Reproduced with permission from Chemical Engineering

Progress (CEP), November 2004. Copyright 2004 AIChE.

Solids Handling

Improve Solids Handling

During Thermal Drying
Herman Purutyan,
John W. Carson and
Thomas G. Troxel,
Jenike & Johanson

Ensuring reliable solids flow during thermal drying

operations is a challenging task. Try these
tips for handling slurries, pastes or wet granular
materials, and achieve a dried product with the
desired characteristics.

RODUCTION OF PARTICULATE MATERIALS

is a key technology for most chemical processes.
Statistics for industrial processes suggest that
over 50% of products manufactured by the
worlds major chemical companies involve solid particles.
Research continues to show that operating efficiencies for
particulate processes are significantly below those of
plants that handle fluids (1). One of the areas that causes
process inefficiency is unreliable flow of solids into or
through dryers.
In the chemical process industries, production of solid
or particulate materials often begins with either simple
washing or more complex steps that involve crystallization, precipitation, wet agglomeration or other means to
produce the desired particle characteristics. The resulting
product takes the form of a slurry, paste or wet granular
material that, in almost all cases, must undergo solid-liquid separation, followed by thermal drying. Slurry is
often pumped into a centrifuge, filter or press to remove
the bulk of the liquid before thermal drying.
However, for the drying process to be successful, a reliable transfer of thickened slurry, paste or wet cake from
the solid-liquid separation system to the dryer, and reliable solids flow without interruption or buildup through
the dryer, is required. This step is probably the most difficult to execute properly during thermal drying operations.
In this article, the authors examine some of the most
common solids-handling issues in drying processes and
present practical solutions for successful dryer operation.

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Since the flow properties of bulk solids usually become worse with higher moisture contents, problems
often arise during the handling of the wet cake upstream
of the dryer, feeding of the solids into a dryer that may be
at a positive or a negative pressure, and flow of solids
through the dryer.

Handling the wet cake

Solid-liquid separation, as well as thermal drying,
can be accomplished either continuously or in batches.
In batch processes, surge storage often in the form of a
hopper or a bin with a minimum capacity of 1.52
batches must be provided between the separation step
and the drying step, which must be able to discharge
the wet cake reliably. When the drying step is performed on a continuous basis, the uniformity of the
discharge rate from the surge bin also becomes critical,
as dryer efficiency is often closely tied to the uniformity of the solids feed rate. Surges in solids flow can result in incomplete drying, whereas loss of feed to the
dryer can result in both overdrying the material, which
may cause a chemical or physical change, or damage to
the dryer due to overheating. Thus, in many cases, the
primary design goal of the surge system is to provide a
uniform, controlled feed to the downstream dryer.
In general, wet materials are prone to flow problems. Feed hoppers, conveyors and chutes are much
more likely to accumulate solids, plug or exhibit erratic
flow when handling wet solids than when handling dry

solids. Flow stoppages caused by arching or ratholing, and

loss of surge capacity due to material buildup on the walls,
are very common in many of these systems. If flow from
the surge bin stops, the entire process will come to a standstill. Problems in this part of the system often result in one
or two operators continuously manning the hopper, poking
and prodding the material to prevent solids plugging.
Even in systems where solid-liquid separation is a continuous process that may not require a surge bin, the buildup of
solids in transfer chutes, feeders and conveyors causes serious problems. Pluggage can cause material to back up into
the filter, press, or centrifuge, resulting in system shutdown.
In this case, operators may be enlisted to man the chutes and
surrounding equipment to ensure that solids keep moving.

