Agitated thin film dryers-horizontal are continuously operating contact dryers and are used for a broad range of applications under vacuum, atmospheric pressure and overpressure. They consist of a horizontally arranged heated shell with end covers and a rotor with bolted-on blades. The wet product fed through the inlet nozzle is picked up by the rotor blades, applied on the hot wall and simultaneously conveyed towards the outlet nozzle at the opposite end of the body.
The generated vapours are streaming counter-currently to the product flow and are leaving the dryer close to the feed nozzle. Evaporating and conveying capacity are adapted by the right rotor blade arrangement.
Entrained particles from the dry zone are removed in the wet zone. Moisture levels of less than 1 % can be achieved. The residence time of the product is typically between 5 and 15 minutes.
Horizontal thin film dryers are suitable also for applications other than drying like solid particle cooling and product melting.
The outstanding heat transfer rate for hot solid products enables cooling of large amounts of solids in a compact machine compared to usually used cooling screws and without cooling air.
In product melting like the melting of urea, the particles are heated up and molten inside the dryer. The melt can be mixed with other liquid and solid additives to improve the properties of the final products.
Features
Broad range of feed properties: liquids, pastes, solids- High throughput rates per unit based on
thin-film principle - Drying of products being sticky during
transition from paste to solids - Small product hold-up in
dryer - Fast start-up and shut-down
- No residual product inside at standstill
Applications
- Sewage sludge
- Industrial sludge
- Refinery sludge
- Catalysts
- Carbon, carbon black
- Limestone
- Polyvinyl oxid
- Terephthalic acid
- Intermediate products
- Flour
- Sweets
- Pectin