Simulation and Design Optimization of a Tall-Form Spray Dryer

Abstract

Airflow stability plays a vital role in optimizing the spray dryer operation; wherein the airflow patterns present inside the drying chamber are considered as the primary factors that influences the histories of the product particle. In this paper, the optimum drying parameters that would produce a higher yield of powdered egg while retaining its quality parameter such as moisture content and water activity were determined by means of Euler-Lagrange Discrete Phase Modeling (DPM) numerical method present in the ANSYS-Fluent ver. 14.5 CFD solver. During the computational simulation, the flow pattern of the air was first identified using the Eulerian method then the results were coupled using the Lagrangian-Discrete Phase Modeling to track the particle histories of the disperse phase inside the tall-form spray drying chamber. Results showed that the optimum inlet air velocity and temperature are 8.87 m/s and 444 K respectively. At these conditions, the particle trajectories simulated exhibited that the calculated final moisture content and water activity for the dried egg powder are 1.09 % and 0.012, respectively.

Computational Fluid Dynamics–Discrete Phase Method Simulations in Process Engineering: A Review of Recent Progress

“…The numerical analysis of nozzle flow and spray characteristics may not consider all the chemical properties and combustion dynamics of diesel and biofuel blends. Moreover, some scholars determined the airflow pattern using the Euler method and traced liquid particle distribution through DPM to determine the optimal spray conditions [41].…”