Investigation and analysis of a fluidized bed dryer by process tomography sensor

Abstract

Abstract In the pharmaceutical industry, fluidized beds are typically used for pellets drying, coating and granulation. The gas–solids flow characteristic in the process plays an important role to control the heat and mass transfer as well as the end-point product quality. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the flow characteristics based on advanced measurement technologies. In this research, electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) sensor with eight electrodes was used to investigate the pharmaceutical fluidized bed drying process with different operation conditions. Key process parameters including solids concentration, particle moisture and capacitance signals in the process are given and analysed based on the ECT sensor. In addition, the fluidized bed process with Wurster tube is also investigated based on this ECT sensor. The effect of Wurster tube on the hydrodynamic behaviour and the dominant frequency spectrum distribution in the chamber were analysed based on fast Fourier transform. Test results reveal that process moisture change can be addressed from the raw capacitance of adjacent electrode pair combined with calibration model. Experimental result also indicates that ECT technology can provide useful information for process monitor in a fluidized bed dryer.

Keywords

• Fluidized bed
• Drying
• Wurster tube
• Moisture
• Process tomography