Application: Test work to obtain operational data and basis for design of industrial-sized SPRAY FLUIDIZER™ .
Specification: The 0.1 m2 SPRAY FLUIDIZER™ pilot plant consists of a cylindrical fluid bed chamber with a cross sectional area of 0.1 m2. Air is used as the process gas and is supplied by a ventilator, which is controlled by a frequency converter. The process gas is heated by a propane fired gas heater and enters from below the chamber through the air distributor.
The feed is supplied to the pressurised nozzle by a Mono pump. The nozzle is located inside the chamber and sprays either counter-currently or co-currently to the air stream. The granulated material is discharged periodically from the chamber through a valve placed in the chamber wall at the gill plate level to a vibrated screen. The material is then fractionated into an oversize, a product and a fines fraction. The product fraction is bagged off. The oversize fraction is milled in a Comminutor mill and returned to the fluid bed together with the fines fraction.
The process gas and the entrained powder pass through a bag filter, where the powder is collected and returned to the process. After the bagfilter, the gas is sucked through a wet scrubber. The scrubber water can be neutralized by a solution of sodium bicarbonate which is supplied to the scrubber tank.
If needed, the feed pipes can be equipped with a heating jacket.
GEA Niro's SPRAY FLUIDIZER™ is the result of comprehensive modelling and testing facilities, and industrial references contribution. The development is a new generation of SPRAY FLUIDIZER™ , with improved ability to continuously build up a dust free, free flowing product involving solidification of solids from liquid feed and recycling of dry particles.
Environmental regulations today often require a more complex design, depending on the type of product, powder form, residual moisture content in the final dried product and/ or toxicity properties.
GEA Niro has successfully developed and supplied a number of SPRAY FLUIDIZER™ systems that are designed to meet the requirements of customers and their local authorities. These requirements may include, for example:
- Open, environmentally friendly plants with highly effective components ensuring emission of clean exhaust process air
- Semi closed plants, utilising low oxygen combustion gas as process air
- Semi closed plants, self-inertised and featuring incineration of exhaust air
- Closed cycle concept with Nitrogen purged process gas circuit.