Simulation of an Industrial Spray Dryer and Prediction of Off-Design Performance

Abstract

A computational fluid dynamic model along with a new drying kinetics model was employed to simulate the spray-drying performance of an industrial-scale co-current spray dryer for a relatively heat-sensitive product. Predictions are compared with experimental measurements made on a full-scale spray dryer. Satisfactory agreement was achieved. Predictions of zones where deposits are likely to occur are close to those in operational experiments. Off-design performance predictions were also made to show the effects of various operating parameters on the dryer performance, which can be used to improve the dryer efficiency and minimize wall deposits.

Keywords:

• Droplet size distribution
• Drying
• Drying model
• Industrial scale
• Numerical model

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful to the State Education Ministry, China, for its financial support via the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars. The assistance of Mr. Weidong Huang with the experimental measurements is gratefully acknowledged as well. This work would not have been possible without their contributions.