There is provided an apparatus for use in drying a sample of geological material having a substantial moisture content. In one aspect, the apparatus comprises a means for providing a flow of heated fluid, and a means for managing the thermal state of the flow of heated fluid. The means for managing the thermal state of the flow of heated fluid is arranged operable with the means for providing a flow of heated fluid so that exposure of the sample to the flow of heated fluid facilitates a reduction of the moisture content of a portion of the sample while substantially preserving one or more chemical and/or physical properties of the portion.

The application relates to a process for drying a composition comprising an alkali metal salt of a compound of general formula (I) R.sup.1R.sup.2NCHR.sup.3COOM or formula (II) R.sup.1R.sup.2NCHR.sup.3CHR.sup.3COOM, in particular N,N-dimethyl glycinate salt, and the use thereof. In the process, the composition, in particular the N,N-di methyl glycinate salt, is dried by feeding the composition into a fluidized bed dryer and subjecting the composition to a heat treatment by contacting the composition in the fluidized bed dryer with a drying gas stream, and during the heat treatment a solution or dispersion of the composition is sprayed onto at least a portion of the composition present in the fluidized bed dryer, or alternatively or in addition the composition, in particular N,N-dimethyl glycinate salt, is fed into a fluidized bed dryer and subjected to heat treatment in the fluidized bed dryer by contacting the composition with a drying gas stream, and the temperature of the composition in the fluidized bed during the heat treatment does not exceed 50 C.

Systems and methods of recovering solid waste (solid waste brine) from produced water in an oil sands system for the production of oil and other hydrocarbons utilizing a fluidized bed spray granulator system to provide evaporative drying.

Systems and methods of recovering solid waste (solid waste brine) from produced water in an oil sands system for the production of oil and other hydrocarbons utilizing a fluidized bed spray granulator system to provide evaporative drying.

The invention provides an efficient equipment that can be easily implemented to dry materials in a continuous manufacturing line of pharmaceutical products without the need of external air or HEPA exhaust filter cartridges. A continuous granulo-dryer for the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products via wet granulation includes a recirculation system that allows to continuously recirculate the air used to dry the materials back into the granulo-dryer. Control systems and sensors are provided to promote a high percentage (up to 98%) of product monitored, an efficient heat and mass transfer between the air and the product avoiding the segregation of the materials and preserving the homogeneity of the Active Principal Ingredient (API).

To improve operating efficiency of a dry grinding machine, the dry grinding machine includes a rotating shaft; a first blade that is rotationally driven by the rotating shaft; a grinding chamber that houses the first blade; a feed-in section that feeds material to be processed, which is transported by hot wind into the grinding chamber from a direction intersecting the rotating shaft; and a discharging section that is arranged on a side of the first blade opposite the feed-in section, in an axial direction of the rotating shaft, and discharges from the grinding chamber, along with the hot wind, the material to be processed that has been ground by the first blade while being dried by the hot wind fed in from the feed-in section.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for drying non-fried instant noodles for obtaining non-fried noodles that are easily loosened without sticking of noodle strings and excellent in restorability. The present invention includes, as a step of drying non-fried instant noodles, a step of putting gelatinized noodle strings into a drying retainer, and blowing a high-speed air flow from above the retainer toward a noodle mass of the noodle strings to perform drying. In the drying step, the retainer employed has a shape such that a transition portion from a bottom surface to a side surface (side wall portion) is formed to be a curved surface with a radius of curvature of 5 to 15 mm, and preferably the high-speed air flow is blown at a wind speed of 50 m/s or higher in terms of the speed to which the noodle strings are exposed.

A hydrocarbon burner for an enclosed environment includes a heat exchanger having a first heat exchanger inlet connected to an inlet of the hydrocarbon burner and a first heat exchanger outlet connected to a heater, and a second heat exchanger inlet connected to a reactor outlet and a second heat exchanger outlet connected to an outlet of the hydrocarbon burner. A reactor includes a reactor inlet, the reactor outlet, and a catalyst mixture disposed in a reactor bed between the reactor inlet and the reactor outlet. The heater connects the first heat exchanger outlet to the reactor inlet. The reactor is a low temperature reactor configured to convert at least one hydrocarbon to at least one of H2O and CO2.

A system and method for staged drying of temperature sensitive materials, the method comprising the following steps. Heated air is blown into a duct and solids are introduced into the duct at an elevated position along a vertical portion of the duct. The heated air and solids mixture is then transported along the duct for a desired retention time with adequate initial flash heating of the solids and then a gradual cool down of the solids. The solids are at an elevated temperature beyond the ambient dewpoint with evaporative cooling taking place. The solids and air mixture is then transported in the duct to a cyclone, where the solids are removed from the air. The air is exhausted out of the cyclone by an exhaust duct, and the solids are collected from the cyclone in a container.

A process for recovering solid waste from produced water in an oil sands system utilizing a fluidized bed, comprising: transferring an amount of produced water into a solution tank, producing an enriched salt solution in the solution tank, transferring the enriched salt solution using at least one spray nozzle into a fluidized bed of a fluidized bed spray granulator, heating the fluidized bed with a gas, growing granules within the fluidized bed through evaporative drying of salt from the enriched salt solution, extracting the granules from the fluidized bed spray granulator to produce a granulator product, separating at least a portion of the granulator product into at least two fractions, and removing at least a portion of at least one of the at least two fractions from the system as solid waste brine product.