A spray dryer is a method of rapidly drying a liquid or slurry into a dry powder with a hot gas. Many heat-sensitive products, such as foods and medicines, favor this technique of drying. AlaquaInc is a spray dryer supplier for various industries such as food processing and pharmaceutical industries.

What is a Spray Dryer?

A spray dryer separates solute as solid, solvent as vapor; material is collected in a drum or cyclone. A nozzle sprays the liquid input stream into a hot vapor stream, causing it to evaporate.As droplets evaporate, a nozzle maximizes heat transfer, forming solids. High-pressure single-fluid and two-fluid nozzles are primary for drying.

When compared with other methods of drying, a spray dryer works faster than other methods of drying. The spray dryer simplifies the process, turning a solution into dried powder in a single step, boosting profit margins.

In pharmaceutical production, spray drying produces Amorphous Solid Dispensation by evenly dispersing Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients into a polymer matrix. So, this boosts drug dispersion by elevating the energy level of active chemicals, aiding their effective distribution in the body.

How does Spray Dryer work?

The spray drying process consists of five key processes, regardless of the factory’s level of sophistication:

• Wet Process:

The materials intended for drying exist in a liquid condition before undergoing spray dryer. The pre-spray drier procedure aims to prepare the materials in a manner that enables successful spray drying and maximizes yield.

• Atomization:

  The atomizing liquid influx into tiny droplets ensures rapid drying, significantly increasing particle surface for effective humidity escape.

• Contact between the dry substance and the air:

  Hence, heated air efficiently dries sprayed droplets, enhancing moisture absorption and particle drying in the spray chamber. The entrance has a low relative humidity, while the exit has a high relative humidity, along with a lower temperature. Air can be blown to the product either co-currently from the top of the tower or counter-currently from the bottom. In many processes, counter-current is a favored choice, but for spray drying, co-current provides a significant advantage: the higher-temperature air contacts the particles with the highest humidity first, thereby preventing the particles from overheating.

• Drying:

  Drying in the spray chamber follows particle movement, gradually removing moisture through mass and heat transfer with surrounding air.

• Solids Separation:

  It is vital to gather the particles once they have dried. Cyclones often perform such separations, with the option of equipping them with filters to enhance their effectiveness. The powder is gathered in the spray dryer’s bottom and pneumatically delivered to a cyclone, where it is separated from the air. The drying chamber directs the air to another cyclone, which separates any fines that the air may have carried over and returns them to the main product stream. Normally, we reject humid air, but in specific cases, we can utilize it for pre-heating because it remains hot.

We provide the latest technology evaporators, crystallizers, spray dryer, distillation system, solvent recovery systems, and heat exchangers. Contact us today to get amazing processing equipment for various industries.