A useful equipment recommendation starts with the product and the daily output target. Nominal batch weight alone is not enough: moisture load, loading depth, cycle time and condenser demand can change the effective production rate.
Work from a material balance first
Start with the water that must leave the product. On a wet basis, if the feed mass is M_feed, the starting moisture is x_i and the target moisture is x_f, then — ignoring dry-matter loss — the final mass is M_feed × (1 − x_i) / (1 − x_f), and the water to remove is M_feed × (x_i − x_f) / (1 − x_f).
For example, 1,000 kg of fresh material at 80% wet-basis moisture dried to 5% gives a theoretical final mass of about 210.5 kg and about 789.5 kg of water to remove. This is a mass-balance example, not a machine’s batch capacity, yield or cycle time.
Separate the measures that sizing actually needs
- Effective shelf area — the usable loading surface, in square metres.
- Fresh loading per batch — how much material is loaded, stated with the fill depth and tray format.
- Condenser / ice capacity — how much water the cold trap can capture, and over what time basis.
- Cycle time — freezing, primary drying, secondary drying, loading/unloading and cleaning, as separate durations.
Then estimate daily throughput
Daily output equals the finished-product mass per batch multiplied by the number of batches that fit in an operating day, less planned cleaning and changeover time. Each input is taken from the model specification and, where available, a trial curve for the specific material. A number that mixes “fresh kg” with “removed water” or “shelf m²” with “ice kg” cannot be checked.
Boundary. The example above uses a tray-based food material. Spray freeze drying, continuous equipment and sterile vial lyophilization use different calculation models and should not reuse a food-tray formula.
What to send for a sizing review
Share material and formulation, starting and target moisture, fresh input per batch or day, desired batches per day, utilities, layout and data or cleaning requirements. We will return the missing inputs and the configuration questions that matter.