Computational Fluid Dynamics Modelling of Agglomeration during Spray Drying

This research aimed to develop a CFD-model facilitating accurate prediction of the agglomeration process in spray drying at a reasonable computational expense. Besides establishing the importance of capturing droplet-shrinkage and obtaining better understanding of the flow-field inside spray dryers, a simplified mapping approach and a rigorous approach to agglomeration-modelling were proposed. The novel rigorous model tested at two distinct scales could accurately predict the trends in the final particle size distributions and distinguish agglomerate structures occurring under different conditions. This work constitutes significant progress towards estimating final powder properties and will prove useful in design of processes allowing controlled agglomeration.