Patent ID: 8663733

Claim:
A process for producing water-absorbing polymer particles by polymerizing a monomer solution or suspension comprising a) at least one ethylenically unsaturated acid-bearing monomer which may be at least partly neutralized, b) at least one crosslinker, c) optionally one or more ethylenically and/or allylically unsaturated monomers copolymerizable with the monomers specified under a), and d) optionally one or more water-soluble polymers, followed by drying, grinding, classifying, and optionally postcrosslinking the polymerized material into water-absorbing polymer particles, and then spraying a liquid onto the water-absorbing polymer particles using at least one spray nozzle in a horizontal mixer, wherein the at least one spray nozzle is thermally insulated and/or trace-heated, a temperature of the at least one spray nozzle is from 1 to 20° C. higher than a temperature of the water-absorbing polymer particles, and the water-absorbing polymer particles are moved in the horizontal mixer with a speed which corresponds to a Froude number of from 0.1 to 0.7.