Drying of Porous Particles containing Liquid Mixtures in a Continuous Vibrated Fluid Bed Dryer

Abstract: The influence of operation parameters on the drying of spherical porous particles containing a mixture of solvents evaporating into nitrogen in a continuously worked vibrated fluid-bed dryer was studied. A simulation based on the analytical solution to heat and mass transfer equations was applied and modifications were suggested.   Four different ternary liquid mixtures were selected: Acetone-Chloroform-Methanol (ACM), Ethanol- 2-propanol-Water (EIpW), Water-Ethanol-Ethyl Acetate (WEEa) and Ethanol-Methylethylketone- Toluene (EMekT). For the solid, physical properties of Pyrex was used.   Comparison of composition- and temperature- profiles indicated that there is no resistance against heat transfer within the solid and that the heat transfer is much faster than mass transfer.   Selectivity diagrams were drawn. The results indicated that selectivity is an important parameter in predicting the drying behavior.   The retention ratio was studied as performance parameter. Its variation was studied in response to changes in operation parameters, including gas velocity and temperature, as well as solid temperature and particle size.   A  modification  to  the  model  was  examined  by  assuming  a  liquid-content-dependent  diffusion resistance factor. It was observed that implementing such an assumption yields decreased values for retention ratios.   The  effect  of  vibration  on  heat  and  mass  transfer  coefficients  was  included  using  a  correlation suggested by Sbrodov and the resulting effect on retention ratio was examined.