Heat and mass transfer characteristics during spray drying of Na2Fe0.6Mn0.4PO4F/C cathode material for Na-ion batteries

The paper presents a detailed experimental investigation on heat and mass transfer characteristics during the synthesis of Na2Fe0.6Mn0.4PO4F/C using intermittent spray drying. The drying process is carried out in a custom-made spray dryer. The novelty of the work is the study of the effect of intermittency on the spray drying process heat and mass transfer characteristics using a volumetric approach. The nozzle orifice diameter, spray duration, and spray pressure are operating parameters of the process that are varied between 0.2 and 0.4 mm at 10 and 40 s and 4 and 7 bar. An increase in nozzle orifice diameter and pumping pressure improves the heat transfer significantly; however, an increase in spray time diminishes the heat transfer. Under considered operating conditions, the volumetric heat transfer coefficient varied between 1.5 and 3.5 kW/m3K. The volumetric mass transfer coefficient ranges between 2.5 and 5.0 s-1. Based on the study, correlations for heat and mass transfer coefficients have been developed that relate the thermophysical properties of both the carrier gas and the pre-cursor fluid in terms of Ohnesorge number and Reynolds number.