Drying Technology

ISSN: 0737-3937 (Print) 1532-2300 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ldrt20

SPRAY DRYING HANDBOOK

E. Johansen Crosby

To cite this article: E. Johansen Crosby (1989) SPRAY DRYING HANDBOOK, Drying Technology,
7:2, 419-425, DOI: 10.1080/07373938908916598

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07373938908916598

Published online: 25 Apr 2007.

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DRYING TECHNOLOGY, 7 ( 2 ) , 4 1 9 - 4 2 5 ( 1 9 8 9 )

BOOK REVIEW

SPRAY DRYING HANDBOOK

K. Masters
Longman Group Ltd
Harlow, Essex
710 pp.

Reviewed by
E. Johansen Crosby
Department of Chemical Engineering
University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

Drying, with particular reference to solid materials or the

single-step production of solid materials from solutions,
slurries or suspensions, generally, is understood to concern the
removal of moisture by thermal means and can occur only when the
moisture's vapor pressure is greater than its partial pressure in
the surrounding environment. If these two pressures are
identical, no amount of energy application will promote drying.
The purpose of supplying energy is (i) to raise the temperature
of the moisture so that its vapor pressure is above its ambient
partial pressure, and (ii) to provide energy for vaporization and
any sensible-heat requirement of the generated vapor. The
minimum temperature to which any material must be raised depends
on the moisture's ambient partial pressure and the maximum
temperature is limited by the material's susceptibility to
adverse thermal effects. In a broad sense, drying may be viewed
as a materials-handling problem, with primary selections of a
dryer ordinarily based on the physical nature of the feedstock,
420 BOOK REVIEW

and the final choice often based on the desired physical form of
the dried material. Operation mode and drying conditions usually
are dictated by required product properties. Few feedstocks
exhibit identical drying characteristics. From the viewpoint of
dryer performance for a given system and set of operation
conditions, the rate of drying increases as area per unit volume
of feedstock available for heat and mass transfer is increased.
Advantage is taken of this feature in the drying of thin films
and small particles with the drying of liquid particles in the
form of sprays enjoying extensive and varied application in the
process industries. Although simple in concept, spray drying
involves four distinct processing steps whose potential for
interaction is great and whose kinetics can differ markedly.
The first comprehensive review of spray drying was authored
by W.R. Marshall, Jr., under the title "Atomization and Spray
Drying" (AIChE Monograph, Ser. No. 2, 1954). During the
following years, a number of similar works appeared--particularly
in languages other than English. In 1972 the first edition of
the "Handbook of Spray Drying" was published under the title
Spray Drying. In 1976 a slightly altered and amended second
edition was released. With the publication of the third edition
in 1979, there were substantial changes in content and manner of
presentation. In addition, the title was changed to its present
form. The latest edition contains no major revisions.
This book is authored by an industrialist having well over
22 years' experience with one of the world's major suppliers of
spraydryers. As might be expected, the subject matter is
generally treated more from the perspective of the manufacturer
than the user and more from the viewpoint of the equipment
operation than product production. The text is written
BOOK REVIEW 421

essentially in encyclopedic format and contains a wealth of

information in varying depths of coverage.
Like all previous editions, this edition is divided into
five major sections which cover (i) basic principles of drying,
(ii) individual processing stages of spray drying, (iii) process
control methods plus techniques of flow measurement and particle
technology, (iv) auxiliary equipment, and (v) industrial
applications. These sections, together with an extended
introduction containing an interesting summary of the history of
spray drying, plus six appendices, a nomenclature list, 435
selected references, and a fairly good index, cover nearly 700
pages. Material is drawn from both the published literature and
industrial experience. Much practical and good counsel is given.
Probably no other single source of information about spray drying
attempts to give as much perspective regarding the details of
operation subtleties and equipment idiosyncrasies. An attempt
has been made to organize concept, theory, and practice in a
concise and orderly manner. It is evident that substantial
effort went into the preparation of this work. However, certain
technical material appears not to have received careful
consideration, and some caution should be exercised when the
basic principles, analysis procedures, and operation rules are
reviewed.
It is indicated rightly that f i n design techniques for
spray dryers are not yet available, but that adequate knowledge
exists to allow interpretation of system performance.
Recommended industrial design procedures based on pilot-plant
tests and "know-how" are detailed. The effects of the operating
variables on moisture removal are tabulated, but may be somewhat
oversimplified. It is important to realize that the performance
 BOOK REVIEW

