Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology

Department of Chemical Engineering

DRYING

Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Drying Equipments
Dryers for Solids and Pastes
Tray Dryer
Screen-Conveyor Dryer
Tower Dryer
Rotary Dryer
Screw-Conveyor Dryer
Fluid-Bed Dryer
Flash Dryer
Dryers for Solutions and Slurries
Spray Dryer
Thin Film Dryer
Drum Dryer
References

Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering
DRYING EQUIPMENTS
Dryers for Solids and Pastes
Typical dryers for solids and pastes include tray and screenconveyor dryers for materials that cannot be agitated and tower, rotary,
screw-conveyor, fluid-bed and flash dryers where agitation is permissible.
TRAY DRYERS
Tray dryers are a common form
of batch dryers that can use indirect
or direct heat transfer. A typical batch
tray dryer consists of an enclosed,
insulated housing in which trays
containing
shelves.

solids

Direct

are

placed

heat

transfer is achieved by

on
Figure 1 Tray Dryer

circulating a

large volume of hot gas between the trays. Indirect heat transfer requires
the use of heated shelves. Tray dryers can be operated under vacuum
with indirect heat transfer. In this type of operation, the trays rest on
hollow metal plates filled with steam or hot water. The vapors from the
solid are removed by an ejector or a vacuum pump.
Equipment Design:

Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

Figure 2 Tray Dryer Design

Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering
Optimum operation of a tray
dryer

depends

on

maintaining

constant temperature and uniform air

velocity over the drying material. The
trays

are

usually

square

or

rectangular and are stacked in such a

way as to allow sufficient airflow
between them.
Fresh air enters through the
inlet and is circulated by a fan which
passes the air over heaters. The heated air is distributed uniformly over
the stack of trays by baffles, drying the material on the trays. Moist air is
continuously vented through the exhaust.
Usage Examples:
Tray dryers are used for materials with long
drying cycles, between 12 and 24 hours. They are
also used when the production of several different
products requires strict batch identity and thorough
cleaning of equipment between batches, as in small
color-pigment drying plants. The tray dryer shown in
the figure can be used in processes involving bakery
products,
fruit,
vegetables,
bird
seed,
chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and pigment.

Advantages
Can process a variety of

materials

Figure 3 Tray Dryer for

bakery products

Disadvantages
Requires extensive manual
labor

Low output rate

Non-uniform air flow

causing overheating

Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

Low capacity
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Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering
SCREEN-CONVEYOR DRYERS

Figure 4 Screen-Conveyor Dryer

Screen conveyor dryer is also called a direct heat continuous type

dryer. The solid to be dried are fed on to endless, perforated, conveyor
belt through which hot air is forced. The belt is housed in a long
rectangular drying chamber or tunnel. The chamber is divided into series
of separate sections, each with its own fan and air heater. Air may be
recirculated through, and vented from each section separately or passed
from one section to another counter current to the solid movement. The
solid is carried through the tunnel and discharged at the opposite end.
In order to prevent the higher flow rate of hot air through thinner regions
of the bed a uniform feeding rate and distribution of the material over the
conveyor is necessary. Coarse granular, flakey, or fibers materials can be
dried by through circulation without any pretreatment and without loss
of material through the screen. High drying rate can be achieved with
good product quality control. Thermal efficiency of this type of dryer is
high and with steam heating, the steam consumption for heating the
drying gas can be as low as 1.5 kg per kg of water evaporated.

Advantages
Can handle a variety of

Disadvantages
Important to distribute feed

solids continuously and

carefully since there is no

with very gentle action

opportunity to rearrange it

Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

Simple Machine

Steam Consumption is low

high initial cost and high

maintenance cost for the
mechanical belt

TOWER DRYERS
A tower dryer contains a series of circular trays mounted one above
the other on a central rotating shaft. Solid feed dropped on the topmost
tray is exposed to a stream of hot air gas that passes across the tray. The
solid is then scraped off and dropped to the tray below. It travels in this
way through the dryer, discharging as dry product from the bottom of the
tower.

The

flow

of

solids

and

gas

may

be

either

parallel

or

countercurrent.
The turbodryer is a tower dryer with internal recirculation of the
heating gas. Turbine fans circulate the air or gas outward between some
of the trays, over heating elements, and inward between other trays. The
bottom two trays of the dryer constitute a cooling section for dry solids.
Preheated air is usually drawn in the bottom of the tower and discharged
from the top, giving countercurrent flow.

Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

Figure 5 Turbodryer

ROTARY DRYERS
The rotary drier is basically a cylinder, inclined slightly to the
horizontal, which may be rotated, or the shell may be stationary, and an
agitator inside may revolve slowly. In either case, the wet material is fed
in at the upper end, and the rotation, or agitation, advances the material
progressively to the lower end, where it is discharged.

Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

Figure 6 Rotary Dryer

In direct-heat revolving rotary driers, hot air or a mixture of flue

gases and air travels through the cylinder. The feed rate, the speed of
rotation or agitation, the volume of heated air or gases, and their
temperature are so regulated that the solid is dried just before discharge.
One of the most common types of indirect-heat rotary dryers is the
steam-tube rotary dryer. It consists of a slowly rotating, almost horizontal
shell with heat-transfer tubes along the outside walls. Steam enters the
heat-transfer tubes through an inlet at the discharge end of the dryer.
The feed enters at one end through a feeder and exits at the other. It is
moved toward the discharge by the inclined rotation of the shell.

Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

Figure 7 Steam-tube Rotary Dryer

Usage Examples:
Rotary dryers are used primarily in the production of fertilizers,
pharmaceuticals, and cement.

Advantages
Effects of operating

parameter changes
predictable

Disadvantages
Kiln/ rolling action difficult
to quantify

Sensitive to load and gas

velocity variations

SCREW-CONVEYOR DRYERS
A screw-conveyor is a continuous indirect-heat dryer, consisting
essentially of a horizontal screw conveyor (or paddle conveyor) enclosed
in a cylindrical jacketed shell. Solid fed in one end is conveyed slowly
through the heated zone and discharges from the other end. The vapour
evolved is withdrawn through pipes set in the roof of the shell. The shell
Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering
is 75 to 600 mm (3 to 24 in.) in diameter and up to 6 m (20 ft.) long;
when more length is required, several conveyors are set one above
another in a bank. Often the bottom unit in such a bank is a cooler in
which water or another coolant in the jacket lowers the temperature of
the dried solids before they are
discharged.

Screw-conveyor

dryers

handle solids that are too fine

and

too

sticky

for

rotary

dryers, they are completely

enclosed and permit recovery
of solvent vapors with little or
no dilution of air.

Figure 8 Screw Conveyor Dryer

FLUID-BED DRYERS
In fluidized bed dryers, wet
particulate feed is fluidized by the
drying gas. A hot or warm gas passes
upward through the wet particulate
feed so that the material can dry
while

remaining

fluidized.

Wet

material is fed at the top and dried by

an upstream of hot gas, usually air.
Dry product is removed at the bottom,
and the air is cleaned through a
cyclone and discharged at the top of
the unit. Depending on their design,

Figure 9 Fluid-Bed dryer

fluid-bed dryers can be run in continuous or batch modes. They can also
be used to heat and cool or even to coat particles in the same unit.

Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

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Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering
Usage Examples:
Fluidized bed dryers are used in manufacturing many products. Typical
applications include the production of pharmaceutical intermediates,
pigments, food products, and chemicals.

Advantages
No mechanical moving

Disadvantages
Sensitive to load variations.

parts, resulting in low

Feed particle size must be

maintenance.

equal to or less than 100

Rapid heat and mass

microns.

exchange, avoiding
overheating of sensitive
products.

High heat transfer rates.

Even flow permits

continuous, automatically
controlled, large scale
operation.

FLASH DRYERS

Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

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Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering
In

flash

dryer

wet

pulverized solid is transported for a

few second in a hot gas stream.
Drying

takes

place

during

transportation.

The

rate

of

heat

transfer

the

gas

to

the

from

suspended solid particles is high, and

drying is rapid, so that no more than
3 or 4s is required to evaporate
Figure 10 Flash Dryer

substantially all the moisture from

the solid. The temperature of the gas

is highoften about 650C (1200F) at the inletbut the time of contact

is so short that the temperature of the solid rarely rises more than 50C
(90F) during drying. Flash drying may therefore be applied to sensitive
materials that in other dryers would have to be dried indirectly by a
much cooler heating medium.
Usage Example:
These types of dryer are mainly used for drying of heat sensitive or
easily oxidizable materials.

