Hot air dryer

A hot air slurry dryer having a cylindrical housing with a central shaft rotatably mounted in the housing. Material to be dried moves from an upstream end of the housing to an outlet at a downstream end. A hot air inlet is connected to the upstream end of the housing preferably at an upstream end wall. A material inlet is open to the side wall of the housing downstream of the hot air inlet. The shaft carries structure for breaking up the moist material introduced into the housing and mixing it with the hot air. In a preferred embodiment a drum is carried by the shaft at the inlet end of the cylindrical housing. The drum carries a plurality of agitator blades that pass close by the interior surface of the side wall of the housing.