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Flash Drying

June 1, 2001
Darren A. Traub

This flash dryer is designed for high volume production (15 to 1000 metric tons per hr) of
metallic mineral concentrates with a coal-fired hot gas generator.

Flash dryers offer an effective method of removing surface or unbound moisture from a
feed product. The technology behind flash drying employs a low residence time within the
actual dryer; thus, the unbound moisture is "flashed" off the feed. Flash dryers are
essentially pneumatic dryers. Many variations or configurations have been developed, but
all flash dryers employ the same basic concept of operation.
Flash dryers are an efficient method of drying products such as slurries, pastes and sludge
(most with back mixing), friable filter cakes, powders and granules. The feed must have a
relatively consistent particle size to allow for transfer without segregation and buildup.
Flash dryers operate effectively on throughput rates varying from a few kilograms per hour
up to several hundred tons per hour (obviously based on the bulk density of the product).
Depending on throughput, they may be small, unnoticed pieces of equipment located
inconspicuously in the plant, or they may require large, independent structures for support.

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The resulting product may have residual moisture that varies from 0% to upwards of 12%
depending on operating parameters or the percentage of bound moisture contained in the
feed.

Flash drying is a continuous process with the dryer being either directly or indirectly fired.
They are inherently cocurrent dryers with the hottest air contacting the wettest product.
They operate at inlet temperatures varying from ambient dehumidified air for sensitive
products to more than 1,100oF (600oC) for robust products. Because the system has
relatively low residence time and the moisture is flashed off, a significant amount of
evaporative cooling takes place in the system. This allows higher inlet temperatures to be
used than in many other dryers without unduly heating the product. Higher inlet
temperatures also increase the overall dryer efficiency.

Unlike the descriptive name of most dryers such as rotary, spray or conveyor, flash drying
refers to the mode of drying rather than the type of equipment. There is no single system
configuration or component design for a flash drying system. The path of the gas stream
may be a single long tube, camel back, loop design or series of cyclones, and each
configuration offers unique characteristics. For example, a single, long tube will require
less energy to compensate for losses and can process high throughput rates. A loop design
will allow for classification and additional residence time based on moisture content, or,
alternatively, may reduce the particle size by milling the material in the dryer.

Flash drying systems use a heated carrier gas (usually, air) to pneumatically convey the feed
through the flash dryer (flash tube) and into a primary gas-separation device (most
commonly, a cyclone or series of cyclones in series or parallel). The carrier is induced or
forced into the feed throat from a hot gas generator that heats the gas to the desired
operating inlet temperature. In the feed throat, the gas entrains the feed, and the moisture
is evaporated quickly as the product is conveyed through the system to the primary
gas/product separation device. Because the entire product is entrained in the gas stream,
both primary product collection (typically, cyclones) and secondary and tertiary dust
collection such as multiclones, bag houses, scrubbers and electrostatic precipitators usually
are installed to meet emission limits.

Flash dryers utilize fans to provide the motive force for transferring the product. A system
may include both a forced-draft and induced-draft fan, but most can operate effectively on
a single induced-draft fan.

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Process designs for dryer systems yield thermal energy and air requirements. The energy
represents the sensible and latent heat needed to elevate the product temperature to the
point at which it will allow evaporation at the ensuing pressure. The air requirement
represents both the volume needed to carry this energy as well as remove and hold the
moisture above the mixture's dewpoint. This requires detailed and involved calculations to
obtain the correct heat and mass balance requirements. Flash dryers are not pneumatic-
conveying systems with a heater in the line!

Feed is introduced (metered) into the throat of the flash dryer in a controlled fashion by
means of a modulating feeding device such as a screw feeder, rotary valve, vibrating feeder
or mixer. The throat is composed of a carrier introduction duct, an acceleration zone to
increase feed velocity and a discharge zone where the gas-entrained product is injected
into the flash tube.

Acceleration usually is accomplished by means of a venturi or mechanical accelerator that

imparts kinetic energy into the feed stream, allowing it to reach the required conveying
velocity. This area -- the throat -- is a critical area in the design of flash dryers. Specific and
proprietary design of the mechanical accelerators allows for agglomerated feeds to be
broken down into smaller particles that are conveyed and dried effectively.

Once entrained in the carrier gas, the transfer of thermal energy is quick and efficient
because the carrier intimately contacts the particles and the exposed surface area is
enhanced in the gas stream. If desired, residence times in these units can be altered by
increasing the flash tube length, increasing holdup times in the product collection cyclone
(s) or adding cyclones in series.

Flash dryers are flexible in that they can use almost any energy source. However, if inlet
temperatures are restrictively low, the unit may become excessively large.

Control of these dryers depends on the complexity of the installation. They may have PLC
or solid-state controllers. The system most commonly controls on the exhaust gas
temperature although other control methods have been employed effectively. The control
loop can modulate the energy input (inlet temperature) or the feed rate to allow for stable
control and variations in input parameters.

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This camelback flash dryer dries coal fines in an oxygen-depleted environment for the
manufacture of briquettes.
Weigh Your Choice
Flash dryers require little real estate relative to throughput. The flash tube of the dryer is
flexible and can be routed to suit the plant constraints. As mentioned earlier, a pneumatic-
conveying system is not a flash dryer, but a flash dryer can be a pneumatic-conveying
system. Not only can it effectively dry products, it can elevate them, move them around a
facility and preheat them for successive processes. Flash dryers have few moving parts.
They can be designed to handle ex-tremely abrasive products with replaceable wear
components.

But, like any dryer, flash dryers also have their limitations. Loss of power to the dryer will
cause the product to fall out of suspension and build up in the dryer base and feed throat. If
the product hardens under heat, this may cause a blockage that requires significant time to
remove. Due to the relatively high velocities, the particle size may be reduced due to
attrition and impact. High velocities also may contribute to premature component wear if
the system is not designed to inhibit it.

Links
• Drying Files: Complete Column Archives
• Drytech Engineering

Recent Articles By Darren Traub

Darren A. Traub is executive vice president of
Carbon Revisited, Part 1 Drytech Engineering, Irvine, CA, a company
specializing in thermal drying and related system
Carbon technologies. He has engineered and managed the
project execution of numerous drying and bulk
Spray Dryer Guide materials-handling systems in the United States,
Africa, the Middle East and China. He can be
An Honest Look at Energy
reached at (949) 262-1222 or e-mail
Indirect Dryers Overview darren@drytecheng.com.

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