Determination of Drying Characteristics of Different Solids

Introduction
Drying is a unit operation which aims to decrease the volatile liquid content, especially moisture,
of a slurry or paste (Towler & Sinnott, 2005 ). The liquid part of a slurry is often unwanted because
it makes transport more energy intensive due to the bulk weight added. As such, the volatile liquid
present is separated from the solid using different drying techniques. Drying is employed in
industries such as pharmaceuticals, food manufacturing, textiles, and extraction from herbs, among
others.
The main physical phenomena involved in drying are the simultaneous mass transfer and heat
transfer happening between the unsaturated gas phase and the wet slurry (Foust, 1960). Since both
mass and heat transfer occur simultaneously, design equations involving each of those transport
modes alone cannot be employed. Furthermore, drying is also a function of the behaviour of the
slurry - pore size and distribution, affinity to liquid, and surface chemistry, to name a few. These
numerous factors make a purely quantitative treatment of drying impractical, so empirical models
are used instead to perform the calculations needed.
Drying equipment can be classified as either batch or continuous dryers (McCabe et al, 2008). For
batch dryers, common examples include pan dryers and cabinet dryers. These dryers are fed with
the slurry batch-wise, and are suitable for temperature-sensitive materials. On the other hand, for
continuous dryers, notable examples include drum, rotary, and conveyor dryers. These dryers have
generally larger evaporation capacities than the batch dyers, although they may not always be
applicable for heat sensitive materials.
Data gathered for drying are usually weight of wet samples with respect to time. These can be
plotted in terms of moisture content versus time or in terms drying rate versus moisture content.
The latter is more helpful since the different drying periods are more evident in the drying rate
versus moisture content curve. The formula for calculating the moisture content of the sample (X)
and the drying rate of the sample (R) are given below:
𝑊 − 𝑊𝑠
𝑋=
𝑊𝑠
𝑊𝑠 𝑑𝑋
𝑅= − ( )
𝐴 𝑑𝑡
Where W is the mass of the sample at any given time, Ws is the mass of the original solid, and A is
the area of the pan used.
Regardless of the type of dryer used, drying of a slurry using a gas at constant temperature and
humidity generally undergoes three different periods (Cao, 2010). The first is the initial rate
period, where the rate increases varyingly since the wet solid is still stabilizing to obtain the same
temperature as the wet-bulb temperature of the drying medium. Then, once the temperature has
stabilized, the constant-rate period ensues, as manifested by a plateau in the drying rate versus
moisture content graph. This plateau is terminated by the critical moisture content. Afterwards,
when the water near the surface of the solid is completely evaporated, the falling-rate period takes
place, marked by the decrease of the rate of drying. This is due to the fact that the moisture left,
which is deep into the pores of the solid, cannot easily volatilize. The falling-rate period can be
further divided into the first and second falling rate periods, with the two having different slopes.
The second falling rate period ends with the equilibrium moisture content, and beyond this
moisture level, further transfer of water to the drying medium is impossible. A diagram showing
the different drying periods is as follows.

For this experiment, the batch drying behaviour of ground coffee beans, ground charcoal, and sand
will be analysed and compared by plotting the drying rate against the moisture content and
identifying the different drying regions. Comments will also be given regarding the different
properties affecting drying behaviour as seen from the plots generated for each material.

Methodology
The solids to be dried in this experiment include ground coffee beans, ground charcoal, and sand.
Distilled water, oven dryer, weighing scale, three aluminum trays, and a 50 mL graduated cylinder
were also used.
The oven dryer was first preheated to 80 oC for fifteen minutes, and the three aluminum trays to
be used were measured and weighed. Then, 200 g each of sand, ground charcoal, and ground coffee
beans were put in each pre-weighed pan, and then weighed again. Afterwards, 50 mL of distilled
water was poured in each solid, and then the pans with the wet solids were weighed once more.
They were then put inside the oven.
For the first ten recordings, the samples were taken out of the oven and then weighed after every
three minutes. The intervals for reading was changed to five minutes for the next ten recordings.
The succeeding readings were done at ten-minute intervals until three consecutive readings were
obtained for the three samples. Note that all the while, the temperature of the oven dryer was
maintained at 80 oC.

References
Cao, E. (2010). Heat transfer in process engineering. New York: McGraw-Hill.Foust,
A., Wenzel, L., Clump, C., Maus, L., & LB, A. (1960). Principles of Unit Operations. New York,
NY, John Wiley & Sons: Wiley and Sons
.McCabe, W. L., Smith, J. C., & Harriott, P. (2008). Unit operations of chemical engineering.
Beijing: Chemical Industry Press.
Sinnott, R. K., & Towler, G. (2005). Chemical engineering. Chemical engineering design.
Amsterdam: Elsevier.