There are three main kinds of freeze dryers: rotary, manifold and tray freeze dryers. Rotary freeze dryers are generally used when working with liquids. Small amounts of material are frozen by manifold dryers, and tray freeze dryers produce the driest product ready for long-term storage. Read More…
Leading Manufacturers
Carrier Vibrating Equipment, Inc.
Louisville, KY | 502-969-3171Carrier is a manufacturer of high quality dryers in addition to many other related products, including coolers, screens, air knife separators, spiral elevators, feeders & conveyors.

Dürr Systems, Inc.
De Pere, WI | 920-336-5715Dürr is a leading global supplier of environmental solutions and engineered products tailored to meet customers' industrial process requirements. We offer a complete portfolio of air pollution control technologies and drying and curing systems, including industrial dryers and ovens for roll-to-roll processes, web forming processes and conveyor handling of webs, as well as specialized coating lines for lithium-ion battery electrode coating.

Industrial Kiln & Dryer Group
Louisville, KY | 877-316-6140We are a company dedicated to quality design, supply, installation and repair and maintenance of industrial processing equipment. Our team has the knowledge and experience to get, and keep, your units running smoothly. Services include field services, inspections, and assessments. Kiln and dryer parts range from burners to gears to bearings. We are here to serve your present needs, as well as your future requirements.

Excel Dryer, Inc.
E Longmeadow, MA | 888-994-1014For over 50 years, Excel Dryer has been manufacturing the finest American made hand dryers featuring the XLERATOR® Hand Dryer. Excel Dryer revolutionized the industry by inventing the patented XLERATOR® technology that created the high-speed, energy-efficient hand dryer category and set a new standard for performance, reliability and customer satisfaction. Excel Dryer’s expanded, enhanced product line — featuring XLERATOR, XLERATOReco® and ThinAir® hand dryers — come fully equipped with adjustable speed, sound and heat controls, multi-voltage options and an externally visible service LED. With the most options and accessories in the industry, including a HEPA filtration system and custom covers, you can design the best hand drying solution for any restroom environment. Excel Dryer prides itself on offering the ultimate customer service and making dependable products by employees committed to quality and dependability. For more information, visit exceldryer.com.

The CMM Group
De Pere, WI | 920-336-9800The CMM Group provides custom-designed industrial dryers and ovens for a wide range of applications in single or multi-zone configurations. The CMM Group designs and builds conveyorized curing, baking and drying ovens for automated production of small-to-medium sized products. Conveyorized roll support web dryers are available in horizontal or vertical tower design and can handle thin film to heavy gauge substrates, narrow to wide, slow or fast speeds.

Van Air Systems
Lake City, PA | 800-840-9906Van Air, with 60+ years of experience, is a manufacturer of absorbent desiccant air dryers and gas dryers, filters and drain valves. We also supply the desiccant materials. If our standard gas dryers and air dryers won’t suite your application, we make custom dryers. Check out our industrial dryers.

Freeze dryers are used by the pharmaceutical industry for increasing the shelf life of vaccines, for preserving certain strains of bacteria and for ease of storing and shipping certain products.
Freeze drying removes water and bulk while maintaining flavors and nutritional content and is subsequently used with food and beverages like instant coffee, fruit and herbs. Freeze drying is also useful in chemistry and biotechnology because it can make products easier to dissolve in water and remove impurities. Some museums or conservation agencies use freeze dryers to dry and preserve artifacts, manuscripts and animal or floral specimens.
The three kinds of freeze dryers - rotary, manifold and tray - vary in size and material. The industrial machines are typically tray freeze dryers and can be hundreds of feet long, either vertically or horizontally oriented. Stainless steel is most commonly used because it is sanitary and can be temperature controlled very effectively.
Products are held on trays on shelves in large boxes or carried on a conveyor belt if the dryer is continous. Freeze drying is a three step process. During the initial freezing, the material inside the dryer is cooled below its triple point, which is the lowest temperature at which the solid and liquid phases of the material can exist at the same time.
The temperature is usually between -50° and -80°C, and this is the most important step of the process. After the material is frozen it enters the primary drying phase. The pressure is lowered and enough heat is provided that sublimation occurs. Adding a vacuum to the dryer helps control and maintain pressure, and a cold condenser plate or chamber gives the water vapor a surface to freeze onto after it leaves the material.
The last step removes any unfrozen water molecules. In the secondary drying phase the pressure is lowered again and the temperature is raised, sometimes above the freezing point of 0°C. Any residual water evaporates from the substance, and the final water content is less than 5%.