Conti FB - Continuous Fluidised Bed Plants

Conti FB - Continuous Fluidised Bed Plants

The continuous fluidised bed technology offers ideal possibilities for a targeted modification or customised optimisation of the product properties of bulk goods. In continuous fluidised bed plants, the processes are fully automatic. They are reproducible at any time and ensure a high product quality. Unlike batch plants, the product passes through several zones in one apparatus, in which run various processes such as agglomeration, granulation and drying take place simultaneously.

The continuous fluidised bed plants are especially used where high efficiency is required by reducing the operating and production costs. Depending on the size of the plant, e.g. 200, 2.000 or more kilograms per hour pass through the entire process with one or more functionalities such as drying, agglomeration, spray granulation, coating or micro-encapsulation.

Optimum Heat and Mass Transfer

In our continuous fluidised bed system, the input product is proportioned into the apparatus on the front side e.g. via a differential proportioning weather with downstream double flap system. From below, air is supplied through an air distribution plate. This fluidisation air turns the product into an expanded fluidised bed. The forced convection in the fluidised bed leads to an optimum heat and mass transfer, which enables highly efficient drying processes. In an apparatus with zone division, the air quantity and the temperature of each section can be set individually. At the end of the apparatus, the product is continuously discharged and supplied to downstream process steps. The process air leaves through an exhaust air hood. Depending on the plant design, filters are integrated into the hood which clean the exhaust air, so that the fine dust content remains in the fluidised bed plant. If a classification of the product or a coarse-grained product is desired, the exhaust air is cleaned by means of a cyclone and optionally a downstream total separator.

Examples for the use of continuous fluidized bed technology

• Agglomeration of instant drinks such as cocoa, fruit drinks
• Spray granulation of calcium lactate
• Agglomeration of baby food
• Spray granulation of fertilisers
• Agglomeration of curry powder
• Agglomeration of instant soups and sauces
• Uniform drying of pharmaceutical wet granules or pellets
• Drying and cooling of plastic granulate
• Spray granulation of vitamin suspensions
• Agglomeration of special flours
• Spray granulation of ceramic slurry
• Continuous layering processes
• Encapsulation of flavourings
• Gentle drying/spray granulation of fermentation products

Industry Expertise

Demanding sectors such as the food, the fine chemical, the chemical and the biotechnological industries appreciate the continuous fluidised bed technology for its efficient operation. Even in the highly regulated pharmaceutical industry, the continuous process is becoming increasingly important as it is meanwhile exactly reproducible and can be automated. The agglomeration or spray granulation in continuous top and bottom-spray fluidised bed processes have gained acceptance for example in the production of instant products or compressible granulate.

Continuous fluidised bed plants of NEUHAUS NEOTEC offer maximum flexibility in size, equipment and functionality. Thanks to the zone division, many parameters of the continuous NEUHAUS NEOTEC plants can be adjusted individually and the equipment can also be used for batch-wise processing if required.

Our Range of Services

• Advice on technical applications
• Product and process development
• Scale-up
• Plant design
• Manufacturing, assembly
• Qualification, commissioning
• Service, Training