Granular, non-sticky
materials can be fluidized with relative ease. Our sugar dryers are
typical. We have done dryers ranging from 2 tons per hour to 40 tons
per hour.
To our engineers credit,
they have handled difficult materials with innovative methods. For
Latex, a combination of drying to remove residual moisture followed by
hot air vulcanization was suggested. This was executed in a circular
batch type dryer.
For a medicinal herbs
installation, trials showed that a high initial temperature is required
for deactivation of enzymes, followed by a gentler drying to retain the
core ingredients. The problem was tackled by using a thermic fluid heat
source and a PLC control for the batch dryer, regulating the temperature
progressively.
Our Halquinol dryer has
been a notable success. Earlier installations by third parties failed
due to the unique nature of the material - It is very sticky at high
moistures (which can reach 45%), and sublimes when heated above 65oC.
Our engineers worked out a process where dry material was blended with
the wet product, reducing the moisture to 30%, then dried after
granulation.
