Solidaire
Thin-Layer Indirect Paddle Dryer
Drying Done Right
The Solidiare’s proprietary paddle-drying technology offers the highest heat-transfer coefficient on the market. That means faster, more efficient drying; exact residence time control; and lower operating costs.
Fast, Efficient Drying
Thin-layer operation delivers high heat transfer along the jacketed vessel walls. That provides the most efficient thermal operation available, maximizing heat transfer and shortening drying times, all with a much smaller footprint than other dryers.
Residence Time Control
The Solidaire offers strict control over residence time, gas contact, temperature and shear to carry out difficult reactions. The adjustable paddle rotor provides the precise conveyance required to work through difficult transition phases.
Lower Operating Costs
The Solidaire is the most thermally efficient dryer available. It uses less energy; requires less overhead space; and is easier to adjust, maintain and clean than other dryers.
Advantages
High Versatility
Whether dry or wet solids, liquid, slurry, cake or paste, the Solidaire can process a wide variety of materials in multiple applications including drying, devolatilizing, reacting, cooling and crystallizing.
Small Footprint
Efficient, thin-layer design provides the most efficient thermal operation with a far smaller footprint than bed dryers or other direct dryers.
Simple Paddle Adjustment
Adjustable paddles control residence time and provide more control over material as it is processed.
Safe Processing
The Solidaire safely removes and recovers volatile organic compounds from solids. Volatiles evaporate under an inert environment to prevent dangerous operation.
Easy Cleaning
An optional split-body design provides quick access for easy cleaning.
Inline Injection
The optional Jet Rotor™ continuously injects gas or liquids directly into the material during processing for additional treatment.
How does it work?
The Solidaire consists of a jacketed vessel and a rotating shaft that runs the length of the vessel. Adjustable paddles are mounted on the shaft. The paddles can be adjusted for pitch and depth, providing fine control over material residence time and thickness.
Wet feed – such as solids, slurries, pastes, wet cakes or gels – is fed into one end of the Solidaire. The spinning paddles break up any loose agglomerates and then forces the material into a thin layer on the inside of the vessel.
The vessel walls are jacketed to accept a heated thermal media such has steam or hot oil, which indirectly heats and dries a thin layer of material as it is forced against the vessel walls. Thin-layer drying provides the most efficient thermal operation available, minimizing energy used while maximizing heat transfer without requiring a large footprint.
As the solids dry, vapor is produced. A heated counter-current gas steam conveys the vapor out of the Solidaire, through a filter, and into a condenser for collection and recovery.
For crystallization applications, a custom split-jacket vessel provides heating and cooling in a single unit. Material is heated in the first zone, then cooled in the second zone using a cooling media such as chilled glycol or water.
Finally, rotating paddles force the processed material through the Solidaire to be discharged for downstream processes such as cooling, milling or blending.
Corn Fermented Proteins
Corn-protein feeds are easily damaged in processing. Traditional drying equipment often damages proteins. Bepex’s proprietary drying technology dries non-pumpable, water-laden solids without excessive heat input. Plus it offers tighter control over product quality while utilizing far less utilities and floorspace.
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Industrial Starch Manufacturing
Bepex brings scalable, continuous processing to starch production. The Bepex starch processing system provides independent control over mixing, drying, heating, and reaction. That provides operational flexibility while creating superior product with lower production costs — so you can create a wide range of products with consistent, repeatable results.
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Lithium
Bepex has been supplying processing technology for lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide production since the early 1990s. Now Bepex is pioneering drying and milling systems to streamline lithium production while reducing the energy needed and emissions resulting from production.
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Plant Based Proteins
Bepex offers the most energy efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly systems for processing plant-based production. Bepex systems require less energy and create less emissions. Plus they provide more control over protein modification, resulting in a higher quality product.
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Pomace
Bepex transforms “waste” pomace into high-value protein products. Bepex offers a total solution to ensure consistent feeds, wring water from the pomace, and dry the wet cakes into powder or small granules. That improves efficiency and product quality, while lowering costs and reducing emissions.
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Silicones for Cosmetics
Silicone in cosmetics involves tough processing challenges including a highly volatile solvent, zero tolerance for impurities, and capacity limited by batch processing. Continuous processing with Bepex produces a higher quality, more consistent end product. Plus it’s safer and eliminates opportunities for product contamination.
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Starch Modification
The Bepex food-grade starch processing system offers independent mixing, drying, heating, and reaction processing. Adjustability in residence time, temperature and gas concentration allows for easy modification of color, RVA profile, or other functional requirements. That provides production flexibility while creating a premium product.
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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.
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Recycled Battery Materials
Bepex works with recyclers to reclaim lithium and other materials from spent batteries. With the industry’s widest range of drying, devolatilizing and other technologies and decades of lithium processing experience, Bepex is the ideal partner in development of new recycling processes.
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Synthetic Graphite
Bepex works with graphite suppliers to replace energy-intensive batch processes with continuous processing equipment that saves material-handling time, reduces floor space requirements, lowers energy and emissions, and cuts labor costs. That means higher capacity, lower operating costs and better cap ex returns.
Learn MoreDiscover better drying for yourself.
Dry more efficiently, at a lower cost, with maximum control.
Got ideas? Questions? A tough process challenge?
We welcome inquiries at any stage of development.
Reach out today.
