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Feature Report
ChemiCal engineering www.Chemengonline.Com april 2015
48
In BrIef
DRYING PRINCIPLES
VACUUM-DRYER
ADVANTAGES
VACUUM-DRYER
OPERATION
OPTIONS
MICROWAVE VACUUM
DRYING
FREEZE DRYING
HYBRID TECHNOLOGIES
APPLICATIONS
PROCESS OPTIMIZATION
Vacuum drying can be a useful tool for solid products that are heat-sensitive. Here are
some guidelines for the selection and use of various types of vacuum dryers
Drying is an essential unit operation
in a variety of chemical process in-
dustries (CPI) sectors. Food, phar-
maceuticals, chemicals, plastics,
timber, paper and other industries use dry-
ing equipment to eliminate moisture during
product processing. Most dryers are classi-
fied as direct dryers, where hot air (at near
atmospheric pressure) is used to supply the
heat to evaporate water or other solvents
from the product. Another important dryer
category, vacuum dryers, involves the use of
a reduced-pressure atmosphere to surround
the product.
Drying is among the most energy-intensive
unit operations, due to the high latent heat of
vaporization of water and the inherent ineffi-
ciency of using hot air as the (most common)
drying medium. Depending on the specific
product attributes required, different indus-
try sectors require different types of drying
technology. Drying high-value products that
are likely to be heat-sensitive, such as food,
pharmaceuticals and biological products,
demands special attention. When dried by
convection at higher temperatures, these
heat-sensitive products degrade, change
color and appearance and have lower vita-
min or nutrient content. Vacuum dryers offer
an alternate path. This article discusses the
operation and selection of vacuum dryers,
and provides examples of applications in
which vacuum drying is used.
Drying principles
Drying involves two distinct drying periods,
known as the constant drying period and the
falling drying period (Figure 1). Drying occurs
when liquid is vaporized by supplying heat to
the wet feedstock. The liquid removed by the
drying process could be either free moisture
(unbound) or bound within the structure of
the solid. The unbound moisture, normally
present as a liquid film on the surface of a
solid particle, is easily evaporated, while the
bound moisture could be found within the
solid material, trapped in the microstruc-
ture of the solid. In this case, the moisture
must travel to the surface to be evaporated.
When a solid product is subjected to drying,
removal of unbound and bound moisture de-
pend on the rates at which these two pro-
cesses proceed. Removal of unbound mois-
ture depends on external conditions of air or
gas temperature, flow, humidity, area of ex-
posed surface and pressure. The movement
of bound moisture depends on the nature
of the product being dried and the extent of
moisture within the product.
Unbound moisture normally is removed
by evaporation and vaporization. Raising the
temperature facilitates the evaporation and air
draws the moisture away. If the product being
dried is heat-sensitive, then the temperature at
which evaporation occurs (at the boiling point
of water or other solvent) can be reduced by
lowering the pressure with a vacuum.
Vacuum-drying advantages
Vacuum drying is a viable technology that
has been used successfully for many years
in the pharmaceutical, food, plastics and
textile industries, among others in the CPI.
Vacuum Drying:
Basics and Application
Dilip M. Parikh
DPharma Group
Part 1
FIGURE 1: Drying processes involve two distinct phases
Drying cycle time (t)
Pre-heating
period
Constant
drying period
Falling
drying period
Moisture content (
)
k
o
i
ChemiCal engineering www.Chemengonline.Com april 2015 49
A major advantage to vacuum dry-
ing is its energy conservation — less
energy is needed for drying, cutting
down on the economic and environ-
mental costs associated with drying
a product for storage, sale or other
purposes. Vacuum-drying pro-
cesses also tend to work faster than
other drying methods, cutting down
on processing times, which can be
important in some facilities where
products are being moved through
quickly. Another advantage of drying
materials in this way is a less dam-
aging drying process. Some materi-
als can experience problems at high
temperatures, such as developing
hard, leathery crusts from heat ex-
posure during the drying process.
