Industrial drying systems

We know what makes

outstanding polymers

GEA Process Engineering

GEA Niro
GEA Niro
 Meeting
precise
needs

Benefits include: No one knows more about the role of industrial drying and engineering of high-perfor-
mance products than GEA Niro. With data gathered from more than 70 years of experi-
• Tailor-made plants ence, a reference list of some 10,000 plants and more than 500 polymer plants installed
since 1949, GEA Niro is the world’s largest and most experienced supplier of polymer
• Fully scalable
drying solutions. We’re equipped to engineer the properties you want into your products
• Energy efficient
– and the processes needed to produce them. We call it Powder Engineering.
• Limitation of VOC
A world of drying options
GEA Niro specialises in the design of plants for processing liquid, particulate and solid
materials, and the drying of polymers is an area of special expertise. We supply a full
range of dryers, including large-capacity units for high-volume operations. This compre-
hensive product range includes both spray and fluid bed drying systems tailored to
meet your exact product specifications.

If you need to dry wet powders where the particles have already been formed (such as
s-PVC, c-PVC, ABS, MBS, HDPE, PP, PAN, c-PE, POM and PVA), GEA Niro fluid bed dryers,
CONTACT FLUIDIZER™ and flash dryers are ideal. For emulsions and solutions in
which the particles are formed during the drying process (such as e-PVC, EVA, UF, MF,
PF, PMMA, PVAc, PVP and Acrylic resins), GEA Niro spray dryers are the solution.
Spray drying is often followed by fluid bed post-drying and/or cooling. Spray congealing
is applied for low melting polymers like paraformaldehyde and polyethylene wax. Both
open- and closed-cycle solutions are available for evaporation of water or organic solvents.

Knowledge through experience

Many of the world’s leading manufacturers are GEA Niro customers. Our experience
includes some of the world’s largest projects within the petrochemical industry, projects
that meet the most stringent regulatory and environmental standards. Above all, GEA Niro
is a process engineering company – each project begins with our deep understanding of
chemical engineering and process technology. We start with our customer’s product and

Applications overview : ABS EVA HDPE cPAN c-PE PMMA

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 The GEA Niro CONTACT
FLUIDIZER™ fluid bed utilizes
heating panels submerged in the
fluidized product layer, which
provides energy savings of
10-25% depending on product
type and grade.

design the optimum drying technology needed. We work in teams of cross-disciplinary

experts, ranging from the world’s leading product engineers to professional project
managers and construction experts. All of which gives GEA Niro an unmatched ability
to offer customised solutions to your specific polymer drying requirements.

Our test facility is unique in the industry – a staff of more than 35 specialists supports
our customers before and after projects. This enables us to help you maximise competi-
tiveness through superior product quality. GEA Niro maintains a global presence and
draws on experience gained in countries worldwide. Yet wherever you deal with us you’ll
find a staff of local professionals, which means that we speak your language – both Our patented FLEX PLATE™ can
be designed with different patterns
technically and literally.
and shapes – all with sufficient
strength to protect against vibra-
Energy savings tions during operation
Energy costs are rapidly becoming an increasingly large percentage of every manufac-
turing budget – polymer production is no exception. GEA Niro can help minimise your
production costs through efficient energy utilisation. Contact heating (heating panels)
can be incorporated in fluid beds to great advantage. We employ efficient heat recovery
for all drying systems. Partial recirculation of the drying medium can further reduce
energy consumption for spray and flash dryers.

Special requirements
Some polymers are standardised, others are special, virtually one-of-a-kind products.
Depending on the specifications of your product, a specialised solution may be appro-
priate. We assist in powder formulation and process verification through laboratory and
pilot plant testing, unmatched scale-up experience and global project execution – on time
and according to your specifications. We also help secure maximum plant utilisation
and possible plant modification to meet new market requirements. It’s all part of the
GEA Niro solution.

The NOZZLE TOWER™ spray

dryer enables production of
extra-fine grade e-PVC powder.

POM PVAc PVA c-PVC e-PVC s-PVC PVP UF MF PF

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 Delivering
proven processes
and technology

Product drying curve

Volatile content Powder temperature
GEA Niro offers the ideal combination of proven components and customised configu-
rations. Our state-of-the-art equipment and industry-leading product standards increase
manufacturing availability and reduce downtime. GEA Niro dryers are designed for
continuous, round-the-clock operation, with scheduled shutdowns for cleaning and
grade changes. Automatic Cleaning-In-Place (CIP) systems can be incorporated in all
dryers when required. Moreover, scale-up of polymer dryers presents no problems.
Both present day and expected future process stream rates can be handled in single
dryer units. Current dry product rates already exceed 55 tonnes an hour for fluid bed
Time
dryers, and 6 tonnes an hour for spray dryers.

Fluid Bed: Fluid Bed:

Open system (CONTACT FLUIDIZER™) Closed cycle (CONTACT FLUIDIZER™)
Application: Application:
ABS, MBS, PAN, s-PVC, c-PVC, c-PE, *PTA HDPE, POM, *CTA
Benefits: Benefits:
• Able to handle powdery water wet feeds • Able to handle polymers wetted with organic solvents
• Feed disintegrator for light cohesive feedstock • No fire or explosion risk due to the use of inert (nitrogen) gas
• Low specific energy consumption • Efficient removal of residual monomer and solvent in the
• Average particle size range 50-800 µm plug flow section
• Long product residence time, gentle drying • Low total circulating gas flow due to the double pass of
• Optimised drying profile due to combination of back-mix drying gas
and plug flow sections • Low specific energy consumption
• Low specific air flow due to the use of heating panels • Average particle size range 50-800 µm
• Long product residence time, gentle drying
*Monomer for PET • Optimised drying profile due to combination of back-mix
and plug flow sections

