The spray dryer has a long history and is therefore a classical choice for many drying processes. However, there are also applications where another type of dryer is more suitable than a spray dryer – a ring dryer for example, or a flash mill dryer such as Hosokawa Micron's DMR.
Staying competitive in producing a dry product means also saving energy. Not surprisingly the best way to save energy cost is to minimize the amount of water to be evaporated. For this there are several possibilities by using mechanical dewatering before thermal drying, like for example centrifuging or filter pressing. Depending on many factors like particle size, particle size distribution, particle shape and partial solubility the rest moisture and physical appearance after dewatering can vary considerably.
The most common physical appearance after mechanical dewatering varies between high viscous slurry and (crumbly) filter cake. When a flash dryer is the most suitable dryer for your application, a further selection can be made for the type of flash dryer, like spray dryer, ring dryer or a DMR flash mill dryer.