Abstract
The particle size of the primary particles is an important parameter influencing the drying behavior of droplets. In this work, the influence of particle size on the drying kinetics and grain properties was analyzed for droplets containing silica nanoparticles, microparticles, and mixtures of the two. The presence of microparticles was found to increase the drying rate and shrinkage of the droplet. The drying curves were modeled using a reaction engineering approach (REA) model. Finally, different suspensions were dried in a pilot-scale spray dryer in order to prove the influence of the particle size obtained in the levitator tests.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
R. Mondragón thanks the Spanish Ministry of Education for a predoctoral fellowship (FPU program, Ref. AP2008-01077). The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from Fundació Caixa Castelló-Bancaixa (project: P11B2009-27).