Mathematical modeling of a continuous fluidized bed dryer

In this work, a numerical simulation of a fluidized bed dryer based on the two-phase theory of fluidization has been proposed. Solid particles in the emulsion phase are considered lumped and in the bubble phase is assumed plug while in the emulsion phase is considered totally mixed. Moreover, the bubble size variations along the bed height are taken into consideration. Influence of the superficial gas velocity, input temperature of drying gas, particle size and mean residence time of solid particles on the drying process have been reported. The simulation results show an improvement to the prediction of other models that consider uniform size bubble and other simplification assumptions. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.