What are the application limitations of Chinese medicine extract spray dryer

Chinese medicine extract spray dryer does have some limitations in the application, these limitations mainly stem from the characteristics of the material and the technical requirements of the drying process. The following is a detailed analysis of these application limitations:

Sticky wall problem:
Chinese medicine extract often has high concentration and high viscosity, which makes it easy to stick wall phenomenon in the spray drying process. Sticky walls not only affect the drying efficiency, but also may lead to product quality degradation.
The sticky wall problem is usually related to the inlet air temperature of spray drying. Although the sticky wall phenomenon can be eliminated by adding excipients to increase the softening point of the extract, this may affect the purity of the product.

Product Recovery:
Product recovery in spray dryers is somewhat lower compared to other drying techniques. This is mainly due to the fact that in the drying process, part of the material may be discharged with the exhaust gas, resulting in a decrease in the recovery rate.
The lower recovery rate will not only affect the production cost, but also may affect the yield and quality of the product.

Material adaptability:
Not all types of Chinese medicine extracts are suitable for drying with spray dryer. Some special properties of the extract may not be able to be uniformly dispersed into fine droplets, or may not be able to maintain a stable nature during the drying process.
Therefore, before choosing to use a spray dryer, the nature of the material needs to be fully evaluated and tested.

Equipment Maintenance:
Spray dryers are relatively expensive to maintain. Due to the presence of several precision parts inside the equipment, such as nozzles, filters, etc., these parts need to be cleaned and replaced on a regular basis.
Improper maintenance of the equipment may result in clogged nozzles, filter failure and other problems, which in turn affects drying efficiency and product quality.

Operation requirements:
The operation of the spray dryer requires a certain level of skill and experience. The operator needs to be familiar with the operation principle and operation steps of the equipment, and be able to adjust and optimize according to the nature of the material and production demand.
If the operator lacks experience or skills, it may lead to equipment failure or product quality problems.

To summarize, there are limitations in the application of traditional Chinese medicine extract spray dryer in terms of sticking wall problems, product recovery, material adaptability, equipment maintenance and operation requirements. In order to overcome these limitations, it is necessary to continuously optimize the drying process, strengthen equipment maintenance and management, improve the skill level of operators, and continuously explore new drying technologies and methods in practical applications.