Vacuum drying tends to retain the
integrity of the original item without
damaging it with heat. For foods and
pharmaceuticals, this can be valu-
able, as other drying processes can
degrade quality and make the food
less appealing or affect potency of
heat-sensitive drug product.
Using vacuum-drying equipment
also reduces risks to workers. With
other types of drying equipment,
there are vented fumes and particles
that can make people sick or that
force people to wear protective gar-
ments. With a vacuum dryer, ventila-
tion does not occur, and personnel
working near the dryer are safer. It is
also possible to recover the precipi-
tated moisture collected during the
drying for further use.
Vacuum-drying operation
The majority of dryers are of the di-
rect (or convective) type, where hot
air is used both to supply the heat for
evaporation and to carry away the
evaporated moisture from the prod-
uct. Notable exceptions are freeze
and vacuum dryers, which are used
almost exclusively for drying heat-
sensitive products because vacuum
dryers tend to be significantly more
expensive than dryers that operate
near atmospheric pressure.
Vacuum drying is a process in
which materials are dried in a re-
duced pressure environment, which
lowers the heat needed for rapid
drying. Vacuum dryers offer low-
temperature drying of thermolabile
materials and are suitable for solvent
recovery from solid products con-
taining solvents. Heat is usually sup-
plied by passing steam or hot water
through hollow shelves (Figure 2).
Drying temperatures can be care-
fully controlled and, for the major
part of the drying cycle, the mate-
rial remains at the boiling point of
the wetting agent. Drying times are
long, usually about 12 to 48 h. Un-
like a direct-heat dryer — in which
the material is immersed directly into
the heating media (usually a hot gas
FIGURE 2: Vacuum tray dryers are common for laboratory and pilot-scale work FIGURE 3: Traditional blenders can be modified to be used as vacuum dryers
(Source Patterson Kelley)
Table 1. SelecTion criTeria for The indirecT dryerS [1]
Dryer type Plate Drum Tumbling Vibrating Conical Thin
film
Paddle Mixer-
kneader
Requirements
Continuous x x x yy x x x
Discontinuous yy yy x yy x x x
Vacuum x * x x x x
Large surface
area
and volume
* o o o * x * x
High specific
capacity
* x o x * x * x
Materials
Friable x yy x x x * x x
Fluid yy X yy yy yy x o x
Viscous/pasty yy x yy yy yy yy o x
Crusty yy yy yy yy yy o * x
Processing
Mechanical x x x o x * * *
Thermal * o o * * o o o
yy = not suitable, o = sometimes suitable, * = good, x = ideal
ChemiCal engineering www.Chemengonline.Com april 2015
50
stream) and is dried by convection
— a vacuum dryer is an indirect-heat
dryer (Table 1). That is, the heat is
transferred to the material as it con-
tacts the dryer’s heated surface, dry-
ing the material by conduction.
Understanding this distinction is
essential for grasping the advan-
tages and limitations of vacuum dry-
ing, as well as for selecting a vacuum
dryer that efficiently and economi-
cally achieves process goals.
To understand how vacuum op-
eration can aid drying, consider the
following equation, which represents
a simplified drying theory:
Q = U A ΔT (1)
Where Q is the total heat (in British
thermal units [Btu]), U is the over-
all heat-transfer coefficient (in Btu/
[ft2/°F]), A is the effective heat trans-
fer surface area (in ft2), and ΔT is the
temperature difference between the
liquid’s boiling point (that is, its vapor-
ization temperature) and the heating
media’s temperature (in °F). The pro-
cess goal is to achieve an effective
heat transfer (Q) to the material so
that its liquid content is vaporized.
