Superheated Steam Spray Drying as an Energy-Saving Drying Technique: A Review

Mariia Sobulska, Pawel Wawrzyniak () and Meng Wai Woo
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Mariia Sobulska: Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering, Lodz University of Technology, 213 Wolczanska Str., 93-005 Lodz, Poland
Pawel Wawrzyniak: Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering, Lodz University of Technology, 213 Wolczanska Str., 93-005 Lodz, Poland
Meng Wai Woo: Department of Chemical & Materials Engineering, The University of Auckland, City Campus, Auckland 1023, New Zealand

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 22, 1-22

Abstract: Drying is an extremely energy-intensive process. Superheated steam as a drying medium can improve the energy efficiency of the drying processes. In superheated steam drying, waste heat can be recovered by condensing the exhaust steam or raising its specific enthalpy. Spray drying is widely used in industry, even though its energy efficiency is often low. Substitution of air by superheated steam as a drying medium in a spray dryer may reduce the energy consumption of the drying process by 20–30%; moreover, if excess steam generated by moisture evaporation is upgraded to a higher temperature level and reused for drying, the energy demand could be decreased by even 80%. A literature review showed that superheated steam spray drying was successfully applied for both thermally resistant and a wide range of thermally sensitive materials. Superheated steam drying gives a number of advantages in terms of product properties, i.e., higher particle porosity due to rapid moisture evaporation results in improved powder rehydration properties. Additionally, steam drying may be applied for in situ particle crystallization. Taking into account the advantages of superheated steam drying and the potential application of this technology in spray drying systems, there is a great need for further research in this field. This literature review aimed to present an energy-saving solution, i.e., superheated steam spray drying process, showing its advantages and potential applications, followed by drying kinetics, providing analysis of the research papers on experimental studies as well as mathematical modeling of this drying technique.

Keywords: superheated steam; spray drying; energy efficiency; particle morphology; mathematical model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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