Converting moist solids into dry granules

A NEW granulising-drying system from Kason is designed to convert non-flowing moist solids discharged from cartridge and vacuum filters, filter presses, mixers and other equipment, into dry, uniform, free-flowing granules ready for storage, shipping, packaging or secondary processing.

First, a Centri-Sifter centrifugal screener is used to break up lumps and drive non-flowing moist solid material through apertures in a horizontal cylinder to produce moist pellets at high output rates. The unit can handle smooth, lumpy, sticky and other difficult-to-handle materials, and is said to be more productive, compact and economical than screw-type extruders.

The resulting pellets are discharged into a Kason spheroidiser unit which produces uniform spherical particles. The size, uniformity and density of the finished product can be adjusted, and binder powder may be applied ahead of the unit or via internal spray nozzles.

These moist spherical particles are then conveyed into a circular vibratory fluid-bed dryer which operates on a first-in/first-out basis.

Once dry, the particles are discharged into a Vibroscreen vibratory screener featuring an upper deck to remove any oversize particles and a lower deck to remove undersize (dust) for reprocessing, while the uniformly sized dry granules are discharged on a batch or continuous basis.

Kason say the equipment is available as individual components or as a complete, automated and integrated system tailored to suit small-to-large-scale granulising applications in a range of industries.

Kason Corp. Europe, Block 4, Units 12 & 13, Park Business Village, Park Hall Road, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs ST3 5XA; tel: (01782) 597540.