I sometimes need to dry sludges or thick, sticky slurries. The way this is typically done in highly equipped labs is to use a spray dryer which liquifies the slurry, heats it up, then sprays it at high pressure into a open chamber, and finally collects it in a venturi. Obviously such machines are incredibly expensive and not really where I want to go.
So what are my options? I have tried vacuum chambers, but the problem is that the steam tends to be intrapped in the material so it puffs up like an angel food cake and does not get evacuated. Also, heating is kind of problematical because I am not sure about the wisdom of putting my vacuum chamber on top of a heater. The lid of the vacuum chamber is a thick plastic and the body is aluminum, so if I heat the chamber, it could potentially damage the lid.
I guess one idea would be to vacuum it, then take it out of the chamber, then shear it, then vacuum it again, then shear it again, etc. This seems kind of tedious.
Note that I typically use a GAST type vacuum pump which produces only a moderate vacuum. One option is that I could use a high power, two-stage oil pump which can generate a significantly stronger vacuum. Will this give me much better drying than the GAST, or not significant improvement?
