A comparison of solute migration in a test granulation dried by fluidization and other methods

The intragranular migration of sodium chloride in granules made by the wet massing of heavy kaolin B.P. with salt solution has been studied in batches dried by fluidization and a vacuum tumbling method. The larger granules from the fluidized batch exhibited considerable intragranular variation with the outer crust containing over twice the average salt concentration. Solute loss from this layer by abrasion on prolonged fluidization was slight but the dust eluted from the dryer had a salt content above average. Analysis of sieved fractions of the dust showed that this enrichment was concentrated in the fine material passing a 53 mum mesh. The vacuum dried granules had less migration and were less resistant to crushing than those dried by fluidization. The dust produced had a salt content only slightly greater than the average composition and the overall solute content of the sized fractions were all close to this average. The same system was used to study intergranular migration in a fixed bed when the granules were dried by infrared radiation, by microwave radiation, by convection from air and in a vacuum. The greatest migration occurred in samples dried by infrared radiation and the maximum solute concentration was near the middle of the bed. The air dried granules had less migration and the maximum concentration was in the surface layer. The granules dried in a vacuum and by microwave radiation were fairly uniform in composition throughout the bed. The above results are explained on the basis of the capillary theory of drying together with the modifying influence of the drying method on the probable heat and mass transfer rates.