The development of the Condensing-dryer was started in 2018 aiming for an economically viable method to dry ‘wet biomass’. This biomass, with moisture contents of up to 92%, is highly perishable and typically found in agricultural waste streams. This material can currently only be converted into compost. If properly dried, the materials can be stored for long periods of time without degradation and are also easier to convert into biobased products.
Development of the Condensing-dryer has since 2018 seen a gradual upscaling of both the engineering team and prototypes involved. This has led to a containerized (20ft) system, constructed and tested at sites of a paper mill (drying paper reject) and a biomass plant (drying various kinds of biomass) in the province of Gelderland.
After acquiring funding from Brabant Start-up Fund in May 2022, the activities around the Condensing Dryer have been moved into Multiphase Dryers BV. Multiphase Dryers focusses on applications in F&B by-products by developing food-grade drying systems. The Condensing Dryer concept however remains widely applicable, so other applications are definately not excluded.
In 2024 two demonstrator models will be built, one of which is suitable for continuous drying, the other for batch-wise drying. End of 2024/beginning 2025 a commercial model capable of drying up to 70-100 ltrs/hr will be launched. In the years following, systems with 10-30 times this drying capacity will be developed. The modular design eases the upscaling dramatically.