| CPC B29B 13/065 (2013.01) [B29B 13/02 (2013.01); B29C 48/287 (2019.02); B29C 48/288 (2019.02); B29C 48/793 (2019.02); F26B 3/06 (2013.01); F26B 17/124 (2013.01); F26B 2200/08 (2013.01)] | 21 Claims |

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1. A method for heating and/or drying flowable bulk material, comprising the steps of: conveying the bulk material to a processing unit; and introducing heat energy by introducing a gas to the flow of bulk material so as not to be in direct countercurrent thereto, wherein the gas is introduced in a still hottest state in a targeted manner at a freely selectable location and then flows through the bulk material at least twice by way of cascades and by way of ring channels, wherein resistance of the continuously flowing process gas in each cascade is influenced by the structural design, and thus overall flow and speed of the process gas is influenced, wherein the bulk material is polymer pellets, wherein the processing unit is a plastifier, wherein the bulk material is surrounded by cascade-like flow spaces, wherein the cascades are length-variable, wherein the ring channels are width-variable, and wherein at least one hot air inlet opens into a first of the flow spaces, and thus a temperature level is highest there.
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