Drying

By
Dr. Thomas A. Conteh

8/11/2020 Pharmaceutics Dept. COMAHS-USL

Contents:
1. Definition of drying
2. Importance of drying
3. Difference between drying and evaporation
4. Drying Equipments
5. Classification of dryers
6. Application of drying
7. Parameters to consider in selecting drying
equipment
8. Factors affecting drying
8/11/2020 Pharmaceutics Dept. COMAHS-USL
9. Mechanism of drying

8/11/2020 Pharmaceutics Dept. COMAHS-USL

 Definition of drying
 Drying is commonly the last stage in a
manufacturing process.
 Drying is the final removal of water from
material (usually by heat)
 Drying can take place without heat (Non-
thermal drying). Examples; a) Squeezing
wetted sponge. b) Adsorption by desiccant
(desiccation) c) Extraction.

8/11/2020 Pharmaceutics Dept. COMAHS-USL

 Importance of drying
 In pharmaceutical technology, drying is carried
out for one or more of the following reasons:
 To avoid or eliminate moisture which may lead
to corrosion and decrease the product or drug
stability.
 To improve or keep the good properties of a
material, e.g. Followability, compressibility.
 To reduce the cost of transportation of large
volume materials ( liquids).
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 Importance of drying cont.….
 In pharmaceutical technology, drying is carried
out for one or more of the following reasons:
cont.…
 To make the material easy or more suitable for
handling.
 Preservative.
 The final step in Evaporation, Filtration,
Crystallization.

8/11/2020 Pharmaceutics Dept. COMAHS-USL

 Difference between drying and evaporation
No Drying
1 In drying processes, the main
operation usually carried out
on solid materials, e.g.
powders, or products
2 Drying in most of the cases
means the removal of
relatively small amounts of
water from solids
3 In most cases, drying involves
the removal of water at
temperatures below its boiling
point
8/11/2020 Pharmaceutics Dept. COMAHS-USL
Evaporation
In evaporation processes, the main
operation usually carried out on liquid
materials, e.g. solution, or products
Evaporation include the removal of
large amounts of water from
solutions.
Whereas evaporation means the
removal of water by boiling a solution.
 Difference between drying and evaporation cont.….

No Drying Evaporation

4 In drying , water is usually While in evaporation , water is

removed by circulating air over removed from the material as pure
the material in order to carry water vapour mixed with other gases.
away the water vapour

8/11/2020 Pharmaceutics Dept. COMAHS-USL

 Drying Equipments
 Drum dryer (Film drying)
 Spray dryer
 Freeze Dryer
 Tray drier
 Fluidized Bed Dryer
 Vacuum Dryer

8/11/2020 Pharmaceutics Dept. COMAHS-USL

 Drum Dryer (Film Drying)
 It consists of a drum of about 0.75-1.5 m in diameter
and 2-4 m in length, heated internally, usually by
steam and rotated on its longitudinal axis.
 Operation: The liquid is applied to the surface and
spread to a film, this may be done in various ways,
but the simplest method is where the drum dips into
a feed pan. Drying rate is controlled by using a
suitable speed of rotation and the drum
temperature. The product is scraped from the
surface of the drum by means of a doctor knife.

8/11/2020 Pharmaceutics Dept. COMAHS-USL

 Spray Dryer
 The spray dryer provides a large surface area for
heat and mass transfer by atomizing the liquid to
small droplets.
 These are sprayed into a stream of hot air, so that
each droplet dries to a solid particle.
 The drying chamber resembles the cyclone
ensuring good circulation of air, to facilitate heat
and mass transfer, and that dried particles are
separated by the centrifugal action.
 Spray dryer can be operated efficiently at various
feed rates.
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 Freeze Dryer
o Freeze drying is a process used to dry extremely heat
sensitive materials. It allows the drying , without
excessive damage, of proteins, blood products and
even microorganisms, which retain a small but
significant viability.
o In this process the initial liquid solution or suspension
is frozen, the pressure above the frozen state is
reduced and the water removed by sublimation.
o Thus a liquid-to-vapour transition takes place, but
here three states of matter involved: liquid to solid,
then solid to vapour.
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 Tray drier
 Air flows in direction of the arrows over each
shelf in turn.
 The wet material is spread on shallow trays
resting on the shelves.
 Electrical elements or steam-heated pipes are
positioned so that the air is periodically
reheated after it has cooled by passage over
the wet material on one shelf before it passes
on the next.
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 Fluidized Bed Dryer
 Fluidized’ means something that behaves like liquid.
In the fluidized bed dryer, the mixture of solids and
gas behave like a liquid and solid are called fluidized.
 It provides good contact between hot air and
particles to obtain efficient drying.
 The hot air is passed through a mesh, which
supports the conical vessel with a porous base.
 This vessel is filled with powder to be dried.
 It has wheels and can be clipped to the central plate
by means of a rapid acting ring closure.

