INFLUENCE OF AIR PARAMETERS ON SPRAY DRYING ENERGY CONSUMPTION

Abstract

The objective of this present research was to simulate and evaluate the performance of spray dryers in function of air characteristics using Matlab® software. Simulations were conducted to identify the effect of the influence of inlet air temperature (from 100ºC to 140ºC) and of relative humidity of ambient air (from 20% to 80%) on energy consumption and thermal efficiency. It was found that energy consumption increased as drying air temperature and as relative humidity of ambient air increased. The thermal efficiency of the process diminished as drying air temperature and as relative humidity of ambient air increased.