Impact of dryer pressure on solids flowrate

Flash, rotary and fluidized-bed dryers almost always operate at a higher or lower pressure than the upstream feeding
system. Therefore, in almost all applications where there is a
continuous feed, pressure isolation is required between the
feed and the ambient conditions in the dryer. This usually requires a rotary valve or other means of sealing against the
pressure differential, such as a sealing screw, standpipe,
eductor or double-gate valve.
Materials containing a significant amount of fines (particles smaller than 100 mesh) often exhibit a flowrate limitation not seen with coarser materials. This limitation,
caused by two-phase flow effects, occurs when gas movement within the voids between particles results in body
forces that are high enough to retard flow. Such behavior
arises in systems that operate without a pressure differential across the solids feeder, but it is exacerbated when
solids are fed into a higher-pressure environment.
Since many of the materials fed into dryers are fine,
achieving the desired flowrate is a challenge unless the
opening is sized appropriately, based on the properties of the
material. Gas pressure gradients acting opposite to the direction of solids flow can initiate the formation of an arch
when handling cohesive solids in a hopper. Even if the hopper outlet is large enough for the solids to flow reliably
when no gas is present, it is possible for arching or erratic
flow to develop if the gas flows upward through the hopper
from downstream equipment.
Problems are less severe when feeding solids into a
dryer at lower pressure. Since pressure isolation devices
can be costly, there is often an incentive to minimize their
size. However, this may result in flow problems, particularly with cohesive solids and sticky cakes.
Difficulties with wet-cake handling can be avoided if
the equipment designs are based on the flow properties of
the particular material handled. These properties can be
used to design hoppers that provide reliable solids flow
and prevent buildup and flow interruptions. Flow property
information can also be used to size pressure-isolation devices to achieve uninterrupted flow at the desired rates.

Ensuring uniform flow through gravity dryers

Gravity dryers are silos or bins in which drying is accomplished by injection of ambient or conditioned gas, which
usually flows countercurrently to the solids flow. These dryers often provide efficient heat transfer by achieving intimate
contact of drying gases and solid particles. Additionally,
these dryers can reduce capital expenditures by doubling as
storage or surge capacity, and reducing the required footprint
for a drying operation.
Intimate contact between the gas and solid particles requires that the residence time of the solid particles be uniform
and that the gas be distributed uniformly across the vessel. In
gravity dryers that operate in a batch mode, a batch is placed
in the vessel, the gas is turned on for the required amount of
time, then the gas is either turned off or left on while the contents are discharged. In such dryers it is critical to ensure that
the gas injection is done in a manner to ensure a uniform upward gas velocity across the cross section as low in the vessel
as possible. Also, it is important to determine how the flow
properties will change while the material is at rest during the
drying cycle. Flow properties of most materials change when
left under consolidation without any movement. Appropriate
flow properties, including the effect of storage at rest, must be
measured and used as a design basis in order to avoid product
hang-up following the drying cycle.
Gravity dryers can also be used in a continuous mode,
where solids move continuously through the vessel and the
gas is always flowing. In these dryers, in addition to ensuring
that the gas is distributed uniformly, it is also critical that the
solid particles have a uniform residence time in the vessel,
which requires that the velocity profile of the flowing solids
be as uniform as possible.
There are two primary flow patterns that can develop in a
chute of a bin or a silo funnel flow and mass flow. Both
patterns are shown in Figure 1. In funnel flow, an active flow
channel forms above the outlet, with non-flowing material at
the periphery. Obviously, this would be a poor flow pattern
for a continuous flow vessel that is used as a dryer.
In mass flow, all of the material is in motion whenever any
Mass Flow

Funnel Flow
Moving

Stagnant

Figure 1. Two flow patterns that can occur in a bin or silo are funnel flow
and mass flow.

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Solids Handling

is withdrawn from the hopper. Material

moves toward the outlet from the center as well as from the periphery. This
does not imply or require that all the
particles are flowing at the same velocity, especially particles that are in the
converging section of the hopper. Material flows more slowly at the walls
than at the centerline of the hopper, due
to friction at the walls. In some cases, a
velocity differential may be beneficial
(e.g., for in-bin blending). In other
cases, the most economical design that
achieves mass flow may result in a substantial velocity profile, even though it
would meet the general design requirement of providing reliable flow everywhere in the vessel. In dryer applica Figure 2. External view of the original zirconium
tions, a uniform solids velocity is essulfate wet-cake transfer chute below the belt press.
sential to enforce uniform residence
time. This usually requires a design
that not only provides mass flow,
but also provides a low velocity
gradient in the hopper.
In continuous dryers, the
amount of gas that can be injected
may be limited, since too much
countercurrent gas can upset solids
flow. In order to maintain a uniform residence time in the vessel,
fluidization of the bed must be
avoided. Gas injection at too high a
Figure 3. Original wet cake transfer chute design with a
rate can create local fluidization
constant-pitch, constant-diameter screw in a V-trough. Flow
and regions of high solids velocity, occurs over the first pitch of the screw, only.
resulting in incomplete drying, or
excessive gas usage to make up
for process inefficiencies.

