FLUIDIZED BED

DRYER
 Principle of Fluidization

Fluidization is a process where stationary solid particle is changed

into a dynamic fluid like state when a gas stream goes upwards into
a bed.

The gas stream negates the gravitational pull due to weight of

particles to enable the suspended state of the solid.
The resultant mixture of solids and gas behave like a liquid
 Theory Of Fluidization

a) Phenomenon of Fluidization
The stages of fluidization is mostly based on the fluid velocity
passing through the particle bed. The stages of fluidization can be
summarized as follows:

1) Static bed
2) Expanded bed
 Theory Of Fluidization

b) Role of Fluidization Velocity

After mobile bed formation if velocity is further increased the bed
expands considerably with increase in voidage and bubble formation
occurs.
If further increase in velocity of air occurs, eventually the lifting force of
passing air blows particle out of the bed altogether leading to Pneumatic
transport .
As shown in Figure below, the velocity of the fluid through the bed
opposite to the direction of gravity determines whether the bed is fixed,
expanded, or is swept out.
This leads to the development of the concept of minimum fluidization
velocity at which the bed just begins to fluidize.

a b c
Status of approach fluid velocity Type of bed formed
(VO)
Vo<Vmf Fixed bed

Vmf≥ Vo<Ut Fluidized bed

Vo ≥ Ut Mobilized bed

Where Vo is approach velocity or superficial

velocity,
 Theory Of Fluidization

c) Role of Pressure Drop in Fluidization

When a fluid flows through a bed of particles in a tube, it will exert a drag
force upon the particles resulting in a pressure drop across the bed.
As the fluid’s approach velocity is increased, pressure drop is magnified.
The pressure drop across the bed, ∆p, then remains constant. (even with
further increase in the fluid velocity) and equal to the effective weight of
the bed per unit area
 Different types of Fluidized Bed

Slugging bed – A slugging bed is a fluid bed in which air bubbles

occupy entire cross sections of the vessel and divide the bed into
layers.
Boiling bed – A boiling bed is a fluid bed in which the air or gas
bubbles are approximately the same size as the solid particles.
Channeling bed – A channeling bed is a fluid bed in which the air
(or gas) forms channels in the bed through which most of the air
passes.
 FLUIDIZED BED DRYERS

The fluidized bed dryer is a machine used for fluidizing and drying
granules, pharmaceutical powders, pastes, webs, tablets, fertilizers, and
plastics.
The bed refers to the layer of suspended solid molecules. Dryer
equipment is the equipment where wet substances are dried.
In fluidized bed drying, hot air is forced through a distributor into bed at
 FLUIDIZED BED DRYERS

Before drying process is conducted in fluidized bed system, it is

important to understand the system characteristics and bed behaviour
during fluidization.
The regimes of operation include:

Minimum fluidization velocity (Vmf),

Particle entrainment velocity,
 FLUIDIZED BED DRYERS

A typical fluidized bed dryer consists of the following components:

A. Air preparatory unit.

b. Product container.
c. Exhaust filter.
d. Exhaust blower.
e. Control panel.
f.  Air distribution plate.
g. Spray nozzle.
h. Solution deliver.
 FLUIDIZED BED DRYERS

Factors affecting drying processes of dryers:

-Initial moisture content of the raw material,-Composition of raw
material,-Size, shape and arrangement of stacking of the raw material,-
Temperature, relative humidity and velocity of air used for drying,-Rate
of heat transfer on the surface of the material and,-Pre-treatment of the
raw material prior to drying.
 Parameters To Be Controlled

Parameters to be controlled in fluidized bed dryers are

1. Apparatus parameters: Those controlled by the equipment.

2. Process parameters: Those controlled by the process.

3. Product parameters: Those controlled by the product.

Apparatus Parameters
Position of the air distribution plate: This parameter influences the
pattern.
Shape of the instrument: The annular based design gives a better
product.
 Parameters To Be Controlled

Process/Operating Parameter
Temperature: Increased temperature leads to increased moisture diffusivity
and hence increased drying rate and decreased drying time. The nature of
the material plays an important role in choosing the operating temperature.
Humidity: Faster drying is achieved when the moisture content of the inlet
air is maintained at its minimum.
Airflow rate/gas velocity: Increasing gas velocity increases drying rate but
should be maintained at an optimized rate (not too fast or too slow). Gas
 Parameters To Be Controlled

Product Parameters
Moisture content of the feed material.
Feed rate/batch size.
Product moisture content.
Particle size, shape, and diameter.
 Working Principle

➢ Fluid bed dryer sucks in air from the surrounding environment. Most
FBDs have a fan that sucks this air.
➢ For the fan to rotate, the FBD must have an efficient electric motor.

