Single-Droplet Experimentation on Spray Drying: Evaporation of a Sessile Droplet

The basis for the development of a platform for high-throughput experimentation on spray drying is formed. To mimic the drying of single droplets during spray drying, individual droplets are dispensed and dried on a flat surface. A dispensing process is used that is able to dispense viscous liquids and generates small droplets (dp¿>¿150¿µm). The dispensed droplet size for varying liquids could be accurately described with a predictive model based on Bernoulli's law. The drying of droplets is monitored with a camera and modeled with mass balance equations. Finally, a Sherwood correlation is derived to describe the mass transfer between the sessile droplet and the drying air