achieve the desired combination of residence time, gas velocity, pressure drop
and solids velocity profile. An understanding of the flow properties of wet
materials will greatly increase the
chances for successful startup of a
new drying system or retrofit of a
problematic existing system

Case studies
Wet-cake handling. In a zirconium sulfate processing plant, wet cake
is discharged from a belt press into a
chute that functions as a surge hopper
to meter the material into a downstream flash dryer (Figures 24). On
first inspection, it appeared that the design of the chute and feeder were fairly
conservative, since the chute had vertical walls and mated directly to a
screw conveyor that covered the entire length of the chute.
However, even with what appeared to be a relatively safe design, this system experienced constant plugging problems at startup.
Examination of the flow properties
of the wet cake provided an explanation for this behavior, as well as
information for correcting it. The
solids flow properties are summarized in Tables 1 and 2, and respectively displayed in Figures 5 and 6.
The material had significant cohesive strength and could easily
have formed an arch over the
width of the chute. But why would
this occur in a vertical chute?
Flow properties of solids
Arching is a phenomenon that usuThe application of scientific
ally occurs in converging hoppers.
principles and measured flow propOne of the flaws in the system was
erties of bulk solids in the design
that the feeder attached to the botof solids handling equipment has
tom of the chute had a V-trough.
evolved over the last century to a
This added a small, but, signifireasonably well developed state.
cant, convergence at the bottom of
Today a number of standardized
the chute, and provided the sup Figure 4. Modified wet cake transfer chute design with twin
test methods are available to char- mass-flow screw feeder in a U-trough. Flow occurs from the entire port necessary for an arch to form.
acterize properties of bulk solids (2, chute outlet.
Another design flaw was the use
3). These flow properties are very
of a constant-pitch conveying
useful in designing reliable handling equipment for dryers.
screw, which, in this application resulted in flow only
Some of the most useful flow properties are cohesive
through a very short length of the chute. The designers
strength, wall friction, compressibility, permeability and critimay have expected the system to function as a chute and
cal chute angles (4).
conveyor, but they did not consider that each time the belt
For instance, in contact bed dryers, which use counterflowpress emptied, it would fill the chute to a depth of several
ing air or other gas for drying, flow properties of the solids
feet. In this mode of operation, the chute must be designed
play a critical role in determining the design needed to
to function as a bin and feeder.
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Strength, lb/ft2

The simplest solution to the systems flow problems

measured. The design of the vessel and the gas introduction
was to replace the screw with one that was designed to
system were selected to keep the superficial gas velocity low
feed over the entire length of the chute. In order for this
enough to prevent the flakes from becoming locally fluidized
approach to work, the material would have had to be able
and/or airborne. The engineers used heat-balance calculations
to flow through the converging portion of the feeder trough
to estimate the amount of drying air needed to remove the reabove the screw. Review of the cohesive strength data indiquired amount of moisture. Design limits for gas velocities
cated that this was not a likely solution because the cake
were based on the permeabilities of the flakes, which were
was capable of forming an arch over a slot with a width
300
measuring 40% wider than that the width of the chute. The
4 hours at rest, 140 to 72F
changes needed to make the system work reliably are
No storage at rest, 140F
250
shown in Figure 4. The existing V-trough was replaced
200
with a standard U-trough and a twin screw that feeds from
the entire outlet area of the chute. The modifications were
150
implemented and the system has been working reliably for
100
over three years.
Continuous gravity dryer. One of Dow Chemicals
50
North American facilities produces a flaked material. At a
0
certain point in the process, the flakes exhibited excess
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
surface moisture, which had to be removed. Dows engiConsolidating pressure, lb/ft2
neers investigated whether two unused blending silos
could be converted to gravity dryers in which hot, dry gas Figure 5. Cohesive strength vs. consolidating pressure for 37.5%
moisture zirconium sulfate during continuous flow and after 4 h storage at rest.
would be fed countercurrently to the flowing material.
Modification of the existing blending silos
would be much less costly than the installaTable 1. Calculated minimum outlet dimensions for mass flow storage bins.
tion of a commercially available dryer, and
would have a shorter turnaround time.
Circular Outlet, ft
Slot Width for Wedge or
Process requirements dictated that the
Transition Hopper, ft
vessels dry the flakes uniformly to less than
No storage at rest, 140F
1,000 ppm of water, thus removing approxiGravity loading
3.5
24
mately 10% of water by weight. The drying
1.25 gravity loading
6.4
27
also had to be done in less than 60 min to
4 h at rest, 140F to 72F
assure product stability.
Gravity loading
10.5
4.8
Engineers evaluated the feasibility of
1.25

