Advanced experimental analysis of drying kinetics in spray drying

A method for measuring drying kinetics of different products in a disperse system has been developed in the study. In order to carry out the experiments a 9 m long spray drying tunnel was designed, built and tested. The phase Doppler anemometry (PDA) technique was used to determine initial spray atomization parameters, the structure of spray during drying, particle size distribution, velocity of the particles, mass concentration of the liquid phase, etc. Measurements were made at different distances from the atomizer and in the cross-section of the spray stream. Maltodextrin was used as a raw material in the experiments. Extensive spray drying tests were performed to determine the influence of operating process parameters on spray. Examples of the drying kinetic tests are presented and discussed in the paper. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.