Flash Dryer With Inclined Gas Deflector for Low Accumulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional flash dryers face issues with material accumulation at the bottom of the chamber and air inlet, requiring costly maintenance and downtime due to complex tangential air inlets and externally located rotor drives, which are not heat-resistant.
Innovation Solution
A flash dryer design with a gas distribution element featuring an inclined gas deflecting surface and a centrally arranged gas inlet, combined with adjustable flaps to control tangential velocity, reduces material accumulation and simplifies manufacturing, while allowing for efficient gas flow and compact design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a tangential air inlet is used to create upward gas flow, then drying efficiency is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a complex tangential air inlet to generate upward flow, the patent inverts the approach by using a simple downward-pointing gas inlet combined with a rotating mill that actively pushes material upward against the gas flow. This reverses the conventional method of flow generation while achieving the same drying effect with simpler components
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the complex mechanical tangential inlet system with a simpler gas inlet combined with a rotating mill mechanism. The rotating mill performs the function of creating upward material movement that was previously achieved through complex inlet geometry, substituting one mechanical approach with a more manageable system
2Reliability
If an externally located rotor drive is used to disintegrate product, then the drive is protected from high heat, but material accumulation occurs at the chamber bottom
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the drive mechanism from the hot chamber environment and places it externally, connected via a shaft that passes through the chamber wall or ceiling. This removes the drive from the harmful high-temperature zone while maintaining its function of rotating the mill for product disintegration and preventing material accumulation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a shaft as an intermediary element that transmits rotational power from the externally located drive to the mill inside the chamber. This mediator allows the drive to remain protected from heat while still effectively controlling the mill to prevent material accumulation
3Device complexity
If the gas inlet is positioned at the bottom of the chamber, then gas flow through the chamber is simplified, but product accumulation occurs in the gas inlet area
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the gas flow dynamic by introducing a rotating mill that continuously agitates and moves product material. This dynamic element prevents static accumulation in the gas inlet area while maintaining the simple bottom-positioned gas inlet configuration, as the rotating motion keeps material in constant movement
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design minimizes product accumulation, enhances hygiene, reduces maintenance downtime, and ensures efficient drying with controlled centrifugal forces, making it suitable for food products and reducing ignition risks.
Implementation Method 1
a lower side of the gas distribution element comprises a gas deflecting surface inclined relative to a horizontal plane such that the drying gas from the gas inlet is deflected by the gas deflecting surface towards the passage
Implementation Method 2
Known flash dryers also use some form of rotating mills for disintegration of the product inside the chamber
Implementation Method 3
When the product to be dried is supplied to the chamber, the product is subjected to the hot air stream causing moisture in the wet product to be evaporated
Data Source
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AI summary
There is provided a flash dryer for drying a product, the flash dryer comprising: a chamber formed of a chamber wall, a product inlet for providing the product into the chamber, a gas inlet arranged below the product inlet for providing drying gas into the chamber, an outlet arranged above the product inlet, and a gas distribution element arranged above the gas inlet, wherein: an outer edge of the gas distribution element is distanced from the chamber wall such that a passage is formed between the gas distribution element and the chamber wall, and a lower side of the gas distribution element comprises a gas deflecting surface inclined relative to a horizontal plane such that the drying gas from the gas inlet is deflected by the gas deflecting surface towards the passage.