Most often, the material’s prop-
erties and the dryer type effectively
establish the U and A values for the
process. So the process-efficiency
objective should be to maximize
the ΔT value, in order to increase
the Q value. By controlling atmo-
spheric pressure, the vacuum dryer
increases the effective ΔT for a given
process. It reduces the boiling point
(vaporization temperature) required
for removing the liquid.
Effective ΔT can be significantly in-
creased by controlling pressure and
heat to the dryer, facilitating faster dry-
ing than at normal atmospheric pres-
sure. Hence, heat-sensitive materials
such as foods, pharmaceuticals and
antibiotics can be dried with vacuum
drying with shorter drying times and
at lower temperatures. The closed
system also offers the advantage of
handling reactive compounds or haz-
ardous solvents in the product being
dried. The vacuum dryer safely con-
tains and condenses the hazardous
vapors from such substances without
any threat to the workplace environ-
ment or to the outside atmosphere.
Vacuum drying is predominately
operated as a batch unit operation.
However, a vacuum-drying unit can
also be integrated as part of a con-
tinuous process. In those cases,
proper control of the infeed and dis-
charge materials is critical, along with
proper process-control parameters.
Limitations of vacuum dryers are
generally related to the heat-transfer
mode of the equipment. A vacuum
dryer’s upper temperature limit (typi-
cally about 600°F) is lower than that
of a direct-heat dryer. The rate at
which material temperature can
be raised in a vacuum dryer is also
limited. This is because the indirect-
heat vacuum dryer is limited by the
surface area available for heat trans-
fer, unlike a direct-heat dryer, which
is limited only by the hot-gas volume
in the drying chamber. The vacuum
pump is primarily responsible for the
vacuum level inside the dryer.
Vacuum drying options
Most vacuum dryers are adapted
from solids blenders. The two prin-
cipal types of vacuum dryers are
tumble and agitated. A number of
traditional blenders can be modified
for use as vacuum processors (Fig-
ures 3, 4 and 5). Selection of dryers
in general and vacuum dryers in par-
ticular are shown in Tables 1–3.
Tray dryers. The most common
dryer for laboratory and small-scale
FIGURE 4: Vacuum-drying systems for solvent-based products employ condensers to collect solvents (Source: Patterson Kelley)
FIGURE 5: This double-cone blender is another example of modified vacuum dryer (Source: Paul O. Abbé)
Circulating pump
Plant in
Coolant out
Vacuum
condenser
Centrifigal
solids
separator
Condensate
receiver
vacuum equipmenT
Vacuum pump
Liquid feed pump
Vacuum filter Intensifier bar
Expansion tank
Manifold
Air
separator
Heat exchanger Steam in
Condensate out
Coolant in
Coolant out
Cooling exchnager
Rotating connector
Condensate water
Heat source
Rotating connector
Frame Tank Filter Seal seat Vacuum valve
ChemiCal engineering www.Chemengonline.Com april 2015 51
pilot work is the vacuum tray dryer
(Figure 2). Heat transfer in this type
is largely by conduction or by ra-
diation. The trays are enclosed in a
large cabinet, which is evacuated.
The water vapor produced is gener-
ally condensed, so that the vacuum
pumps have only to deal with non-
condensable gases. Tray dryers are
reliable and have no moving parts,
but operation and cleaning are la-
bor-intensive. Also, because solvent
wicking can cause a crust to form on
the cake, the product often requires
milling, screening, blending or other
post-drying treatment to ensure ho-
mogeneity. These problems can be
avoided by keeping the cake moving
during drying, which is the major ad-
vantage of cone, paddle and tumble
dryers. Vacuum tray dryers consists
of a main body completely heated by
means of a liquid circulation circuit,
so as to avoid any condensation phe-
nomena, and by a series of shelves
heated by means of a fluid distribu-
tion collector which guarantees heat
homogeneity on all radiating plates.
The inner walls and the shelves are
perfectly polished.
The shelves are heated inside the
vacuum chamber. This technique
can apply heat indirectly to the
product by forcing physical contact
with the shelf. A hot medium flows
through the shelves, thus enabling it
to conduct heat to the tray, which is
positioned on the shelves.
