Fluid Bed Dryer
Stationary Fluid Bed Dryer
Better Drying. Less Maintenance
Fluid bed dryers use blown air to “fluidize” materials – drying and cooling them, floating them in air, and causing them to flow like fluids when conveyed. Fluid Bed Dryer’s stationary bed design eliminates moving parts resulting in gentle processing, less maintenance, and more uptime.
Gentle Processing
Conveyance by blown air in a “fluidized” state minimizes the stress put on particles that is often seen in mechanically agitated bed designs. That’s useful in protecting newly formed particles following agglomeration or materials that crumble easily when dried.
Multi-Zone Control
The Fluid Bed can be divided into individual heating and cooling zones with independent thermal control. The multi-zone design allows for processing flexibility and smaller footprint by including heating and cooling zones in a single unit.
Less Maintenance. More Uptime.
The Fluid Bed’s stationary bed design eliminates moving parts, meaning less maintenance and higher uptime. When a unit does need adjustment or maintenance, the Fluid Bed offers quick access via hinged doors, access ports, or other customizable entry points.
Advantages
Flexible Design
The Fluid Bed dryer can be designed for continuous or batch processing.
Controlled Residence Time
By balancing the design of the screen and adjusting weirs, air flow, and bed height, you gain control over residence time in each zone within the unit. Individual control over zones lets you fine-tune your process while maintaining continuous operation.
Screen Design Variety
The screen that forms the bed is designed to maximize the flow of process air into the bed of solids. Design options range from round-hole perforations to felt-covered decking to provide the best possible solution for any application.
Indirect Heat Available
If additional heat input is needed, indirect heating can be added to the unit whether for the bed of solids or for the air flow.
Spray Agglomeration
Spray binders directly onto the fluidized bed of solids to promote gentle coating or particle growth.
No Moving Parts
Conveyance is controlled by the internal weirs and airflow. Unlike mechanical bed dryers, the stationary design eliminates moving parts, meaning less maintenance and higher uptime.
How does it work?
The Bepex Fluid Bed is a stationary dryer design using heated or cooled process air to fluidize and convey solids. The Fluid Bed drying system provides gentle handling in addition to efficient heat and mass transfer. Through direct contact of particles with fluidizing gas under controlled conditions, the Fluid Bed is suitable for use in drying, heating, cooling, and reacting applications.
The unit is typically divided into multiple zones, each with their own temperature control for precise operation. Adjustable zone temperatures and residence times gives you full control over product quality.
Wet materials fall by gravity into the first zone, forming a bed. A perforated screen deck establishes the bed while allowing process air to pass through. The process air fluidizes the wet materials while providing the initial heat transfer for drying or cooling.
The fluidized bed of solids continues to form in the first zone until it is deep enough to pass over the adjustable weirs and pass into the next zone.
Material continues to move from zone-to-zone until it reaches the final discharge weir. Once the bed is at a suitable point, material passes over the discharge weir and exits the machine.
In agglomeration, fine particles are swept away by the process air and recycled back into the agglomeration process.
Because material is moved by gravity and blown air while being controlled by weirs, the Fluid Bed Dryer doesn’t need the vibrating, mechanical parts found in other bed dryers. This gentle handling protects delicate particles. Eliminating moving parts also results in less time spent readjusting the machine and fewer maintenance headaches.
Polylactic Acid
Bepex works with PLA producers to extend the uses for PLA polymers through post-processing thermal treatment. Bepex equipment crystallizes PLA pellets, making them easier to process, stronger, and less transparent. That makes PLA usable in more products, expanding markets for this sustainable solution.
Learn MoreExplore Bepex Fluid Bed Technology
Better, more gentle drying. Absolute process control. Less maintenance hassles.
Discover the Bepex difference for yourself.We’re experts in helping you explore your thermal processing options. Reach out to us today.