gravity
loading
>10.9
>5.4
retrofitting the blending silos to meet Dows re This data applies to only the sample tested, and should not be taken as representative of
quirements. The basic dimensions of the dryer
zirconium sulfate in general.
were determined from the process requirements The dimension given for a slotted outlet applies when the length of the slot is at least 3 times
its width.
The values for 1.25 gravity loading represent conditions of excess consolidation that
and the materials flow properties, which were
may occur if vibration or other forces exist that consolidate the solids to a greater extent than
do the solids weight. The increase in strength indicates that using vibrators with this material
will not be an effective way to maintain reliable flow, and may make problems worse.

160

316L, mill finish, 4 h

Epoxy coating
316L, mill finish

Shear stress, lb/ft2

140

Table 2. Calculated maximum hopper wall angles (from vertical pose)

for flow to occur at wall.

316L, 2B finish

120
100
80
60

Epoxy coating
Type 316L stainless steel (SS),
no storage

40
20
0
0

50

100

150

200

Pressure normal to the wall, lb/ft2

Figure 6. Wall friction data for zirconium sulfate at

37.5% moisture.

Type 316L SS, 2B finish, no storage

Type 316L SS, 2B finish, no storage

Conical hopper, Flat sides of wedge or

deg
transition hopper, deg
No storage at rest
12
24
14
27
4 h at rest, 140F to 72F
4
16
14
27

This data applies to only the sample tested, and should not be taken as representative
of zirconium sulfate in general.
The dimension given for a slotted outlet applies when the length of the slot is at least 3 times its width.
Type 316L SS with a 2B finish showed no increase in friction after storage at rest.

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Solids Handling

measured over a wide range of gas flowrates.

The units have been successfully operating for over four
years. In fact, this project received a Dow Technology
Center Award because of its use of significant new technology and savings in capital expenses of over $1 million.
Batch gravity dryer. During the production of sugar, it is
necessary to condition (or dry) the sugar before packaging to
prevent caking and the formation of lumps before the product reaches customers. Drying is accomplished in a conditioning silo through the introduction of dry air at about 1
ft3/min per ton of sugar storage capacity and reduces the
sugars moisture from approximately 0.06% (upon entering
the silo) to 0.020.025%.
Sugar-conditioning silos vary widely in size and capacity
due to different plant production capacities. A typical silo consists of a 23-ft-dia. by 130-ft-tall flat-bottomed cylinder. A 16ft-dia. inverted cone is centrally located at the base of the silo.
Conditioning air is introduced through over one hundred
2-in.-dia. holes covering the surface of this cone. An exhauster blower located outside the silo pulls a vacuum at the
top, which assists the flow of the conditioning air up through
the sugar mass. Discharge occurs through 12 small cones
equally spaced in the annulus between the bottom of the center cone and the silo walls. The bottom of each discharge
cone has a stainless steel pipe connected to it, and all of the
pipes terminate in a single collection hopper. There is typically no means of controlling or monitoring the discharge of
solids through each of the twelve pipes.
Silos like this are usually built in pairs, with one silo operating in conditioning mode and the other operating as a
storage vessel for the conditioned sugar before the sugar is
loaded into a shipping or packaging silo. Numerous problems often occur in sugar conditioning silos of this type:
Lumps often form, requiring the silos to be emptied out
and cleaned at regular intervals perhaps once a year or
more often.
Discharge from the various outlets is not reliable or controlled,which necessitates constant poking and prodding to
keep the sugar flowing. It is not uncommon to find the stainless steel pipes severely dented by operators.
A thick layer of sugar often builds up on the silo walls,
causing further quality-control problems.
Vertical cracks develop in the reinforced concrete silo
walls, allowing ingress of moisture, loss of conditioning air
and loss of insulation, resulting in condensation inside the
silo and concern about the silos structural integrity.
Such challenges are common when a funnel-flow
silo design is used. Even though the conditioning air is
introduced only while the silo is being filled and no
discharge is taking place, a funnel flow pattern upon
discharge results in non-uniform sugar flow and stagnant regions that can cake up. Furthermore, the walls of
multiple outlet silos usually experience non-uniform
pressure around their circumference. This imposes severe bending moments on the walls, which can lead to

