"If you want to do a good job, you must first use your tools". For the physical or chemical properties of different materials, as well as the size and solubility of the powder or particle required for experiments, researchers may need experimental spray dryers of different types to obtain the best experimental results. This article will introduce how to choose an appropriate experimental spray dryer under different circumstances.
1) The solvent is an organic solvent or a material that is prone to oxidation
It is difficult to dry materials containing organic solvents during spray drying. Generally, organic solvents are flammable and explosive. Explosion proof closed laboratory spray dryer enables materials to circulate in a closed drying system. The whole system is filled with inert gas (such as nitrogen or argon), which can avoid the contact between organic solvent gas and external oxygen air, ensuring safe production.
2) Materials with high sugar content (such as juice, Chinese herbal medicine or Natural product extract) or heat sensitivity
Because most polysaccharide disaccharides have a low melting point, the sugar melts when heated, and the polysaccharide disaccharides themselves are easy to absorb moisture, so ordinary spray dryers are prone to stick to the wall, and it is not easy to get good dry powder or particles. In addition, such as enzyme preparations, live bacteria, and some polymer materials that are easy to denature under high temperature, the materials are very easy to inactivate or denature when using ordinary spray dryers. At this time, reducing the inlet and outlet air temperatures of spray dryers can achieve better experimental results.
3) Materials with extremely poor thermal sensitivity or requiring improved solubility
Some materials cannot be heated at all, and traditional freeze-drying takes a very long time. Moreover, the dried materials become lumpy, with poor fluidity and poor solubility. Therefore, it is necessary to select a spray dryer that forms spherical particles with microporous structure after drying, has good fluidity, and the particle size can be adjusted by changing the spray process.
4) Need to obtain materials with large particle powders
In some experiments, researchers hope to get some samples of large particles, such as the catalyst industry, which generally requires particles of about 100 microns to have a better catalytic effect. However, ordinary spray dryers can only get particles of less than 30 microns, so it is necessary to choose experimental spray dryers to get particles of about 100 microns.
To sum up, different experimental spray dryers should be selected for different materials in order to work stably and efficiently.