Granulators. Traditional high-shear
granulators in the pharmaceutical
industry are modified to be vacuum
processors by using vacuum to pass
heated air through the product and
vapors of solvents being transported
out of the processor by vacuum.
The flow-through processors (Fig-
ure 6) are where the drying is ac-
complished, by passing the inert gas
through the product and use vacuum
to remove solvents. By incorporating
condenser systems and selecting
the right pumps, excellent solvent
recovery and a competitive drying
rate can be achieved. The bowl can
be swung to provide gentle turning
of product while undergoing drying
under vacuum.
Microwave vacuum drying
Microwaves are a form of electro-
magnetic radiation with frequencies
ranging from 300 GHz to 300 MHz
(Figure 7). Microwave drying refers to
the use of the dielectric heating prin-
ciple, which relies on high-frequency
electromagnetic oscillations caused
by molecular motion. The mecha-
nism for energy transfer during mi-
crowave heating is delivered directly
to materials by molecular interactions
with an electromagnetic field and the
conversion of electrical field energy
into thermal energy.
Microwave drying (Figures 9 and
10) has significant advantages com-
pared with conventional drying, be-
cause in microwave drying, heat is
generated by directly transforming
the electromagnetic energy into ki-
netic molecular energy. Thus, the
heat is generated deep within the
material to be dried. Especially in
microwave vacuum drying, this ap-
proach has significant advantages
for bulk products with poor ther-
mal conductivity. Microwave drying
is comparatively the fastest drying
method available in single-pot sys-
tems (Figure 8).
Because microwave heating is a
form of dielectric heating, the materi-
als’ dielectric properties are thus the
most important factors. The mole-
cules of such substances form elec-
tric dipoles which, when exposed to
an electric field, assume an orientation
relative to the direction of the field. It
is this orientation polarization that is
responsible for generating energy.
In the rapidly alternating electric
field generated by microwaves, polar
materials orient and reorient them-
selves according to the direction of
the field. With the rapid change in the
field at 2,450 MHz, the orientation of
the field changes 2,450 million times
per second and causes rapid re-ori-
entation of the molecules, resulting
in increased kinetic energy, friction
and heat creation.
Freeze drying
Freeze-drying, also known as lyo-
philization, is a dehydration process
typically used to preserve a perishable
material or make the material more
convenient for transport. Freeze-dry-
ing works by freezing the material and
then reducing the surrounding pres-
sure to allow the frozen water in the
material to sublimate directly from the
solid phase to the gas phase.
Freeze drying is divided into three
phases:
An initial freezing process, carried 1.
out such that the product exhibits
the desired crystalline structure.
The product is frozen below its eu-
tectic temperature (the highest al-
lowable product temperature dur-
ing the conditions of sublimation)
FIGURE 6: Inert gas can be passed through prod-
ucts to assist solvent removal in vacuum dryers
(Source: GEA Pharma systems)
FIGURE 7: Microwave radiation frequencies range from 300 GHz to 300 MHz
Gamma ray
Wavelength
1 km 1 cm 10-8 cm 10-4 cm 10-2 cm 10-8 cm 10-8 cm
12.2 cm/2.450 MHz
c = f* E = h * f
Radio Microwave
Infrared
Visible
Ultraviolet
X-ray
ChemiCal engineering www.Chemengonline.Com april 2015
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A primary drying (sublimation) 2.
phase during which the partial
pressure of the vapor surrounding
the product must be lower than
the pressure of the vapor from
the ice, at the same temperature.
