Drying (Part-2)

Drying Equipment/
Dryers
Dryers can be classified in many ways…
Dryers

Based on Based on Based on dryer

operation heating method bed

Batch dryer Conduction dryer Static bed

dryer

Moving
Convection dryer
bed dryer
Continuous
dryer Fluidized
Radiation dryer bed dryer

Pneumatic
Dielectric dryer bed dryer
Tray Dryer
Principle:
› Type of Dryer Bed: Static Bed
› Method of Air Flow: Parallel air flow
› Heat Transfer Process: Convection
› Hot air is continuously circulated. Forced convection heating
takes place to remove moisture from the solids placed in trays.
Simultaneously, the moist air is removed partially.
Tray Dryer
Working
Procedure
 Advantages and Disadvantages of Tray Dryer

Advantages:
› No loss of material during handling (loading and unloading)
› It is operated batch wise which makes it more suitable for
pharmaceutical operation as each batch can be handle separately and
will have reduced chance of cross contamination.
Disadvantages:
› Required more labor to load and unload. Thus cost increases
› Time consuming process.
› Application:
› • For drying packing material (Bottles, vials)
› • For small scale trial batch
› • Research laboratories uses this type of dryer for drying glass
materials
› • In pharmaceutical industries, it is used to dry pellets, granules,
blends.
› • Sterilization section of pharmaceutical industry requires this dryer.
Drum/Roller/Film Dryer
Principle

› Type of Dryer Bed: Moving Bed

› Method of Air Flow: None

› Heat Transfer Process: Conduction

› Principle:
› • In drum dryer heated hollow cylindrical drum is rotate on longitudinal
axis,which is dipped into the solution to be dried.
› • The solution is carried as a film on the surface of the dryer and dried
to form a layer.
› Dried material is removed with the help of the knife.
› Construction:
› It consists of horizontally
mounted hollow steel drum
of 0.6 to 3m diameter and 0.6
to 4mlength.
› Below the drum feed pan is
placed in such a way that the
drum dips partially into the
feed.
› One side of the drum
spreader and other side knife
is placed.
› Storage bin is placed to collect
the material
› How it works:
› Steam is passed inside the drum.
› Heat is transferred by conduction to the material.
› Drum is rotated at 1-10 rotations per minute
› The liquid present in feed pan adheres to the surface of drum.
› Material is dries during the rotation of drum and collected in storage
bin by using knife.
› Note: Drying process in drum dryer completes in less than one cycle
so the time of contact of material with drum is only 6 to 15seconds
Can be classified as single-drum dryers and double-drum dryers
Spray Dryer
 Principle
› Type of Dryer Bed: Pneumatic bed
› Method of Air Flow: Mainly co-current flow
› Heat Transfer Process: Convection
› The fluid to be dried is atomized into fine droplets, which are thrown
radially into a moving stream of hot gas.
› The temperature of the droplets is immediately increased and fine
droplets get dried instantaneously in the form of spherical particles.
› This process completes in a few seconds before the droplets reach the
wall of the dryer.
Spray Dryer
 Working:

› Drying of the material in spray dryer involves 3 stages.

› (1) Atomization of liquid.

› (2) Drying of the liquid droplets.

› (3) Recovery of the dried product.

 Atomization of the liquid to form liquid droplets

› The feed is introduced through atomizer using suitable pump to form

fine droplets.

› The properties of the final product depend on the droplet form, hence
selection of type of atomizer is important.

› Rate of feed adjusted in such a way that droplets are completely dried
before reaching the wall of the drying chamber.
 Drying of the liquid droplets

› Fine droplets are dried in the drying chamber by supplying hot air
through the inlet.

› The temperature of air is adjusted in such a way that the droplets

should be completely dried before reaching the walls of drying
chamber.

› At the same time, the product should not be over heated.

 Recovery of the dried product :
› Centrifugal force of atomizer drives the droplets to follow helical path.
› Particles are dried during their journey and finally fall at the conical bottom.
› All these processes are completed in a few seconds.
› Particle size of the final product ranges from 2 to 500 mm.
› Particle size depends on solid content in the feed, liquid viscosity, feed rate
and disc speed.
› Spray dryers of maximum size has got evaporating capacity up to 2000 kg
per hour.
› Advantages:
› • Solutions , slurries, and paste can be dried easily by it.
› • Drying rate is very rapid and the drying time is 2 -20 seconds
› • Providing a suitable atomizer, we can produce a uniform and controllable
particle size
› • As the drying time is very short, the dryer permits drying of highly heat
sensitive materials
› • The desired consistency, bulk density, appearance, & flow properties of
some
› products such as synthetic detergent may be obtained
› • It may combine the function of an evaporator, a crystallizer, a dryer, a size
› reduction unit
Disadvantages

› It is very bulky and expensive

› Such a huge equipment is not always easy to operate

› Thermal efficiency is low as much heat is lost in the discharged gases

› Application :
› • It is used in almost for drying any substance present in solution,
suspension and
› also for the thermolabile substances such as borax, gum acacia,
gelatin.
› • Also for products of indirect pharmaceutical interest such as milk,
soap, detergents.
Fluidized Bed Dryer (FBD)
Principle
› Type of Dryer Bed: Fluidized Bed
› Method of Air Flow: Through Circulation flow
› Heat Transfer Process: Conduction as well as convection
› Hot air is passed at high pressure through a perforated bottom of the
container containing granules to be dried.
› The granules are lifted from the bottom and suspended in the stream
of air.
› The hot air surrounds every granule to completely dry them. Thus,
materials or granules are uniformly dried.
Fluidized Bed Dryer
Air heaters ,
filter bag
aigular
function ashte
pare
Food materials that are suitable for fluidized bed drying
have the following characteristics

