Drying in the Context of the Overall Process

Abstract

Although drying has traditionally been considered as a unit operation, it is strongly affected by upstream operations such as crystallization and solid–liquid separation, and in turn can affect downstream processes such as gas cleaning and micronization. Process design needs to consider the complete flowsheet and the interactions between the different steps as early as possible. Key points are the particle formation method and the final product specification. The mean particle diameter and particle size distribution are vital parameters throughout the process, as smaller particles and fines make solids handling, dewatering, and washing more difficult. This in turn affects the inlet moisture content to the dryer, and hence the heat duty and performance. Intermediate size enlargement or reduction may be used to give a more easily dried particle or agglomerate. There are important links to the new subject of product engineering, for example in the choice of processing route to achieve a given product quality and specification. The interactions between the different process steps can affect process design, equipment selection and troubleshooting, and this is illustrated by industrial case studies. A holistic approach is proposed to allow the whole solids processing flowsheet to be optimized as an entity, rather than optimising each unit operation in isolation and then finding a conflict between them.