Enhanced fluidized bed drying of potash powders

钾肥为农业中的植物生长提供了一种必需的化合物钾。干燥是钾碱生产中的关键步骤之一，流化床由于操作简单、成本低和占地面积小等优点而被用于钾碱工业中的干燥过程。在干燥过程中，与空气一起燃烧的天然气用于提供热流化气体。由于知识有限和文献中数据的缺乏，钾盐工业中流化床干燥器的当前操作更像是一门艺术而不是一门科学。因此，通常使用过量的热气体来确保最终产品质量。需要更好地理解和优化流化床干燥器的当前操作，以减少这种能源密集型工艺的环境足迹。与Mosaic合作，拟议的研究旨在促进对钾盐粉流化床干燥的理解，并为参与行业提供有关如何有效操作流化床和降低与干燥过程相关的运营成本的新知识。成功实施该项目后，至少有两名博士生和4名本科生研究助理（USRA）将接受培训，并具备为参与该项目的钾肥行业或更广泛的其他行业（如石化、食品、制药和制药）工作所需的必要技能和知识。在制药工业中，流化床已被广泛使用。

Potash fertilizers provide one essential compound, potassium, for plant growth in agriculture. Drying is one key step in potash production, and fluidized beds have been used for drying processes in the potash industry owing to advantages such as ease of operation, low cost, and a small footprint. In the drying process, natural gas burned together with air is used to provide the hot fluidizing gas. The current operation of fluidized bed dryers in the potash industry is more of an art than a science due to limited knowledge and the scarcity of data in the literature. As a result, an excess amount of hot gas is usually used to ensure the final product quality. Improved understanding and optimization of the current operation of fluidized bed dryers is required to reduce the environmental footprint of this energy-intensive process. In collaboration with Mosaic, the proposed research aims to advance understanding of fluidized bed drying of potash powders and provide new knowledge to the participating industry with respect to how to efficiently operate fluidized beds and reduce operating costs associated with the drying process. The outcomes will be reduced environmental impact and enhanced economic competitiveness of the Canadian potash industry.After successful execution of the proposed project, at least two PhD students and 4 undergraduate research assistants (USRAs) will be trained and equipped with necessary skills and knowledge required to work for the participating potash industry or more broadly other industries such as petrochemical, food, pharmaceutical industries where fluidized beds have been intensively used.