The energy supplied in the form of
heat must remain lower than the
product’s eutectic temperature
A secondary drying phase aimed 3.
at eliminating the final traces of
water, where the partial pressure
of the vapor rising from the prod-
uct will be at its lowest levels
Hybrid technologies
Hybrid, or combined, drying tech-
nologies involve implementation of
different modes of heat transfer and
two or more stages of the same or
different type of dryer [2]. The effi-
ciency of drying, in terms of both en-
ergy and process duration, is an area
of intense research, and some of the
most promising drying methods in-
clude the use of electromagnetic
waves and sonic-assisted drying.
Applications
The following describes examples of
areas in which vacuum-drying tech-
nologies are employed.
Vacuum drying pharmaceuticals.
In the preparation of mouth-dis-
solving tablets, granules containing
Nimesulide, camphor, crospovidone
and lactose are prepared by a wet-
granulation technique. Camphor was
sublimed from the dried granules by
exposure to vacuum. The porous
granules were then compressed.
Sublimation of camphor from tab-
lets resulted in superior tablets as
compared with the tablets prepared
from granules that were exposed to
vacuum [3].
Drying proteins. Recently, there
has been an increased level of inter-
est in developing drying technolo-
gies as alternatives to lyophilization
in the formulation of proteins as dry
powders. Mannitol is often added
to dried protein formulations as the
bulking agent because it has the
tendency to crystallize rapidly from
aqueous solutions.
Vacuum-drying hybrid technolo-
gies are being investigated to over-
come some of the issues associated
with the process of lyophilization.
These limitations include long pro-
cessing times (typically 3–5 d), ex-
pensive setup and maintenance of
the lyophilization plants, and, most
of all, the steps inherent in freeze-
drying can lead to instabilities in the
protein structure. Due to the complex
structural properties, proteins have a
tendency to denature and undergo
irreversible aggregation during vari-
ous processing steps of drying [4].
Drying bacteria. Normally, probiotic
bacterial strains and starter cultures
are dry-frozen to preserve them until
use. That means, they are first deep-
frozen and afterward, dehydrated in
a vacuum. This procedure has two
major disadvantages in practice: First,
it consumes a very high amount of
energy; and second, some bacterial
strains do not survive temperatures
below 0°C. The Technical University
of Munich (www.tum.de) has devel-
oped low-temperature vacuum dry-
ing (LTVD) for industrial processes.
LTVD can dry unstable substances
at moderate temperatures above
zero without causing too much dam-
age to the cell structure.
Vaccines and other injectables.
Freeze drying is routinely employed
to produce pharmaceutical products
[5]. Pharmaceutical companies often
use freeze-drying to increase the
shelf life of products, such as vac-
cines and other injectables. By re-
moving water from the material and
sealing the material in a vial, the ma-
terial can be easily stored, shipped,
and later reconstituted to its original
form for injection. Another example
from the pharmaceutical industry is
the use of freeze-drying to produce
FIGURE 8: Microwave-assisted vacuum dryers can achieve faster drying times compared to vacuum
alone and inert gas with vacuum (Source: GEA Pharma Systems)
FIGURE 9: Microwave vacuum drying at production scale depends a great deal on a materials’ dielectric
properties
Minutes drying
Basic granulator and cavity unit
— Microwave
— Flowthrough
— Vacuum
Moisture content %
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Teflon
layers
Heat
balancing
unit No
1
2
3
4
5
6
Contact thermometer
Video system
(chopper) (mixer)
MW system
Vacuum and condenser system
Surface
ChemiCal engineering www.Chemengonline.Com april 2015 53
tablets or wafers, the advantage of
which is that less excipient material
is required. In addition, freeze-drying
allows a rapidly absorbed and easily
administered dosage form.
Food industry. As mentioned
above, reasons for the growing in-
terest on microwave heating can be
found in its peculiar mechanism for
energy transfer: during microwave
heating, energy is delivered directly
to materials through molecular in-
teractions with an electromagnetic
field via conversion of electrical field
energy into thermal energy [6, 7, 8].
