Effect of Operational Parameters on Drying Rate and Energy Consumption of Epoxy-Based Coating Powder in a Fluidized Bed Dryer System

In this work, the effect of inlet air temperature and volume flow rate is studied on the moisture content of epoxy-based coating powder and energy consumption of a fluidized bed dryer system. The inlet air temperature range was determined to be 45-60 oC based on the glass transition temperature of epoxy-based coating powder. The results showed that by increasing the inlet air temperature in the fluidized bed dryer, the drying rate of the samples increased, where the highest drying rate was obtained at 60 oC. In the temperature range of 55 to 60 oC, an increase in inlet air volume flow rate led to an increase in the drying rate. An increase in the inlet air temperature significantly led to an increase in the energy consumption for drying the samples. The drying rate of the samples did not have a constant trend because of an increase in the inlet air volume flow rate. The results showed the drying rate of samples increased by an increase in volume flow rate from 1.0 to 1.4 m3/s, and its value decreased from 1.4 to 1.6 m3/s. However, the amount of energy consumed by the dried samples increases with the increase in the inlet air volume flow rate. The results of this study can be effective in achieving the optimal amount for drying the powder and reaching the optimum value of less than 2% by spending the minimum amount of necessary energy and the maximum drying rate of the powder.