➢ When the air comes into the system, it is relatively cold.

➢ Even in situations where the air is warm, it is not enough to dry
material.
➢ Next, air passes through a heating system. All fluidized bed dryers have
heating systems as part of their assembly.
 Working Principle cont'd

➢ Basically, in case the air is overheated, it should have an option for

cooling.
➢ Once you introduce heated air with a suitable velocity into the bed, the

system will get fluidized. Do you remember our earlier discussion?

➢ As hot air flows through the bed and suspends material, it “sucks”

moisture present in the particles.

➢ Heated air will then flow into the recovery chamber where it can be

recycled. Also, this will depend on whether your fluidized bed dryer has
 Types of Fluidized Bed
Dryer

a) Batch Type Fluidized Bed Dryer

In batch fluid bed technology, the heated gas enters
the system from the bottom of the FBD. Batch
drying is a method of which involves feeding a fixed
amount of product at a time into the dryer, the
machine carries out the drying and when the
machine finishes the process the materials are
discharged.
Batch Type Fluidized Bed
Dryer
 Types of Fluidized Bed
Dryer

In batch type fluidized bed dryers, the machine uses two mechanisms to
discharge materials:
i. Discharging material from the wall of the fluid bed dryer using a
centrifuge stream. Here, the FBD depends on the direction type perforated
plate.
ii. Discharging material into a bottom hopper as perforated plate rotates.
Continuous Types Fluidized Bed Dryer
 Types of Fluidized Bed
Dryer

It is a dryer in which the material flows into the machine, gets dried, and
is discharged without affecting any other process. Here, a perforated plate
uniformly disperses heated air, which causes fluidization and subsequently
dries material.
Like the name suggests, material moves from one drying chamber to
another.
Continuous type fluidized bed dryer comes in different shapes more so,
when it comes to the chamber design.
 OPERATING PROCEDURE - DRYING OF
MATERIAL AND DETERMINATION OF
MOISTURE CONTENT

Remove any excess water from the sample by decanting or using a

filter pump. Place the sample in the dryer at a pre-determined bed
depth compatible with the operating range of the dryer as previously
indicated. In some cases the moisture content may be too high for
immediate fluidization to be effected, but after some initial drying
fluidization becomes possible.
Weigh container empty, then with material. Fit a clean bag over the
 OPERATING PROCEDURE - DRYING OF
MATERIAL AND DETERMINATION OF
MOISTURE CONTENT

In manual mode, when drying nears completion as judged by a rise

in temperature of outlet air or visual observation, push the stop
button.
Remove the tub with contents and re-weigh, continue repeating the
drying cycle until a constant weight is obtained.
For each weighing the dryer is stopped and then restarted. The
difference in initial and final weights of the material can be
 Design Structure of a Fluid Bed
Dryer

There are many types of fluid bed dryers available. They come with
several custom adjustments and capacities to treat materials. The
basic design structure of a fluid bed drying machine is as follows:
Air Handling Unit: This unit helps in providing the required
temperature needed to dry the wet particles. Wet powders are
conveyed over the bed, and then heated air is supplied for drying.
There are several filters, dehumidifiers, and fans available to
 Design Parameters

The design calculations are as follows

By usage of the conventional formula for the calculation of the
volume (V) and cross sectional area (Ac) of a
Cylinder, we find;
V=πr²h Volume of the reactor
Ac = πD2/4 Cross sectional area
The mass balance

