Spray Drying of Cellulose Nanofibers: Drying Kinetics Modeling of a Single Droplet and Particle Formation

Microparticles embedded with cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) are produced via spray drying. The microdroplets are created in the spray dryer by atomization. The solvent evaporates from the droplet, and the dried particles are formed. The drying kinetics on the scale of one droplet is still not well understood. Drying of a single droplet CNF suspension was investigated in an acoustic levitator. The drying kinetics and morphology evolution during the drying process were obtained. The reaction engineering approach (REA) model provided a reasonable prediction of the drying kinetics. An absolute relative error of 2.5 % between the measured initial mass of the droplet and the REA model's estimated value was reported.