)

Batch Dryers: Classification (Baker, 1997)

Continuous Dryers: Classification

Classification of dryers on the basis of the mode of thermal energy input is

• Dryer throughput; mode of feedstock production (batch/continuous)

Drying of food and biotechnological products require adherence to GMP (Good

Table 2 Typical checklist for selection of industrial dryers

Physical form of feed • Granular, particulate, sludge, crystalline,

Special requirements • Material of construction

4. SELECTION OF A DRYER BASED ON QUALITY

As the product quality requirements become increasingly stringent and as the

Following is an example of how selection of the dryer is affected by quality of the

Wet chips Crystallizer/ 500-1000 ppm < 50 ppm

Figure 1 Schematic diagram of crystallization/drying steps in the production of polyester

HIGH MEDIUM AVERAGE

A. Crystallizer: fluid bed A. Crystallizer: fluid bed Single column

Figure 2 Possible dryer types for drying of polyester chips

Another example of dryer selection is related to the choice of a suitable atomizer

Table 3 Spray drying of emulsion-PVC. Effect of selection of atomizer on spray dryer

Parameter Rotary disk Two-fluid Two-fluid

New dryers are being developed continuously as a result of industrial demands.

Table 4 Conventional versus innovative drying techniques

Feed type Dryer type New techniques*

It is difficult to generate rules for both classification and selection of dryers

DRYERS FOR PARTICULATE SOLIDS,

2. DRYERS FOR PARTICULATES AND GRANULAR SOLIDS

2.1 Tray Dryers

Figure 1 A batch tray dryer

Figure 2 A Turbo dryer

2.2 Rotary Dryers

The cascading rotary dryer is a continuously operated direct contact dryer

Figure 3 A cascading rotary dryer

In this type of dryer, a wide assortment of granular products of diverse shapes,

2.3 Freeze Dryers

Highly heat-sensitive solids, such as some certain biotechnological materials,

Figure 4 A tunnel freeze dryer

2.4 Vacuum Dryers

Figure 5 A paddle-type vacuum dryer

For drying of granular solids or slurries, vacuum dryers of various mechanical

Figure 6 A band-type vacuum dryer

3. DRYERS FOR SLURRIES AND SUSPENSIONS

3.1 Spray Dryers

Figure 7 A process schematic of a spray dryer plant

Figure 8 Concurrent, countercurrent and mixed flow spray dryer chambers

Figure 9 Typical spray dryer atomizer designs

layout depending on the feedstock characteristics, e.g., presence of organic solvents,

Table 1 Residence time requirements for spray drying of various products

Residence time in chamber Recommended for

Table 2 Atomizer selection criteria

Rotary wheel Pressure nozzle Two-fluid

Dryer design – flow type Characteristics

System layout Characteristics

Table 5 Selection of dry powder collection system

Requirement Recommended system

a. Rotary wheels (or disk) atomizers

• Handle large feed rates with single wheel

• Higher energy consumption compared to pressure nozzles

• Simple, compact, cheap