GEA Presents Spray And Fluid Bed Drying Technology

GEA Niro will be exhibiting technologies in the field of spray and fluid bed drying for the pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and chemical industries at Powtech 2010. The company will be displaying one of its smallest spray dryers, the SDMicro, on its stand. The lab-scale spray dryer is equipped with a two-fluid nozzle for atomisation and can be applied for both water and organic solvent-based formulations. The SDMicro is designed with the smallest possible spray drying chamber that allows for retaining the same air flow pattern as a large-scale spray dryer.

This makes it possible to conduct realistic tests at a very small scale and produce small quantities of powder for product and concept evaluations. The company will also exhibit its Drynetics method, which allows drying parameters to be established based on the study of one droplet of a given substance. The technique allows real-world measurements (for example, drying time and stickiness of a given feed) to be incorporated into CFD simulations. This makes it possible to establish the spray dryer performance by precisely analysing the results of one-droplet experiment.

The Drynetics analysis is used to investigate product formulations and to optimise spray drying plant designs - for new or existing plants. The company will also display a set of 3D animations showing a GEA Niro spray dryer with heat recuperation, a Contact Fluidizer fluid bed dryer and a Swirl Fluidizer dryer in operation. The 3D animations are an opportunity to see what takes place inside the dryers and to learn what happens during the drying process.

The company's process technologists and sales managers will be available to discuss how GEA Niro's range of drying systems can be applied for production of a wide range of chemical, food and pharmaceutical products. GEA Niro specialists are also available to discuss plant upgrades and rebuilds. The GEA Niro stand will be located in hall 1, 1-115, at the Powtech event, from 27-29 April 2010.