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cracking in reinforced concrete silos and severe distortion in metal silos.

The solution to problems like these is to use a mass
flow design, which eliminates dead regions and promotes a first-in-first-out discharge pattern. Special designs of the conditioning air inlet can efficiently introduce and distribute the air throughout the sugar mass.
Even though the air flowrate is high, the sugar flowrate
through the outlet is not affected, since the air is turned
off prior to commencing discharge. Designs of this type
have been successfully implemented at several plants in
North America and Europe over the last 15 years. CEP

Literature Cited
1. Merrow, E. W. Linking R&D to Problems Experienced in Solids
Processing, Chemical Engineering Progress, 81 (5), pp. 1422
(May 1985).
2. American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) D6128-00,
Standard Test Method for Shear Testing of Bulk Solids Using the
Jenike Shear Cell, ASTM (2000).
3. American Society of Testing and Materials D6773-02, Standard
Shear Testing Method for Bulk Solids Using the Schulze Ring
Shear Tester, ASTM (2002).
4. Carson, J. W., and Marinelli, J., Characterize Bulk Solids to Ensure Smooth Flow, Chemical Engineering, 101 (4), pp. 7889
(April 1994).

HERMAN PURUTYAN is vice president of Jenike & Johanson (One Technology

Park Drive, Westford, MA 01886; Phone: (978) 392-0300; Fax: (978) 3929980; E-mail: hpurutyan@jenike.com). Since joining the firm in 1991, he has
designed reliable handling systems for a wide range of materials for the
food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. He lectures frequently on the
subject, has published numerous articles on the field of bulk solids handling
and is the holder of two patents. Purutyan received his bachelors and
masters of science in mechanical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic
Institute in Worcester, MA, and his MBA from Babson College in Wellesley.
He is a member of the ASME Structures for Bulk Solids Committee.
JOHN W. CARSON is president of Jenike & Johanson (E-mail: jwcarson@jenike.
com), where he has been active in research, consulting and management of
the company. Carson has written more than 90 articles dealing with solids
flow, including bin and feeder design, flow of fine powders, design of purge
vessels, and structural failures of silos, and lectures extensively on the topic
of fine powder storage and flow of solids. He received a BS in mechanical
engineering from Northwestern Univ., and a PhD in mechanical engineering
from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Carson is a member of AIChE,
ASME, ASCE, ASTM International, and is a founding member of AIChE's
Powder Technology Forum.
THOMAS G. TROXEL is vice president of Jenike & Johanson (E-mail:
tgtroxel@slo.jenike.com).Troxel has been involved in many aspects of the
firms consulting and research activities on a wide range of projects,
including flow-properties testing, modeling, blending, pneumatic conveying
and fluidization. He has been a major force behind the firms expansion of
service in the areas of mechanical design engineering and supply of custom
built equipment. Troxel has published numerous articles and papers in the
field of bulk solids handling, and lectures frequently on the subject. Troxel
has a BS in engineering from California Polytechnic State Univ. (San Luis
Obispo, CA).