What is a Fluidized Bed Dryer?

A fluidized bed dryer (also called a fluid bed dryer) is a process equipment used extensively to reduce the moisture content of food, pharmaceutical, chemical powder, and granules.

The machine is known for drastically decreasing the drying time of drug compounds, typically greater than 50 microns, used for tablets and capsules.

Traditionally, manufacturers used trays and vacuum dryers to remove moisture from Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients.

Both Tray and Vacuum Dryers are insulated tray chambers placed on top of each other in trolleys. The material to be dried is placed in the trays. Electric heaters and blow fans ensure heat transfer by circulating hot air in tray dryers.

A vacuum dryer operates below atmospheric pressure, and steam is passed through the annular space between a jacket and the vessel walls.

While effective in practice, these manual and semi-mechanical processes significantly increase drying time, thus increasing production batch time. This ultimately reduces the production capacity of the plant. Moreover, conventional dryers require an extended downtime for maintenance and operational management.

A fluid bed dryer, on the contrary, uses fluidization where the material is converted from a static solid-like state to a dynamic fluid-like form.

A Fluidized Bed Dryer is composed of a stainless-steel chamber having a detachable perforated bottom called the bowl. The steady air stream lifts and suspends the wet solids. The resultant heat transfer vaporizes the moisture, preparing solid particles for further processing.

Anish Pharma is one of the most trusted Fluidized-bed processor manufacturers in India.

We have implemented innovative and practical research using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). CFD validation boosts the accuracy of velocity and temperature via precise control of process parameters.

Desiccant dehumidifiers also help to drive down the drying time. A desiccant dehumidifier has separate centrifugal fans for process air intake and exhaust. The humid air passes through ~75% of the rotor face area. After crossing the rotor, the resulting air is dry because the absorption process has extracted the moisture to the silica gel.

Advantages of a Fluidized Bed Dryer

Fluid Bed Dryers play a crucial role in creating a uniform dried material output – Fluidization results in high moisture removal rate.

FBDs need low operation and maintenance costs and fewer human resources to operate and clean the machine. Smooth automation can thus avoid human oversight.

Customizable batch capacities and controls are essential features of fluid bed dryers used in flexible production. Different chemical compounds release moisture at different temperatures and relative humidity until their maximum allowable temperature, with different drying times.

To ensure that, parameters like airflow and the feed rate should be completely controllable by the operator to get the desired product. Fluid Bed Dryers by Anish Pharma provide control over airflow & humidity in the drying process of heat-sensitive materials.

However, fluid bed dryers are not suitable for sticky semisolid drying material as they need particle’s free movement. In this case, conventional dryers are ideal for drying sticky substances.

See Also: Pharma machinery manufacturers in Mumbai.

Applications of a Fluidized Bed Dryer

The pharmaceutical industry has arguably the most use from fluid bed dryers. The powder processing field in the industry has long replaced conventional drying trays with this automated mechanism.

Spray granulation uses fluidized bed dryers, the conversion of the water-containing solution, paste, suspension, or a melt into a granule form without any chances of product contamination or dust pollution.

Since it is challenging to transport fine powders due to loose packaging, dryers also assist in agglomeration, a process of amassing material fines into cohesive units like pellets or granules. This process makes transportation and delivery easier on logistics.

Fluidized Bed Dryers are used in powder layer coating using tangential roto granulator to mini-tablets and capsules. Polymer-coated tablets and capsules allow patients to easily swallow without any issues. Simultaneously, a fluid bed dryer dries pellets used for OSDs layering. Often the applied layers are significantly thicker, requiring precise control over the density of powder used.

Additionally, fluidized bed dryers are particularly popular as drying mechanisms in industries like:

  • Chemical
  • Pharmaceutical
  • Dyes
  • Food
  • Dairy
  • Metallurgical

Fluidized bed dryers provide an efficient solution for gentle and uniform materials drying.

Fluidized bed dryer manufacturers in Maharashtra have implemented innovative technology and practical research to boost the accuracy of velocity and temperature via precise control of process parameters.

Anish Pharma Pvt. Ltd. offered an extensive range of customizable fluidized bed dryers replete with SCADA 21 CFR part-11 compliance and made in tandem with international manufacturing standards.

Get in touch with us today for more information on Anish Pharma’s Fluid Bed Dryers.