Fluxes and Patterns of Wall Deposits for Skim Milk in a Pilot-Scale Spray Dryer

The pattern of wall deposits in a pilot-scale spray dryer has been studied, using skim milk, by changing the flow rate to the nozzle and measuring the resultant deposition fluxes at different positions inside the dryer. The solids concentration was maintained at 30%. The deposition was measured at three locations of the conical section and in the cylindrical section of the spray dryer. Particle deposition can be either due to the inertia of the particles or turbulent diffusion, and it is not immediately obvious which of these mechanisms is dominant. Inertial deposition appeared to be present mainly at the bottom location of the conical section and was the largest amount in quantitative terms, being at least an order of magnitude larger compared with diffusion deposition, which seemed to be dominant on the side (cylindrical) walls of the spray dryer. In addition to the above observations, the deposition patterns in the conical section have been quantified. The relative deposition flux, in m−2, which is the ratio of the deposition flux, in g m−2 h−1, to the solids flow rate into the dryer, in g h−1, was between 0.04 and 0.09 m−2 at a solids concentration of 8.8% and between 0.15 and 0.4 m−2 at a solids concentration of 30%. The fused appearance of the microstructure in the wall deposits of skim milk powder, as seen in the Micro-CT study, suggests that re-entrainment of the wall deposits is unlikely.