Residence times of two - and three - component mixtures in cascading rotary dryers

ABSTRACT The residence times of the components of two- and three-component mixtures of fine (195 µm), coarse (1315 µm) and very coarse (5040 µm) sands were measured in a pilot-scale cascading rotary dryer. The effects of mixture composition and air velocity (0–5.4 m s−1) were determined. With no air flowing through the drum, the residence times of the individual components were almost the same as that of the overall mixture. Increasing the gas velocity caused a large decrease in residence time. In contrast, particle size had very little effect. The spread of residence times increased with air velocity, peaking between 2 and 4 m s−1; composition had very little effect on the spread. The residence time of the overall mixture could be calculated using the particle transport model of Matchett and Baker if both the modified drag coefficient Φd and the particle Reynolds number Re p were based on the superficial air velocity and the mass-average particle diameter.