Modelling the dynamics of solids transport in flighted rotary dryers

Abstract

This paper proposes a simple dynamic solids transport model for flighted rotary dryers, which results by discretising the dryer in the axial direction into a series of equivolume elements. Each resultant element is partitioned into two zones; one active and the other passive. Solids interchange between the active and passive zones is included, leading to a tanks-in-series/parallel approach, traditionally used by reaction engineers. Modelling solids transport in this manner allows the residence time distribution (RTD) characteristics of the rotary dryer to be elucidated. In this work gPROMS is used to simulate the proposed rotary dryer model. Data from a 100 tonne per hour raw sugar dryer is reconciled against the dynamic solids transport model, by estimating overall solids transport coefficients.