This can allow unique benefits, such
as high efficiency of energy conver-
sion and shorter processing times,
thus leading to reductions in manu-
facturing costs due to energy saving
(microwave heating can be a tool of
process intensification). By combin-
ing vacuum with microwave as the
source of thermal energy, the prod-
uct is dried faster and at a lower
temperature, thus avoiding the dam-
age to the product.
By using pulsed-microwave vac-
uum drying, researchers have been
able to dry cranberries [9]. Research-
ers have microwave-vacuum-dried
mint leaves and compared the pro-
cess with air drying [10]. The effective
moisture diffusivity was significantly
increased when microwave drying
was applied under vacuum condi-
tions, compared with hot-air drying.
For color, the microwave-vacuum-
dried mint leaves were light green/
yellow, whereas the hot-air-dried
mint leaves were dark brown.
Plastics production. The plastics
industry uses vacuum to remove
moisture from engineered plas-
tics. If the moisture is not extracted
from pellets before melt processing,
streaks, bubbles, burning, brittle-
ness and other critical defects in the
molded or extruded part can occur.
The textile and lumber industries also
use vacuum drying.
Optimizing drying processes
To optimize dryer performance, it is
important to adjust the peripheral
equipment to match the specific
needs of the drying operation. This
equipment includes the dryers’ heat-
ing and cooling system, dust filter,
condenser and the vacuum-pump.
Condensers are used mostly to re-
cover process solvents, which are
evaporated during drying. They are
typically shell-and-tube type surface
condensers, arranged either verti-
cally or horizontally. Condensate
collection can be measured and
combined with a mass balance to
allow indirect, realtime monitoring of
product moisture during the drying
process.
Drying efficiency. To increase the
efficiency of drying processes, em-
phasis has recently been placed on
the development of new technolo-
gies that use alternative sources of
energy to enhance the heat trans-
fer between the product and heat
source (for example, microwave, ra-
diofrequency and infrared radiation).
New technologies can also intensify
the dehydration rate without increas-
ing the amount of heat supplied to
the product (for example, organic
solvents, ultrasonic waves). Some
of these technologies have already
FIGURE 10: Microwave drying can help avoid
damaging food products (Source: Bohle)
Table 3. vacuum drying applicaTion in food induSTry
Products Dryer type Comment Reference
Strawberries and
carrots
Microwave Preliminary drying studies 11
Pistachios Vacuum-infrared modeling 12
Eggplants Vacuum Drying characteristics studies 13
Probiotics Ultrasonic vacuum spray dryer Making highly viable probiotics 14
Chilis Combined microwave-vacuum
rotary drum dryer
Experimental studies 15
Cranberries Microwave-vacuum dryer Energy use and efficiency studies 9
Cranberries Microwave-vacuum dryer Evaluation of quality 9A
Fruits and veg-
etables
Microwave vacuum dryer Drying systems in agricultural
production
16
Food (general) Microwave Microwave applications in ther-
mal food processing
17
Table 2. quanTiTaTive informaTion needed To arrive aT a SuiTable dryer [20]
Dryer throughput; mode of feedstock production (batch versus continuous)•
Physical, chemical and biochemical properties of the wet feed, as well as desired product specifications; •
expected variability in feed characteristics
Upstream and downstream processing operations•
Moisture content of the feed and product•
Drying kinetics; moist solid sorption isotherms•
Quality parameters (physical, chemical, biochemical)•
Safety aspects (fire hazard and explosion hazards, toxicity)•
Value of the product•
Need for automatic control•
Toxicological properties of the product•
Turndown ratio, flexibility in capacity requirements•
Type and cost of fuel, cost of electricity•
Environmental regulations•
Space in plant•
ChemiCal engineering www.Chemengonline.Com april 2015
54
been developed and tested for use
in freeze-drying foods [18].
