A method for emptying a device for producing granules or extrudates. The device includes a container having an inlet for the material to be treated, an inlet for a liquid, a stirring device, an outlet for said intermediate product, and an emptying pipe having an inlet for the intermediate product and an outlet for the granules or extrudate as well as a conveying device conveying the intermediate product from the inlet of the emptying pipe in the direction of the outlet of the emptying pipe. The method includes the steps of: producing the intermediate product from the material to be treated and the liquid in the container; moving the emptying pipe from the closed position with respect to the container into an open position with respect to the container; and conveying the intermediate product from the container and via the conveying devices.

A method and to a device for drying a powdered and/or granular material for additive manufacturing, in particular for drying a metal powder or a metal powder blend. The material to be dried is contained in an evacuable volume, in particular in a vacuum conveyor. The evacuable volume is fluidically connected to a vacuum pump arrangement. The vacuum pump arrangement is fluidically connected on the inlet side to the evacuable volume and on the outlet side to the surroundings of the evacuable volume. The vacuum pump arrangement on the outlet side comprises a sensor for recording the moisture in the fluid pumped out of the evacuable volume, with the sensor being used to record the residual moisture in the powdered and/or granular material as a function of the moisture in the fluid that is pumped out.

The invention relates to a method for drying moist products, in particular moist granules for producing pharmaceutical products through which a fluid medium flows in a reactor chamber of a bulk goods dryer and which are heated and placed on a fluid medium-permeable inflow base. The inflow base is vibrated via a vibrational drive in order to convey the products from a product inlet to a product outlet, and the fluid medium is supplied to separate chambers arranged upstream of an outlet and to the outlet after flowing through the inflow base and the product. One of the at least two separate chambers is preselectably closed off from the outlet by actuating a closing element such that after the closing element has been actuated, the supply of the fluid medium to the outlet is carried out via a chamber which is not closed by another closing element, and a fluid medium filter element paired with the closed chamber is cleaned via a pulse emitter after the closing element of said chamber is actuated in the closing direction while the fluid medium is continuously supplied to a non-closed chamber.

A flame protection apparatus for installation in a dryer drum includes a plurality of sheet metal lamellae that form a ring arrangement about a longitudinal axis. Each sheet metal lamella includes a concave inner contour in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. On an outer side facing away from the inner contour, an installation member is configured for installing the sheet metal lamella on the dryer drum.

An inclined belt conveyor capable of mixing particulate material, such as agricultural seed or fertilizer. Inserting a plurality of mixing baffles into the stream of the particulate material induces a backflow of the particulate material. In the case of wet, freshly treated plant seed, this backflow causes a mixing, polishing, and drying of the plant seed. The mixing distributes the seed treatment into an even coat by rubbing the individual seeds of the seed flow stream together. The inclined belt conveyor may also be used to blend multiple varieties or types of particulate material. The mixing baffles are oriented to induce backflow and sideways lateral movement and may incorporate a passage to allow increase particulate material flow rate. The mixing baffles can selectively deploy between an angle of 20 degrees to 70 degrees to enable the mixing inclined belt conveyor to have a transfer-speed-maximizing mode and a mixing mode.

A process for treating polymer granular material (2) comprising the steps of heating and drying the polymer granular material in a drying hopper (10) by means of a drying gas, discharging a portion of the polymer granular material into an extruder (101), inside which the polymer granular material is brought to a molten or semi-molten state and transported along the extruder by a rotating screw (104) in order to be injected into a mould (102) or caused to pass through an extrusion head. The process provides for measuring a control parameter which is correlated with the rotation of the screw inside the extruder and regulating the flow rate of the drying gas on the basis of the control parameter.

A mobile steel grit dryer used to dry steel grit may be configured with a number of different functions and features to assist a contractor in performing steel or other structure maintenance when using steel grit in resurfacing the structure. The steel grit dryer may be configured with a heat process vacuum bypass so that an off-board vacuum, such as a vacuum on a grit recycling system, may be utilized as opposed to having an onboard vacuum. The dryer may include multiple modes so that an operator may use different modes for different environmental conditions. An exoframe may provide for better durability when being transported to different jobsites. A variety of automation and safety features may also be provided to simplify and improve safety for operators.

In order to enable dehydration of a slurry of expanded particles with a simple structure, a dehydration device includes: a transporting tube configured to transport a liquid mixture of expanded particles, the transporting tube having a curved part in which the transporting tube is curved, and a mesh member provided to the curved part of the transporting tube. The mesh member is configured to separate the expanded particles and a liquid component in the liquid mixture from each other.

A freeze drying vessel (302) having a freeze drying chamber (304) that includes sloped horizontal shelves (352) that receive frozen particles (282). Each shelf is sloped relative to a horizontal axis (390) and arranged such that a downward slope between successive shelves alternates between first (392) and second (394) directions. At least one connecting member (374, 376, 378, 380, 382, 384, 386, 386, 388) is attached between pairs of shelves. At least one connecting member is attached to an associated vibration element (396, 398, 400, 402) located outside the drying chamber. Each vibration element vibrates a pair of shelves to cause the frozen particles to advance relative to an associated shelf and drop downward from shelf to shelf wherein the shelves heat the frozen particles to promote sublimation to form freeze dried product (284).

A continuous feed lyophilizer drying chamber that has an overall internal volume, a primly drying stage portion having a primary drying stage internal volume, a secondary drying stage portion having an internal volume, a frozen formulation feed inlet that provides frozen formulation droplets into the internal volume of the primary drying stage of the drying chamber and a dried particle outlet proximate an end of the continuous feed lyophilizer drying chamber configured to provide dried formulation droplet particles. The primary drying stage typically makes up from about 65-75% of the overall internal volume of the drying chamber and the secondary drying stage makes up from 25 to 35% of the overall internal volume of the drying chamber. The drying chamber dries frozen formulation droplets received into the primary drying stage internal volume via the frozen formulation feed inlet.