*Monomer for PET

Feed Feed

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Product Product

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 Flash Dryer: Spray Dryer:
Open and closed cycle with fluid bed Open and closed cycle with nozzle atomization
(NOZZLE TOWER™)
Application:
ABS, MBS, PAN, s-PVC Application:
PMMA, e-PVC, PVP
Benefits:
• Surface volatiles evaporated rapidly and with short Benefits:
residence time • Liquid feeds
• Final drying at lower temperature and longer residence time • Multiple atomizer assembly, two-fluid nozzles or pressure
• Average particle size range 50-800 µm nozzles
• Low product hold-up • Average particle size range 15-250 µm
• Two-stage drying, co-current + cross-current flow modes • Co-current flow mode
• Rapid and gentle drying
• Powder collected by bag filter

Feed

Feed

Product Product Product

Spray Dryer/Congealer: Spray Dryer:

Open and closed cycle with rotary and nozzle atomization Open system with rotary atomizer for sticky polymers
Application: Application:
Drying: PMMA, e-PVC, PVP PVAc, EVA, UF, PF, MF
Congealing: PE Wax, Paraformaldehyde
Benefits:
Benefits: • Liquid feeds
• Liquid feeds • Average particle size range 30-125 µm
• Single atomizer unit • Co-current flow mode
• Average particle size range 30-125 μm • Deposits inside drying chamber minimized by combination
• Co-current flow mode of an air broom and the patented JET SWEEP™ system
• Rapid and gentle drying • Special features for adding of flow-aids available
• Powder collected by bag filter • Powder collected by bag filter

Feed Feed

Product

Product Product
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 Committed
to a brighter
future

Lasting advantages: We work constantly to develop new capabilities that contribute to the efficiency and
the profitability of polymer production. GEA Niro’s test facilities and accompanying
• Maximum uptime analytical laboratories allow you to establish the feasibility of using GEA Niro equipment,
optimise process conditions and provide samples for market analysis. We offer the
• Prevent dust explosions
industry’s most advanced analytical capabilities, including GEA Niro’s proprietary dynamic
• Meet VOC regulations
flow modelling system DRYNETICS™, which can take into account drying kinetics
• Receive global support
measured using the GEA Niro DRYING KINETICS ANALYZER™. GEA Niro’s analytical
capabilities enable you to move smoothly from development to profitable production
by quickly and accurately establishing the drying parameters for your product.

Environmentally sound
GEA Niro can also help you address two of the industry’s most pressing challenges:
safety and environmental compliance. We have an established record of assisting manu-
facturers meet increasingly demanding environmental regulations in markets world-
wide – not least by optimising the energy consumption of the drying process. From
heat recovery technologies to meeting Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emissions
standards, GEA Niro can provide answers.

In particular, stripping of VOCs from dry polymers is a growing requirement. It could

well become a general processing standard, due to concern about the release of VOCs
during handling, storage and fabrication. GEA Niro dryers can include both integrated
and separate stripping stages. Stripping of VOCs is a special form of heat treatment/drying
often performed in specially designed Stripper Fluid Beds.

Highly reliable rotary atom-

izers with special features
are used for drying of water
dispersible polymers.

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Detailed risk and safety studies are carried out in An Original GEA Niro Spare Part
collaboration with our customers and recommen- is more than just another replace-
dations are made for the ideal safety concept. ment. It is your guarantee of
perfect compatibility, reliability,
optimal operation, and maximum
plant longevity.
Safety first
All GEA Niro plants are designed to fulfil the most demanding safety requirements. In
fact, we not only strictly follow all EU regulations, but are also in the forefront of estab-
lishing European safety standards. We examine your product and its properties, analyse
the risks according to well-established safety procedures and recommend the safety
concept that is best suited to your situation.

Dust explosion is a potential risk when drying some products, such as ABS and PVAc.
When needed, we provide additional safety protection by installing explosion-relief or
suppression systems, in combination with automatic fire extinguishing systems.
Alternatively, a low-oxygen plant with nitrogen as the drying gas in a closed loop may
be the best solution. Another option is the self-inertized plant, where a special direct-
fired heater ensures sufficiently low oxygen content.

After sales support

GEA Niro’s global project management skills take your project smoothly all the way to
completion – coordinated and documented for you by an organisation that implements
hundreds of drying projects each year. With GEA Niro, you also benefit from a compre-
hensive after-sales programme that ensures your return on investment is optimised
throughout the lifetime of the plant.

Maximum uptime is the focus of our spare parts programme. We combine a ready stock
supply and customized service programme with a global network of experienced GEA
Niro service engineers. The polymer industry is dynamic, with market demands and
conditions changing over time. Whether you need a new investment, process modifica-
tion or optimisation or even a complete plant retrofit – GEA Niro can help.

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Experience
GEA Niro has contracted and
installed more than 10,000
plants worldwide
GEA Niro is a world leader in industrial drying, with spray drying,
spray cooling/congealing, flash drying, freeze drying, granulation and
fluid bed processing as core technologies. Having installed more than
10,000 plants around the globe, GEA Niro is known for delivering
solutions that meet customers’ exact requirements. The GEA Niro
companies are part of GEA Process Engineering.

Subject to modifcations. Printed in Denmark.

© GEA Niro. All rights reserved.
BNA 919/GB 1010 CBC

GEA Process Engineering

GEA Niro
Gladsaxevej 305 · PO Box 45 · DK-2860 Soeborg · Denmark
Tel +45 39 54 54 54 Fax +45 39 54 58 00
E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.niro.com