Time scale analysis for fluidized bed melt granulation III: Binder solidification rate

In series I and II of this study (Chua et al., 2010a, b), we discussed the time scale of granule-granule collision, droplet-granule collision and droplet spreading in Fluidized Bed Melt Granulation (FBMG). In this third one, we consider the rate at which binder solidifies. Simple analytical solution, based on classical formulation for conduction a cross a semi-infinite slab, was used to obtain a generalized equation for binder solidification time. A multi-physics simulation package (Comsol) was used to predict the binder solidification time for various operating conditions usually considered in FBMG. The simulation results were validated with experimental temperature data obtained with a high speed infrared camera during solidification of 'macroscopic' (mm scale) droplets. For the range of microscopic droplet size and operating conditions considered for a FBMG process, the binder solidification time was found to fall approximately between 10(-3) and 10(-1) s. This is the slowest compared to the other three major FBMG microscopic events discussed in this series (granule-granule collision, granule-droplet collision and droplet spreading). (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.