Atomization Behavior as a Function of the Viscosity in a Rotary Disk Spray Dryer

Abstract

During the spray drying it’s important that the humid product doesn’t reach the wall since it can result in losses and contamination. The main objective of the present work was to develop a method to quantify the influence of feed viscosity on atomization behavior in rotary disk spray dryer equipment. The secondary objective was to determine, as a function of rotation, viscosity, disk diameter and mass flow an empirical equation for the calculation of the maximum distance traveled by the fluid sprayed on the rotating disk. The results allowed to conclude that the better distribution was with the sugar solution, 50.10 mm diameter disk, 31,000 rpm, mass flow of 0.55 g.s-1 and maximum atomization range of 684 mm. The studied fluids were water and 50% mass base sugar solution. The experiments allowed the development of an empirical equation to obtain the maximum range from an atomized particle in function of the studied variables.