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 Vacuum Dryer
• This equipment is a good example of conduction
drier. The vacuum oven consists of a jacketed
vessel to withstand vacuum within the oven.
• There are supports for the shelves giving a larger
area for conduction heat transfer. The oven can
be closed by a door.
• The oven is connected through a condenser and
liquid receiver to a vacuum pump.
• Operating pressure can be as low as 0.03-0.03
bar, at which pressures water boils at 25-35 0C.
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 Classification of Dryers
1. Adiabatic or Direct Dryers: Dryers that expose
the solids to a hot gas (usually air) are called
Adiabatic or Direct Dryers.
2. Non-Adiabatic or Indirect Dryers :Dryers in
which heat is transferred from an external
medium are known as non-adiabatic or
Indirect Dryers

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 In Adiabatic Dryers solids are exposed to the gas
in the following ways.
1. Cross-Circulation Drying: Gas is blown across the
surface of a bed or slab of solids.
2. Through Circulation Drying: Gas is blown through a bed
of coarse granular solids that are supported on a screen
3. Solids are showered downward through a slowly
moving gas stream in a rotary dryers
4. Gas passes through the solids at a velocity sufficient to
fluidize the bed
5. Solids are all entrained in a hi velocity gas stream and
are pneumatically conveyed from a mixing device to a
mechanical separator.
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  In Non-Adiabatic Dryers solids are exposed to
the hot surface or other source of heat in the
following ways.
 Solids are spread over a stationary or slowly
moving horizontal surface and cooked until dry.
Surface may be heated
1) Electrically
2) Heat transfer fluid stream or hot water
3) Radiant heater.

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 Application of Drying
 In the pharmaceutical industries, it is used as a
unit process in the manufacture of granules which
can be dispensed in bulk or converted into tablets
or capsules.
 Drying can also be used to reduce the bulk and
weight of the material, thereby lowering the cost
of transportation and storage.
 It helps in the preservation of crude drugs of plant
from mould growth, which occurs due to
presence of moisture.
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 It helps in the size reduction of crude drugs.
The presence of moisture in the crude drug
does not allow it to get powdered easily.

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Parameters to consider in selecting drying equipment

 Physical/chemical properties of the product.

 Production capacity (Kg/hr)
 Energy consumption must be minimized

 Pollution must be controlled

 Operating and maintenance costs must be

excessive.
8/11/2020 Pharmaceutics Dept. COMAHS-USL
 Factors affecting drying
 Temperature
 Relative humidity and moisture
 Temperature of material being dried
 Surface area
 Tray load
 Size of the product
 Nature of the material

8/11/2020 Pharmaceutics Dept. COMAHS-USL

 Mechanism of Drying
 Liquid diffusion: If the wet solid is at a
temperature below the boiling point of the liquid.
 Vapour diffusion: If the liquid vapourises within
the material.
 Condensation diffusion: If drying takes place at
very low temperature and pressure e.g. in freeze
drying.

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 Mechanism of Drying cont.…
 Surface diffusion: Not proven but possible.
 Hydrostatic pressure: It occurs when internal
vaporization rates exceed the rate of vapour
transport through the solid to the liquid to the
surrounding.
 Heat transfer: It takes place from the heating
medium to solid, except in dielectric or high
frequency electric drying, where heat is generated
within the solid and flows to exterior surface.

8/11/2020 Pharmaceutics Dept. COMAHS-USL

 Mass transfer: It involves movement of the
moisture to the surface of the solid and its
subsequent evaporation from the surface. The
transfer of vapours from the surface to the
surrounding medium is affected by external
conditions like temperature, humidity, air flow
rate, pressure and evaporating surface exposed.
 NB: Heat transfer is categorized into; 1.)Direct
(convection) 2.) Radiant(radiation) 3.)Dielectric
or microwave (radiofrequency) 4.) Indirect or
contact (conduction).

8/11/2020 Pharmaceutics Dept. COMAHS-USL

 THANK YOU

8/11/2020 Pharmaceutics Dept. COMAHS-USL