Drying Technology Center

GEA Niro's Drying Technology Center, located at our Columbia, MD headquarters, is one of the best of its kind in the world for customer product testing. The Drying Technology Center performs two types of tests:

Spray dryer in the GEA Process Engineering Inc. test station in Columbia, MD

• Feasibility studies to evaluate drying parameters of wet feedstocks Pilot tests to provide design information for fabrication of commercial drying equipment.
• Feed materials may consist of dilute solutions of solids in water, liquid slurries of suspended solids, colloidal suspensions, gels, pastes, or heavy cakes of wet solids. All are dried to free-flowing powders, agglomerates, or granules.

Testing produces a range of data, including the optimum drying temperature for maximum thermal efficiency and minimum degradation, the relationship between the drying temperature and product moisture content, atomization requirements, and product particle size distribution. The Drying Technology Center contains a complete analytical laboratory for testing dried product particle size, bulk density, residual volatiles/ moisture, flowability, and hygroscopicity. The Center also develops criteria and operating parameters for drying new products in existing equipment.

Aeromatic-Fielder batch fluid bed processor in the GEA Process Engineering Inc. test station in Columbia, MD

Spray dryer in the GEA Process Engineering Inc. test station in Columbia, MD

Many of the test units in the facility have been recently upgraded with state-of-the-art equipment to provide the most accurate design data for our customers. Equipment includes a 30-in diameter laboratory-size spray dryer (MOBILE MINOR™) and a 4-ft diameter pilot-scale spray dryer (PRODUCTION MINOR™). A large, 9-ft diameter (S-28) spray dryer and a fluidized spray dryer (FSD™-16) have been completely rebuilt, and the Fluidized Spray Dryer (FSD™) has been updated with a new, more efficient burner. Other equipment in the Center includes a TALL FORM DRYER™ with pressure nozzles and a large-scale closed-cycle spray dryer. In all, the Drying Technology Center contains seven spray dryers, four fluid bed dryers, a conventional flash dryer, a Swirl Fluidizer™ (an agitated flash dryer), and a fluid bed spray granulator. The larger dryers have state-of-the-art PC-based process control systems.

Swirl Fluidizer™ installed in Niro's test facility in Columbia, MD. The Swirl Fluidizer™ is designed to dry non-pumpable pastes and sludges. It can often replace conventional two step approaches using contact dryers, band dryers, drum dryers or tray dryers.

MOBILE MINOR™ Spray dryer in the GEA Process Engineering Inc. test station in Columbia, MD

Video clips:
Length: 0:00:23		The nozzle video clip is from a Tall Form Production spray dryer located in the Niro Test lab in Columbia, MD. It is 1.7 meter diameter by 8 meter straight side height with a 60 degree cone with a bustle air outlet. It has an evaporative capability of between 70-200 kg/hr.
Length: 0:00:12		The rotary video clip is from Production minor 1.2 meter dia. spray dryer located in the Niro test lab in Columbia, MD.

Product Questionnaire

Niro Drying Technology Center Data Sheet