Selection of dryers. Determining
which vacuum dryer is best for a par-
ticular application (Table 4) depends
in part on knowing a solid material’s
moisture content. In addition, it is im-
portant to understand the material’s
particle characteristics, because
these characteristics can vary in un-
expected ways at different moisture
levels. For instance, a filter cake con-
taining 40% moisture can flow better
than one with 15% moisture. For this
reason, end-users of dryer technol-
ogy should expect dryer manufac-
turers to test solid materials before
determining which dryer type is best
capable of handling it.
Several dryer types (or drying sys-
tems) may be equally suited (techni-
cally and economically) for a given
application. A careful evaluation of
as many of the possible factors af-
fecting the selection will help reduce
the number of options. For a new ap-
plication (a new product or new pro-
cess), it is important to follow a care-
ful procedure leading to the choice
of dryers.
Vacuum operation also eases the
recovery of solvents by direct con-
densation, thus alleviating possible
serious environmental problems.
Dust recovery is simpler, so that vac-
uum dryers are especially suited for
drying toxic, dusty products, which
must not be entrained in gases. Fur-
thermore, vacuum operation lowers
the boiling point of the liquid being
removed, thus allowing the drying
of heat-sensitive solids at relatively
fast rates. Dryer selection can have a
major impact on product quality, par-
ticularly in the case of thermally sen-
sitive materials, such as foodstuffs.
Fuzzy logic. The use of a fuzzy ex-
pert system as an aid in the prelimi-
nary selection of a batch dryer can
be a helpful tool. This incorporates
a novel “multiple goal” approach in
which different facets, such as dryer
type, single versus multiple dryers,
and atmospheric versus vacuum
operation, are determined indepen-
dently [19]. n
Edited by Scott Jenkins
References:
1. Ekneet Kaur Sahnia, Bodhisattwa Chaudhuria, Contact
drying: A review of experimental and mechanistic model-
ing Approaches. International Journal of Pharmaceutics
434, pp. 334– 348. 2012.
2. Kudra, T., and Mujumdar, A.S., Advanced Drying Tech-
nologies, Marcel Dekker, Inc., NY. 2002.
3. Formulation Design and Optimization of Mouth Dissolve
Tablets of Nimesulide Using Vacuum Drying Technique
(Mukesh Gohel, et.al. AAPS PharmSciTech 2004; 5 (3)
Article 36 (http://www.aapspharmscitech.org). 2004.
4. Vikas K. Sharma and Devendra S. Kalonia. Effect of
Vacuum Drying on Protein-Mannitol Interactions: The
Physical State of Mannitol and Protein Structure in the
Dried State, AAPS PharmSciTech 2004; 5 (1) Article 10
(http://www.aapspharmscitech.org). 2004
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vacuum drying of cranberries: Part 1. Energy use and
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9A. J. Yongsawatdigul and Gunasekaran, Microwave–Vac-
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and Valérie Orsat, Microwave vacuum dryer setup and
preliminary drying studies on strawberries and carrots,
Journal of Microwave Power & Electromagnetic Energy,
41 (2). 2007.
12. Ahmad Kouchakzadeh, Kourosh Haghighi, Modeling
of vacuum-infrared drying of pistachios; Agric. Eng. Int:
CIGR Journal, Open access at http://www.cigrjournal.
org, 13 (3), September 2011.
13.Long Wu, Takahiro Orikasa, Yukiharu Ogawa, Akio
Tagawa, Vacuum drying characteristics of eggplants,
Faculty of Horticulture, Chiba University, 648, Matsudo,
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sonic vacuum spray dryer to produce highly viable dry
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Author
Dilip M. Parikh is president of the
pharmaceutical technology devel-
opment and consulting group DP-
harma Group Inc. (Ellicott City, MD
21042; Email: dpharma@gmail.
com). As an industrial pharmacist,
Parikh has more than 35 years of
experience in product develop-
ment, manufacturing, plant opera-
tions and process engineering at
various major pharmaceutical companies in Canada and
the U.S. Prior to starting DPharma Group, he held the
position of vice president of operations and technology
at Synthon Pharmaceuticals in North Carolina and vice
president and general manager at Atlantic Pharmaceuti-
cals Services in Maryland. He is the editor of “Handbook
of Pharmaceutical Granulation” 3rd ed. He has authored
several book chapters and articles on various pharma-
ceutical technologies, including quality by design, pro-
cess assessment and contract manufacturing. He has
been an invited speaker at scientific conferences world-
wide on solid-dosage technologies development and
manufacturing.
