DRUM DRYING

Drum Dryer
 Indirect type dryer
 Drum/roller/film drying
 Milk is fed into the dryer & maintained as a thin film on rotating, steam heated

drums
 The milk being dried is spread over the outside surface of the dryer, clinging to it and

drying continues as the hot drum rotates.

 At the end of a revolution, the drum comes to a ‘doctor blade’ which scrapes the

dried film from the drum, when the product has made about three-quarter of a

complete rotation on the drum surface

 The ratio of steam consumption to water evaporation is from 1.2 to 1.6:1
Adv:
 Requires less space
 More economical than spray dryers for small volumes.

Disadv:
 Scorched flavor and solubility is much lower (85%) because of protein

denaturation.
 Low throughput
 High cost of changing drum surface
 High sugar content product is difficult to remove
Factors affecting capacity /production of
drum dryer
 Milk feed temperature
 Level of milk
 Drum gap
 Drum speed
 Steam temperature
Classification of drum dryers
 Number of drums
1. single drum
2. double drum
3. twin drum
 Pressure surrounding the product
1. atmospheric
2. vacuum
 Feeding arrangement:
1. nip feed
2. splash feed
3. dip feed
4. roller feed
 Material of construction:
1. alloy steel
2. stainless steel
3. chrome or nickel plate steel
Construction
 The double drum atmospheric dryer is most commonly
used in the dairy industry
 Liquid is fed at about 70 ºC from a trough or perforated
pipe into a pool in the space above and between the
two rollers
 Heat is transferred by conduction to the liquid, which is
partly concentrated in the space between the rolls
 Conc. Milk issued from the bottom of the pond as a viscous layer,

covering the remainder of the drum surfaces

 Substantially, all the liquid is vaporized as the drum turn, leaving a thin

layer of dried product which is scraped off by doctor blades into

conveyor below.
 Vaporized moisture is removed through a vapour hood above the drums,

adequate air flow must be over the drum surface to carry away moisture
 Milk is usually precondensed (not more than 30%) for single drum

units, and preheated for double drums.

Specifications of drum dryer
 The doctor blade, a sharp hard flexible knife, scrapes the dried
material from the drum.
 The blades are made of spring steel if the surface of the drum is hard
and for soft drum bronze is used.
 The blades are positioned at an angle of 15 to 30º with the surface.
The conveyor for each drum discharges the product into for sizing
the dried product.
 The inside of drum is heated with steam at 3-6 kg/cm2
 Drum temperatures-below 130 ºC
 Steam temperature max. upto 200ºC
 The drums used are 60 to 120 cm in diameter, and upto 360
cm in length
 The speed of the drums is adjustable from 6 to 24 rpm
 The speed is important as it affects the thickness of milk
film and the time of solid contact with metal. The speed of
the drum depends upon the concentration of the milk and
the final moisture content. Both drums turn at the same
speed.
 The time that the solid is in contact with metal is 3 s or less.
 The product is removed after 3/4 to 7/8 of a revolution of the

drum
 The spacing between the drum affects the film thickness
 One drum of a double drum dryer is mounted on a stationary

bearing and the other on a movable bearing to adjust the spacing

between the drums.

 The spacing between the drums is about 0.5 to 1.0 mm. If the

clearance is below this, there will be product damage.

 As the heat is removed from steam, it is condensed.
 The condensate moves to the bottom of the drum and must be

removed by a pump or siphon.

 Flooding of the inside with condensate reduces the heat transfer

rate.
 The drying capacity is proportional to the active drum area.

