CFD Simulation of milk performance parameters effect on the physical indices of spray dryer

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Department of Biosystems Engineering, Isf.C., Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran.

2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Shahr Majlesi branch, Isfahan, Iran.

Abstract

One type of drying process is spray drying, which is used to dry solutions. In this method, the quality and expected properties of the dried powder depend on the design parameters, performance parameters, and solution properties. Therefore, the aim of this research is to investigate the effect of the performance parameters of the injected solution on the physical indicators of the drying chamber for drying milk. For this purpose, the effect of the size of the sprayed particles at three levels of 50, 100, and 150 μm and the flow rate of the solution entering the dryer at six levels of 10×10-3, 15×10-3, 20×10-3, 25×10-3, 30×10-3, and 35×10-3 kg/s on the distribution of pressure, velocity, temperature, and moisture of the particles inside the dryer chamber was simulated using computational fluid dynamics. This simulation was performed using ANSYS fluent 18 software in a two-phase manner using the Euler-Euler method. The simulation results showed that increasing the milk mass flow rate and increasing the particle diameter led to an increase in velocity, a decrease in the temperature inside the chamber, and a decrease in the temperature of the outlet particles. The highest increase in velocity and the highest decrease in temperature of particles were 66% and 5%, respectively. While the pressure inside the chamber decreased with increasing milk particle diameter and the pressure inside the chamber increased with increasing milk mass flow rate, with the highest increase in pressure being 65%. The results also showed that about 50% of the moisture of solution in the cylindrical part of the drying chamber was removed from the particles.

Graphical Abstract

CFD Simulation of milk performance parameters effect on the physical indices of spray dryer

Highlights

  • Milk powder spray dryer was simulated by two-phase method and Euler-Euler approach by Fluent software.
  • The effect of the size and the flow rate of the sprayed particles on the pressure, velocity, temperature and moisture of the particles were simulated.
  • The validation of the results showed that the simulation results have a good correlation with the experimental results.
  • To maintain the quality of drying, the inlet flow rate of the solution and the size of the particles can be reduced.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Innovative Food Technologies
Volume 12, Issue 2
February 2025
Pages 163-181

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History

  • Receive Date: 08 February 2025
  • Revise Date: 18 March 2025
  • Accept Date: 06 April 2025

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