1. The average particle size should be between 10 mm and 20 mm.

Very fine particles tend to lump together.
2. The particle size distribution should be reasonably narrow. A wide
range of particle sizes makes the selection of a gas velocity nearly
impossible. A vibrated fluid bed sometimes overcomes this problem
when it is impossible to have a uniform size material.
3. The particle shape must be regular.
4. A lump of particles must disintegrate easily upon fluidization
 Advantages
› Require less time for drying. It is 15 times faster than the tray
dryer.

› The drying containers are mobile, making handling simple.

› Can be used to dry thermo-labile substances as contact time for

drying is short.
Disadvantages
› High electrical power consumption

› Poor fluidization quality of some particulate products. Fluid, sticky and

adhesive materials cannot be dried

› Cleaning process of bag filter is troublesome

› Vigorous movement of particles can create charges of static electricity.

Application

› FBD is popularly used for drying of granules in the production of

tablets.

› FBD can be used for 3 operations such as mixing, granulation

and drying.

› It can also be used for coating of granules with modifications.

Vacuum Dryer
Principle
› Type of Dryer Bed: Static Bed

› Method of Air Flow: None

› Heat Transfer Process: transfer of heat depends on methods other

than convection. Radiation and conduction are other modes.

› Material is dried by the application of vacuum.

 Principle conti…
› Material is dried by the application of vacuum. When vacuum is
created, the pressure is lowered so that water boils at a lower
temperature. Hence, water evaporates faster. The heat transfer
becomes efficient, i.e. rate of drying enhances substantially.

› In vacuum drying, the boiling point of water is lowered below 100⁰C by

reducing the pressure.
 Advantages and Disadvantages
Vacuum drying is one of the most expensive methods of drying. Its
costs are comparable to freeze drying but are higher than other
methods. Because they are expensive, vacuum dryers often serve
as a secondary dryer.

The moisture content of high-moisture food is reduced to 20–25%

by a conventional method, such as hot air drying, and then vacuum
is applied to bring the moisture down to 1–3%.
 Uses
› Heat sensitive materials that undergo decomposition
› Hygroscopic materials
FREEZE DRYER:
(Lyophilization)
Principle

› Type of Dryer Bed: Static Bed

› Method of Air Flow: None

› Heat Transfer Process: Radiation

 Principle:
› In freeze drying, water is removed from the frozen state by
sublimation.
› The drying is achieved by subjecting the material to temperature and
pressures below the triple point.
› Under these conditions, any heat transferred is used as latent heat and
ice sublimes directly into vapor state.
› The water vapor is removed from the system by condensation in a cold
trap maintained at a temperature lower than the frozen material.
 WORKING:

› It consists of the following steps :

› 1) Preparation and pretreatment

› 2) pre freezing for solidifying water

› 3) primary drying (sublimation of ice under vacuum)

› 4) Secondary drying (removal of residual moisture under high vacuum)

› 5) Packing
 1) Preparation and Pretreatment:
› The volume of solution introduced into the flask is limited by its
capacity

› The solution is pre concentrated under normal vacuum tray drying.

› This reduces the actual drying by 8 to 10 times. The final product

becomes more porous.
 2) Pre freezing to solidify water:

› Vials, ampoules or bottles in which the aqueous solution is packed

are frozen in cold shelves about -50 deg Celsius.

› During this stage, cabinet is maintained at low temperature

atmospheric pressure.
 3) Primary drying:
› Temperature and pressure should be below the triple point of water
for sublimation .
› Vacuum is applied on the frozen sample.
› The temperature is linearly increased.
› Heat is transferred as latent heat and ice sublimes directly into
vapour state.
› As soon as vapour molecules are formed these are removed.
4) Secondary drying ( removal of residual
moisture under high vacuum)

› Traces of moisture is removed but temperature of solid is

raised to as 50 to 60 ⁰C.
› But vacuum is lowered below that is used in primary drying
 Packing
› After vacuum is replaced by inert gas, the bottles and vials are
closed.

› Attention must be paid to packaging freeze -dried products to

ensure protection from moisture.
 Uses:
› It is most commonly used in the production of dosage forms, such as
injections, solutions and suspensions. it is used for drying of a number
of products.
› 1) Blood plasma and its fractionated products.
› 2) Bacterial and viral cultures.
› 3) Human tissue ( arteries and corneal tissue).
› 4) Antibiotics and plant extracts.
› 5) Steroids, vitamins and enzymes.
 Advantages:

› Thermolabile materials can be dried as drying is conducted below

freezing point.

› Denaturation of product does not occur and reconstitution is easy.

› Sterility can be maintained.

› Materials can be dried inside their packaging containers, such as vials.

Disadvantages

› The final product is prone to oxidation and should be kept in

airtight containers

› Equipment and running costs are high

› Period of drying is very high (more than 10 hours)