Advantages
Rapid heat and mass
exchange, avoiding

entrainment control

overheating of sensitive

problems.

products.

Disadvantages
Suspension and

High heat transfer rates due

Particle size limited to fine

powders.

to good contact between

Susceptible to overloading.

particles and gas.

Possible abrasion or dust

Circulation approaches ideal

formation due to high gas

mixing, resulting in uniform

velocity.

product moisture
concentration.

Simple equipment with few

Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

moving parts.

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Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

Dryers for Solutions and Slurries

SPRAY DRYERS

Figure 11 Spray Dryer

In a spray dryer a slurry or liquid solution is dispersed into a

steam of hot gas in the form of a mist of fine droplets. Moisture is rapidly
vaporized from the droplets, leaving residual particles of dry solid, which
are then separated from the gas steam. The flow of liquid and gas may be
concurrent, countercurrent, or a combination of both in the same unit.
Usage examples:
Spray dryers span a broad range of applications. They can be
found in food, dairy, and plasma processes, as well as in the production
of pharmaceuticals, organic and inorganic chemicals, rubber latex,
ceramic powders, and detergents.

Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

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Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

Figure 12 Spray dryer used in dairy applications

Figure 13 Spray dryer used in production of coffee

Advantages
Product properties and

quality are effectively

temperature differences or

controlled

with viscous liquids

High heat-transfer

coefficients at high

Requires a large amount of

floor space and is heavy

temperature differences

Disadvantages
Poor heat transfer at low

Relatively inexpensive

Highly energy intensive, but

use of multiple drying
stages can allow for
recycling of heat

THIN-FILM DRYERS
Competitive

with

spray

dryers

in

some

situations are thin-film dryers which can accept a

Figure 14 Vertical Thin

Film Dryer

liquid or a slurry feed and produce a dry, free-flowing solid product.

Thin-film dryers are continuous agitated dryers that use minimal heat.
Unlike traditional agitated dryers, which operate at high temperatures,
Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

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Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering
thin-film dryers operate at low pressures (0.01 bar or less) and low
temperatures. By using less heat the dryer has a lower retention time
and the walls of the dryer do not foul, which is a common problem in
some dryers. They also operate using minimal utilities, have a compact
design, and have high specific evaporation capacity.
Normally, the drying process in a Vertical Thin Film Dryer consists
of a preheating, a slurry and a powder zone. In the preheating zone the
product reaches boiling point. Evaporation starts and solids are formed.
In the slurry zone, the concentration of solids increases. Many products
during this phase tend to form agglomerates which are crushed by the
pendulum blades. In the final powder zone surface moisture is further
removed and the drying process is completed.

Usage Examples:
Thin-film drying is used when the material to be dried is
temperature sensitive. Some of these materials include specialty
chemicals, polymers, food products, and pharmaceuticals. This is a
commonly

used

dryer

in

the pharmaceutical industry

since

these

products require very specific processing conditions, such as low

temperature drying.

Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

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Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

Advantages
Low energy consumption

Flexibility in operation

Only needs a single pass to

dry material

Disadvantages
Not suitable for coarse
feedstock

Won't produce granular final

products

Can handle many feedstock

consistencies

Low operation temperature

High heat-transfer rate

Continuous

High turbulence in product

layer

Completely closed design

DRUM DRYERS
A drum dryer consist of one or
more heated metal rolls on the
outside of which a thin layer is
evaporated to dryness. Dried solid is
scraped off the rolls as they slowly
revolve. Drum dryers are primarily
used to dry slurries

Figure 15 Double Drum Dryer

In double drum dryers, the material enters in the center and is

spread onto the two heated metal rolls. The material is dried and
removed by the side blades as the rolls rotate. The product is dropped
onto conveyor belts and is taken to the next unit in the process.
Usage Examples:
The versatility of design allows for the use of rotating drum dryers
in a wide variety of industries, ranging from food to chemical. Special
Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

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Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering
designs allow for the use of rotating drums with toxic, inert, and
flammable gases by connecting the vapor outlet to a condenser.

Figure 16 Rotating drum dryer used in fruit and vegetable industry

Advantages
Large drying capacity

Relatively low cost

Large variety of feed and

Disadvantages
Big and bulky, requires a
large amount of space

product moistures possible

Easy to operate

Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

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Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

REFERENCES

Heat and Mass Transfer: DRYING

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