of a spray dryer is characterized by a set of three

relationships: viz. the mass balance, the energy balance, and a
performance relationship which is derived from a coupling of the
expressions describing the rates of momentum, thermal energy, and
mass transfer. These three relationships are interdependent and
must be satisfied simultaneously. Further, from the viewpoint of
drying only, there are eight independent variables (drying gas
and feedstock temperatures, compositions and flowrates: dryer
volume: and dropsize) in addition to the flow patterns within the
drying chamber and four dependent variables (temperatures and
compositions of the exit product and drying gas) contained in
these relationships, and their interactions are not always
straightforward. For example, reduction of gas flow in itself to
increase residence time may not lead to a greater degree of
moisture removal as indicated, because the exit gas will
experience a humidity increase with an accompanying temperature
decrease and there will result a decrease in the drying potential
which may be relatively greater than the increase in residence
time.
The summary of spray-drying principles, which is based
primarily on the older published literature, occasionally lacks
exactness. In general, evaporating and drying drops do not
exhibit a constant-rate period as frequently iterated. The
expressions presented for the evaporation of pure liquid drops
predict neither constant rates nor constant fluxes at any time
during the lifetimes of the drops. This, likewise, can be shown
to be the case when the diffusion and other internal mechanisms,
which receive Only brief mention but no discussion, for the
drying of drops prevail. Except possibly for situations such as
countercurrent dryer operation in which the potential for drying
BOOK REVIEW 423

increases as drying proceeds, and ballooning particle formation

in which the resistance to drying remains constant as drying
proceeds, there seems to be no foundation for this postulation.
Indeed, few of the published data for the drying histories of
single drops seem to suggest the existence of any true constant-
rate period. As a result, reference to a critical moisture
content in spray drying does not seem meaningful. It is
correctly indicated that the transfer coefficients applicable to
the external mechanism of drying under conditions of drop
deceleration deviate from those experienced during steady motion.
The relationships presented as applicable to express evaporation
under such conditions and attributed to Frossling were actually
based on experiments performed with drops experiencing no
deceleration. In fact, the expression based on heat transfer was
not proposed by Frossling, is incorrectly formulated, and is
dimensionally inconsistent.
In the coverage of psychrometry and thermodynamics of gas-
vapor mixtures, a number of the summarized relationships are not
exact and their approximate nature is not indicated. The
explanation of the wet-bulb temperature is extremely confusing
and in one particular sentence is accorded incorrectly the
definition of the adiabatic-saturation temperature. Subsequent
reference to this temperature having upper and lower limits for a
gas of given dry-bulb temperature and vapor content is without
merit. Also, it should be noted, contrary to indication, that
neither the adiabatic-saturation lines nor the wet-bulb
temperature lines on a humidity chart with rectangular co-
ordinates are linear except at very low temperatures and
humidities. The designated definition of the humid enthalpy is
approximateA.onlyand can lead to significant errors when vapor
424 BOOK REVIEW

contents are moderately high. In order for the included

enthalpy-humidity charts to be used with confidence, the
source(s) of information or the method of enthalpy calculation
together with the reference states and conditions of the
individual species should be indicated. It is important to
realize that the approximate definitions of the various thermal
efficiencies are based only on the thermal energy introduced by
the drying medium. The thermal energy carried by the feedstock
may not be insignificant as in the case of flash atomization.
Similarly, such high-enthalpy feedstocks would preclude likening
spray-dryer performance with that of an adiabatic saturator.
A number of illustrative numerical examples are included to
elucidate various design and operation considerations. The
example dealing with minimum residence time in a cocurrent spray
dryer is somewhat confusing. For the conditions given, a minimum
inlet air temperature of c. 5 . 2 is
~ ~required
~ if the unit were to
act as an adiabatic saturator. Consequently, the humid volume of
the inlet air would be greater than that of the outlet air by
c. 90 percent or more with the indicated minimum residence time
of 18s actually being the maximum possible value. The minimum
residence time should be based on the maximum humid volume and
would be c. 10s or less. If mixed-flow conditions prevail in the
drying chamber, the calculated residence time is simply a mean
value since the drying air will experience a residence-time
distribution.
It is not to be expected that all the concerns of the
processing industry are to be found in this book. Only a brief
reference to the psychrometry of nonaqueous-nonaerial systems is
made. The only mentioned attribute of foam spray drying is the
reduction of particle density. Just a short, qualitative note on
BOOK REVIEW 425

the retention of flavors and odors is to be found. There is no

discussion of component migration within drops and only minor
reference to thermal degradation of products during drying.
Although the control of spray dryers is reviewed, questions
related to their dynamics as well as the residence-time
distributions of the particles and drying medium are not
considered.
The book is well produced with easily read type, quality
line-drawings, excellent reproduction of photographs and, with
the exception of the enthalpy-humidity charts which are difficult
to read, good graphical renditions. As might be anticipated,
practically all equipment illustrations originated with the
author's employer. Despite a number of technical deficiencies of
the types mentioned, this work is the single most complete
documentation of spray drying in the English language. The
novice would be remiss not to have read this book carefully
before embarking on any project involving spray drying. The
experienced practitioner should find it a good reference for the
development of standards and procedures related to spray-dryer
specification, operation troubleshooting, and performance
characterization.

Reference
Atomisation and SDrav Technolosv 2 (1986), Elsevier Applied
Science Publishers Ltd, England (1986).