Spray drying equipment design

However, in some cases scale-up involves a radical re-design of the original process to ensure it can be successfully transferred. For instance, when transferring spray drying processes from Buchi-type equipment to GEA Niro-type equipment there is limited transferrable knowledge that can be applied as the operating conditions are very different. 

Among the factors impacting binder performance in high shear equipment are the binder quantity, binder addition method (wet vs dry), solvent quantity, solvent addition rate and method (spray vs open tube), wet massing time, impeller speed, chopper speed, and equipment design and these parameters need to be optimized during the development process, typically with the aid of a statistically designed set of experiments. 

Each stage is carried out according to the dryer design and operation and, together with the physical and chemical properties of the feed, determines the characteristics of the final product. A typical example of a spray drying process with the most important ancillary equipment included is shown in Figure 9.1. 

Chapter 6 has shown that particles with desired properties can be produced by spray drying. In spray drying, the formation of the particles is a result of evaporation of the solvent from a solution or suspension. Product quality depends on the properties of the materials used, the operating conditions, and - to a certain extent - also on the equipment design. 

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