Usually 5-50kg of dry product per m2 of drying surface per hour

 Thickness of dried layer- 0.5-2mm
 Dried product moisture content- less than 5%
 Conditions for maintaining uniform film &
max. thickness of powder in drum dryer
1. Drums must be properly aligned & have identical
characteristics of speed, heat transfer, wear etc.
2. Knives must be reground regularly (every 100 hrs) &
be of uniform sharpness
3. Drum should be smooth
4. Condensate should be continuously discharged from
the drum
5. Drums must be vented of air for better heat utilization
from steam
6. Uniform level of milk
7. Control of temp & time of drying& variation in steam
pressure & rpm of dryer must be avoided
8. Accurate control of feed device, so that evenly spread
between the rolls
9. Max conc, at which film can be spread is 30 % solids
10. Preheating not more than 71ºC (more than the temp,
denaturation takes place)
11. Acidic milk should be avoided
12. Dried pdts must be scrapped off carefully
Feeding arrangement in drum dryer
 Nip feed : suitable for mat. with high rate of sedimentation. Eg., milk,
whey, yeast
 Dip feed: used for suspension of solids with recirculation of mat. In tray.
Eg., drying of cereals
 Splash feed: mainly used for chemicals, clay & coal
 Roller feed: for glutinous mat. such as starch. Pdt may be placed in its
natural form or condensed before fed to dryer eg., Paste, breakfast foods
and baby feed pdts.
Roll feeding :

 both single and twin drum dryers.

 effective for viscous and glutinous
materials.
 Multirolls are often used to increase the
film thickness,and hence the throughput.
 The gap between the rolls and the drum
can be adjusted individually.
 Roll feeding is sometimes used in
combination with other feeding methods to
meet the needs in the drying of certain product
Nip feeding
• simplest feeding method solely used in
double drum dryers.
• It is suitable for drying of thin
solutions, such as milk and whey.
• Nip feeding utilizes the adjustable gap
between the two drums as a means to
control the film thickness.
• The uniform distribution of the feed
over the length of the drums is
essential.
• Pendulum feed or perforated pipe is
used to supply material into a pool in
the space between the two drums for
most applications..
• Dipping is used in both single and twin drum dryers
• With this method, the dryer is partially submerged in a tray and
product in the tray adheres to the surface as the drum rotates.
• It is good for certain suspensions of solids and used usually with a
recirculation of material to prevent setting of the solid in the tray.
• For materials that cannot stand prolonged exposure to heat, a small
tray may be used with constantly supplied fresh material
 In spray feeding the material is
atomized by nozzle onto the drum
surface. Spray nozzles can be located
at the bottom of the drum or other
locations. The quantity of the
product applied is controlled by the
nozzle system and independent of
other operational parameters.

 Splashing is a method especially

suitable for products with a high rate
of sedimentation. It can be used in
single and twin drum dryers
Overall coefficient of drum dryer
 Q=UA∆T,

Q- Mass of water removed from the product x latent heat of vaporization,

A- area , 2Πrh, ∆T- Temp. diff of steam &pdt
 1000 to 1800 kcal/hr m2ºC under optimum condition.
 Since the thickness of drum wall is small compared to the diameter of the
drum, the area A can be regarded simply as the outer surface area of the
drum.
 U depends on hs , k and hp and other coefficients
 U= 1
1/hs + x/k + 1/hp + 1/(hc +hr+he)

hs : equivalent film coefficient of steam, Kcal/ hr m2 ºC -4000

x: thickness of metal , m
k : thermal conductivity of metal, kcal/ m hr ºC
hp : equivalent film coefficient of product -4000
hc : convection coefficient -5
hr: radiation coefficient -7.5
he : evaporation film coefficient -250
Factor having greatest effect on U is the condition of liquid film
and drum speed
Overall thermal efficiency of drum dryer is 35 – 80 %
Care and Maintenance of Drum Dryers
 The success of uniform drying depends on the application of a uniform film thickness on the drum

surface. The main points to be considered for proper operation of drum dryers are

(i) Drums must be properly aligned and have identical characteristics of speed, heat transfer, wear etc.

(ii) Knives must be reground regularly (after every 100 h) and be uniform sharpness.

(iii) Drums must be kept smooth.

(iv) Condensate must be continuously discharged from the drum

(v) Drum must be vented of air for better heat utilization from steam.

(vi) Uniform level of milk in the reservoir must be maintained

(vii) There must be close control of temperature and time of drying

(viii) Accurate control of feed device is required so that milk is evenly spread between the rolls. The

maximum concentration at which the film can be spread evenly is about 30% solids.

(ix) Preheating of milk is advantageous, but temperature should not exceed 71 ºC

(x) The dried product must be scraped off carefully.