"The moisture in a spray droplet can be present in two forms: bound and unbound.

The nature of
the solid and accompanying moisture determines the drying characteristics
The bound moisture in the solid exerts an equilibrium vapor pressure lower than that of pure
water at the same temperature. Water retained in small capillaries in the solid absorbed at solid
surfaces as solutions in cells or fibers, falls in to the category of bound moisture.
The unbound moisture in a hygroscopic material is that moisture in excess of the bound
moisture. All water in a non-hygroscopic material is unbound water that exerts an equilibrium
vapor pressure equal to that of pure water at the same temperature.
The equilibrium moisture is the moisture content of a product when it is at equilibrium with the
partial pressure of the water vapor of the surroundings. The free moisture is the moisture in
excess of the equilibrium moisture, and consists of unbound and some bound moisture. Free
moisture is evaporated during spray drying."

Bound moisture: Bound moisture in a solid is that liquid which is retained in a manner
that exerts a vapor pressure less than that of the free liquid at the given temperature.
Liquid may become bound to the solid

- by retention in small capillaries

- by solution in cells or fiber walls
- by homogeneous solution throughout the solid
- by chemical or physical adsorption on solid surfaces.

Unbound moisture: Unbound moisture exerts a vapor pressure equivalent to that of the
free liquid. Thus in a non-hygroscopic material, all the liquid is unbound and in a
hygroscopic material, the unbound moisture is the liquid in excess of the equilibrium
moisture content (EMC), corresponding to saturation humidity.

Free moisture: Free moisture is the liquid in excess of the equilibrium moisture content
at a given temperature and humidity. Thus under condition of saturation humidity, the
free moisture is the same as the unbound moisture, but in certain circumstances the
free moisture may consist of both unbound and bound moisture