Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Lecture 5 Drying of Solids

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Objectives
Introduce drying of solids
Introduce Psychometric Charts and key parameters
Explain the drying process and drying curves

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Introduction
Drying is the removal of moisture (either water or other volatile
compounds) from solids, solutions, slurries, and pastes to give solid
products. In the feed to a dryer, moisture may be:

embedded in a wet solid,

a liquid on a solid surface, or

a solution in which a solid is dissolved.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Introduction
Drying can be expensive, especially when large amounts of water (which
has a large heat of vapourisation) must be evaporated.
Water and energy conservation measures, and advances in equipment
design, have broadened the use of pre-feed dewatering operations by
mechanical means, which also diminish the length of drying cycles.

gravity expression,

pressure filtration,

settling, and

centrifugation.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Introduction
As drying involves vapourisation of moisture, heat must be transferred to
the material being dried. The common modes of heat transfer are:

convection from a hot gas in contact with the material;

conduction from a hot, solid surface in contact with the material;

radiation from a hot gas or surface; and

heat generation within the material by dielectric, radio frequency, or

microwave heating.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Psychometric Charts
If moisture is to evaporate from a wet solid, it must be heated to a
temperature at which its vapour pressure exceeds the partial pressure of
the moisture in the gas in contact with the wet solid.
Calculations involving the properties of moisture-gas mixtures for
application to drying are most conveniently carried out with psychrometric
charts.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Psychometric Quantities

A moisture

B moisture free gas

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Psychometric Quantities

A moisture

B moisture free gas

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Psychometric Charts

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Dryer Temperatures
The important parameter for the design is the temperature at which the
moisture evaporates.
When convection from a hot gas is employed and the moisture is on the
surface or rapidly migrates to the surface from the interior of the solid, the
rate of evaporation is independent of the properties of the solid and is
governed by the rate of convective heat transfer from the gas to the
surface. Then, the evaporating surface is at the wet-bulb temperature of
the gas if the dryer operates adiabatically.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Dryer Temperatures
If the convective heat transfer is supplemented by radiation, the
temperature of the evaporating surface is then higher than the wet-bulb
temperature.
In the absence of contact with a convective-heating gas, and when a sweep
gas is not present, such that the dryer operates non-adiabatically, the
evaporating moisture is at its boiling point temperature at the pressure in
the dryer.
If the moisture contains dissolved, non-volatile substances, the boiling-

point temperature will be elevated.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Wet-Bulb Temperature
The temperature at which moisture evaporates in a direct heat dryer is
difficult to determine and varies from the dryer inlet to the dryer outlet.
When the dryer operates

isobarically

adiabatically

all energy for moisture evaporation supplied from the hot gas by convection

Simplified heat- and mass-transfer equations leads to an expression for the

temperature of evaporation at a particular location in a dryer operating
under continuous, steady-state conditions, or at a particular time in a
batch dryer cycle.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Wet-Bulb Temperature
If it is further assumed that the moisture being evaporated is free liquid
exerting its full vapour pressure at the surface of the solid, this
temperature of evaporation is called the wetbulb temperature, Tw,

It can be measured by covering a thermometer bulb with a wick saturated

with the liquid being evaporated and passing a partially saturated gas past
the wick.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Wet-Bulb Temperature
At steady state, the rate of convective heat transfer from the gas to the wet
solid must be equal to an enthalpy balance on the moisture evaporated,

The molar rate of mass transfer of evaporated moisture from the wet
surface of the solid, A, is,

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Wet-Bulb Temperature
Combing these

assume that

=1

the mole fraction of moisture in the bulk gas and at the wet solid-gas interface is small
the bulk flow effect is small

the latent heat is much greater than the sensible heat

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Wet-Bulb Temperature
From the definition of absolute humidity, replacing pA with yAP,

Substituting yA into our heat balance,

Chilton-Colburn analogy for mass and heat transfer,

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Wet-Bulb Temperature

The Chilton-Colburn analogy can be rearranged,

Le is the Lewis Number = Sc/Pr.

This means that the Wet-bulb temperature is,

is the saturation humidity at temperature Tw.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Wet-Bulb Temperature for Water

For water, Le = 0.855 at 20 oC

Therefore (1/Le)2/3 1, such that,

Which is the same relationship as the Saturation temperature

So for water Tw Ts

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Solid Types
Granular or crystalline solids that hold moisture in open pores between
particles.
These are mainly inorganic materials,

crushed rocks,

titanium dioxide,

sand,

zinc sulphate,

catalysts, and

sodium phosphates.

During drying, the solid is unaffected by moisture removal, so selection of

drying conditions and drying rate is not critical to the properties and
appearance of the dried product.
Materials in this category can be dried rapidly to very low moisture contents.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Solid Types
Fibrous, amorphous, and gel-like materials that dissolve moisture or trap
moisture in fibers or very fine pores.
These are mainly organic solids,

wood,

eggs,

starch,

leather,

glues,

cotton,

soap,

cereals, and

wool.

These materials are affected by moisture removal, often shrinking when

dried and swelling when wetted.
With these materials, drying in the later stages can be slow.
If the surface is dried too rapidly damage can occur.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

The Drying Process

The drying process is often monitored by following the average moisture
content,
The decrease in average moisture
content, X, as a function of time, t,

for drying either category of solids

in a direct-heat dryer is observed
to exhibit the type of relationship

shown on the right

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

The Drying Process

If that curve is differentiated with respect to time and multiplied by the
ratio of the mass of dry solid to the interfacial area between the mass of
wet solid and the gas, a plot can be made of drying-rate flux, R,

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

The Drying Process

From A to B,
The wet solid is being preheated to an
exposed-surface temperature equal to
the wet-bulb gas temperature, while
moisture is evaporated at an increasing
rate.
At the end of the preheat period the

exposed surface is still covered by a

film of moisture.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

The Drying Process

From B to C,

The drying rate now becomes

constant, so long as free moisture
covers the exposed surface.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

The Drying Process

From B to C,

This surface moisture may be part of

the original moisture that covered the
surface, or it may be moisture brought
to the surface by:

capillary action in the case of wet solids of

the first category or

by liquid diffusion in the case of wet solids

of the second category.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

The Drying Process

From B to C,
In either case, the rate of drying is
controlled by external mass and heat
transfer between the exposed surface
of the wet solid and the bulk gas.
When drying wet solids of the first

category under agitated conditions such that all particle surfaces are in
direct contact with the gas - the

constant-rate drying period may

extend to the end of the process.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

The Drying Process

From C to D,

The surface dries.

At C, the moisture just barely covers
the exposed surface and then the
surface tends to a dry state because
the rate of liquid travel by diffusion or
capillary action to the exposed surface
is not sufficiently fast.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

The Drying Process

From C to D,

In this period, the exposed-surface

temperature remains at the wet-bulb
temperature if heat conduction is
adequate, but the wetted exposed
area for mass transfer decreases.
Consequently, the rate of drying
decreases linearly with decreasing
average moisture content.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

The Drying Process

From D to End,

Evaporation occurs from liquid

surfaces in the pores, where the wetbulb temperature prevails.
However, the temperature of the
exposed surface of the solid rises to
approach the dry-bulb temperature of
the gas.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

The Drying Process

From D to End,
During this period, the second falling-

rate drying period, the rate of drying

may be controlled by

vapour diffusion for wet solids of the first

category and

Liquid diffusion for wet solids of the second

category.

The rate falls exponentially with

decreasing moisture content.

Dr T Rodgers AES 2014.

Summary of Learning Outcomes

Introduction to the drying of solids
Introduction to Psychometric Charts and their key parameters
The drying process and drying curves have been explained