The particle residence time in counter-current spray drying towers has a significant influence on the moisture content of the powder exiting the tower. Therefore, the reliability of predictions of residence time by numerical methods is highly desirable. A combined experimental and computational fluid dynamics investigation is reported for the prediction of the residence time distributions of glass beads with a narrow size range of 300-425 mu m in a counter-current tower with isothermal swirling flows of air. The particle-wall collision is taken into account using a rough-wall collision model. Overall, a reasonably good agreement is obtained between the measurements and predictions. Consideration of wall roughness results in greater axial dispersion of particles in the tower compared to a smooth wall assumption. The rough particle-wall collision is important for a reliable prediction of residence time distributions. In addition, analysis of the results infers that the clustering effect of particles on drag and particle-particle interactions is important and should be investigated in a future study. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.