US Patent 7575182 Nozzle structure

A nozzle device is disclosed that may be used with a fluid-bed dryer apparatus or system. Such a nozzle device includes, in one embodiment, an intake block, an inner tube, an outer tube, a tip and an air cap. The tubes are connected to the intake block to form a passage for liquid and a passage for gas. The tip connects to the inner tube, and the air cap connects to the outer tube, so that at the output the fluid is atomized by the gas. Flow of the liquid and gas through the nozzle is unimpeded, and the nozzle provides substantially constant atomization characteristics.