Design and Performance of a Laboratory Spray Dryer to Realize Evaporation-Induced Self-Assembly of Nanoparticles

Abstract

This work discusses the design, development, and performance of an indigenous laboratory spray dryer with a relatively slow drying rate. The drying time of droplets of colloidal silica (5 wt%) and sodium chloride solution (20 wt%) in this spray dryer was nearly 10 s. The present system was composed of a four-jet compressed air nebulizer that generates a droplet size of 2–5 µm with a nebulization rate of nearly 60 mL/h. The generated powder can be collected using a cyclone or a wire mesh collector. Design and characterization of this system as well as characterization of the micrometric self-assembled powder grains obtained by this spray dryer are discussed.

Keywords:

• Colloidal droplets
• Microparticles
• Nebulizer needle
• Salt
• Silica
• Spray drying

Notes

^a Inlet with equivalent radius of 16 mm.