Enhanced methods for experimental investigation of single droplet drying kinetics and application to lactose/water

In this work, a suspension device is presented that can be used for the investigation of single droplet drying kinetics at temperatures from ambient to 200°C. Evaluation is hybrid, using both camera data and a water mass balance. In this way, drying kinetics can be captured for shrinking droplets and also after a constant diameter of the wet particle has been reached and during inflation/deflation periods. Results can be further enhanced by X-ray μ-CT investigation of the internal morphology of dried particles. It is proposed to read critical conditions for crust formation from a plot of evaporation flux over water mass fraction. Repeatability and accuracy of the experimental and evaluation methods were checked with pure water droplets. Moreover, the entire evaluation was conducted for aqueous solutions of lactose with various initial concentrations.