Table 4. SuggeSTed vacuum dryer SelecTion approach [21]
1 What is the batch size you want to process?
2 Consider which dryer type will drive up the temperature difference between your material and the
heating media (ΔT)
3 Determine the moisture (liquid) content of your product to be dried, as well as the nature of that
liquid (water or solvents)
4 Determine bound liquid and un-bound liquid is in the product
5 Based on the liquid, determine the vapor pressure profile with the temperature to be used
6 What is final product specification regarding percentage of liquid remaining in the product?
7 What utilities are available in the plant?
8 Consult a reputable dryer manufacture, discuss the product and determine the budget
9 Perform testing of your product in the dryer manufacturer’s facility
For more than 40 years, chemical process industries professionals- engineers, manager
and technicians, have used Chemical Engineering’s Plant Cost Index to adjust process
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This database includes all annual archives (1947 to present) and monthly data archives (1970 to present).
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subscribers can access new data as soon as it’s calculated.
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24688
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500
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Prelim.
Aug ‘06
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CE Index 513.1 510.0 467.2
Equipment 606.5 602.3 541.2
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Pipe, valves and fi ttings 734.7 731.7 620.8
Process Instruments 441.4 437.2 379.5
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Buildings 476.9 475.2 444.7
Engineering Supervision 350.7 351.9 346.9
Resources included with Chemical
Engineering’s Plant Cost Index:
• Electronic notifi cation of monthly updates
as soon as they are available
• All annual data archives (1947 to present)
• Monthly data archives (1970 to present)
• Option to download in Excel format
Get Chemical Engineering’s Plant Cost
Index to improve plant cost estimates…and
delivered in advance of the print edition!
24688 CE PCI House Ad_Full.indd 1 1/30/15 11:02 AM
For more than 40 years, chemical process industries professionals- engineers, manager
and technicians, have used Chemical Engineering’s Plant Cost Index to adjust process
plant construction costs from one period to another.
This database includes all annual archives (1947 to present) and monthly data archives (1970 to present).
Instead of waiting more than two weeks for the print or online version of Chemical Engineering to arrive,
subscribers can access new data as soon as it’s calculated.
Subscribe today at www.chemengonline.com/pci
24688
510
500
490
480
470
460
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Au g Sep Oct Nov Dec
Sep ‘06
Prelim.
Aug ‘06
Final
Sep ‘05
Final
CE Index 513.1 510.0 467.2
Equipment 606.5 602.3 541.2
Heat Exchanges and Tanks 565.1 560.9 509.2
Process Machinery 559.6 556.2 521.7
Pipe, valves and fi ttings 734.7 731.7 620.8
Process Instruments 441.4 437.2 379.5
Pumps and Compressions 788.9 788.3 756.3
Electrical equipment 418.9 414.2 374.6
Structural supports 643.7 637.7 579.3
Construction Labor 314.7 312.9 309.1
Buildings 476.9 475.2 444.7
Engineering Supervision 350.7 351.9 346.9
Resources included with Chemical
Engineering’s Plant Cost Index:
• Electronic notifi cation of monthly updates
as soon as they are available
• All annual data archives (1947 to present)
• Monthly data archives (1970 to present)
• Option to download in Excel format
Get Chemical Engineering’s Plant Cost
Index to improve plant cost estimates…and
delivered in advance of the print edition!
24688 CE PCI House Ad_Full.indd 1 1/30/15 11:02 AM
