Effect of locating the atomizer at the inlet in fountain confined conical spouted beds for drying kaolin suspensions

The drying of suspensions in a spouted bed is usually performed by atomizing the solution onto the surface of the bed. However, drying of concentrated suspensions, such as those of kaolin, leads to particle agglomeration. Placing the atomizer at the air inlet pipe might be an alternative, since suspension droplets are fed into the spout, where high particle velocities are attained. Moreover, the presence of the fountain confiner above the bed surface allows increasing the air-solid contact. However, the atomizer may lead to bed instabilities due to changes in the air trajectory. Therefore, the spouted bed performance for drying kaolin suspensions with this new atomizer location has been addressed. Spouted bed hydrodynamics with and without atomizer were evaluated and drying experiments were conducted in this new setup. Although the atomizer increases the total pressure drop of the system, it hardly changes spouted bed hydrodynamics. Furthermore, the new setup allows operating at the maximum dryer's capacity.

Automated summary

The drying of concentrated suspensions, like kaolin, in a spouted bed can lead to particle agglomeration. Placing the atomizer at the air inlet pipe and using a fountain confiner above the bed surface can improve air-solid contact and reduce bed instabilities. Evaluations of spouted bed hydrodynamics with and without the atomizer were conducted, and drying experiments were performed in this new setup. The atomizer slightly increased the total pressure drop of the system but had minimal impact on the spouted bed hydrodynamics.