Steady state energy balance

Before fluidization occurs, when the bed of solids is fixed, the pressure
drop across the bed for gas flow, ΔPb, is predicted well by the Ergun
equation,

where ϵb is void fraction, Lb = bed height, us = superficial gas velocity,

and Φs = particle sphericity, dp is mass-average particle size, pm
The first term on the right-hand side is dominant at low-particle Reynolds
numbers where stream line flow exists and the second term dominates at
high-particle Reynolds numbers where turbulent flow exists.
The onset of fluidization occurs when the drag force on the particles by the
upward-flowing gas becomes equal to the weight of the particles
(accounting for displaced gas):

This gives us,

The minimum gas-fluidization superficial velocity, umf, is obtained by

solving the last two simultaneously for u = umf. For NRe,p = dp*umf*ρg/μ
< 20, the turbulent-flow contribution to the Ergun equation is negligible
and the result is
 The distribution of residence times for the effluent from a perfectly mixed
vessel operating at continuous, steady-state conditions is given by
Fogler as,

where T is the average residence time and E{t} is defined such that E{t}dt
is the fraction of effluent with a residence time between t and t+dt. Thus,

If the particles are small and porous such that all

drying takes place in the constant-rate period and Ɵ
is the time for complete drying, then

The average moisture content of the dried solids leaving the

fluidized-bed reactor is obtained by integrating the following
expression from 0 to only Ɵ because X = 0 for t > Ɵ.
Combining Fogler equation and the average moisture content equation
and integrating gives:

If the particles are nonporous and without surface moisture, such

that all drying takes place in the falling-rate period, diffusion theory
may apply such that the following empirical exponential expression
may be used for the moisture content as a function of time:

In this case, the combination of above equation with average moisture

content equation, followed by integration from t = 0 to t = ∞ gives:

Values of Ɵ and B must be determined from experiments with laboratory

batch fluidized-bed dryers for scale up to large commercial dryers operating
 Applications of FBDs

FBDs are applicable in production industries like:

➢ Chemical

➢ Pharmaceutical

➢ Food

➢ Dairy

➢ Metallurgical

➢ Dyes and other process industries

 Applications of FBDs

Fluidized bed dryers are commonly used in processing of:

• Chemicals
• Carbohydrates
• Foodstuff
• Biomaterials
• Beverage Products
• Ceramics
• Pharmaceuticals in Powder or Agglomerated Form
 Advantages of Fluidized-bed Dryers

1. High rates of moisture removal due to excellent gas-particle constant

which results in high heat and mass transfer rates.
2. High thermal efficiency is usually achieved if part of the thermal energy
for drying is supplied by the internal heat exchanger
3. Lower capital and maintenance cost
4. Reduced contact time for drying.
5. Ease of control.
 Disadvantages of Fluidized Dryers

1. High pressure drops results as a result of the need to suspend the entire
bed in gas which equally leads to high energy consumption.
2. Requires increased gas handling due to extensive recirculation of
exhaust gas for high thermal efficiency operation.
3. Not the best choice of equipment when organic solvents need to be
removed during drying.
4. Non-uniform product quality for certain types of fluidized bed dryers.
5. Entertainment of fine particles.
 Problems of Fluidized Bed Dryers and
How to Solve Them

· Product degrading
Mostly, this is due to high temperature.
Consequently, you need to distribute the particles and lower the
temperature.
Remember, you must know the recommended drying temperature for
every material you want to process in the FBD.
· High drying time than normal
 Problems of Fluidized Bed Dryers and
How to Solve Them

· Particle reduces in size

It is mainly due to high residence time.
Therefore, the solution is quite simple, reduce residence time.
· A dried product having high moisture content
This is due to internal diffusion of particles, and you can solve the problem
by reducing residence time.
· Shrinkage of the surface
The high temperature will cause surface shrinkage.
To solve this, you must “balance” the temperature.
So basically, know the temperature requirements for the product you’re
drying.
 Conclusion

Fluid bed dryer plays an integral role in

material processing.
It’s also evident that a fluidized bed
dryer is high-tech equipment that
comes in different shapes and designs.
More importantly, you need to evaluate
every aspect of the FBD, from
THANK YOU!!!