Drying and dewatering R&D in Japan

Presently, it has become an urgent and important concern worldwide to reduc e the volume of waste and rationally use the waste for electric power gener ation. Sludge is a dominant part in the family of wastes. Drying of sludge, not only for volume reduction but also for further utilization, is becomin g an essential and integral process. On the other hand, as the requirement of new materials production, for example, fine particles of micron or sub-m icron scale for advanced materials, some new drying technologies and techni ques have emerged. The market-pull may be the direct and active impetus to drying research and development (R&D). In this paper, drying technologies f or sludges, fine particles, coatings as well as advanced dewatering are dis cussed to reflect the "hot" points of drying and dewatering R&D in Japan. A nd some novel dryers are also presented.