PROBLEM

Cooling water leaves the condenser of a power plant at

38degC with a mass flux of 40 kg/s. It is cooled to 24degC in a
cooling tower that receives atmospheric air at 25degC and
60% relative humidity. Saturated air exits the tower at 32
degC.

Estimate the required volume flow rate of entering air

A. 48 cu.m/s C. 13 cu.m/s
B. 37cu.m/s D. 78 cu.m/s

the mass flux of the makeup water:

A. 0.8 kg/s C. 1.5 kg/s
B. 0.2 kg/s D. 2.1 kg/s
 PROBLEM
Given a counter flow induced-draft cooling tower with the
following operating data:
Hot water temp. = 110degF
Cooling range = 18degF
Wet bulb temperature = 75degF
Water flow arte = 500 gal/min
Assuming standard tower performance of 100%, the
estimated fan horsepower for the tower is:
A. 5 hp
B. 7 hp
C. 8 hp
D. 10 hp
DRYING
Drying-a mass
transfer process
consisting of the
removal of water or
another solvent by
evaporation from a
solid, semi-solid or
liquid.
Adiabatic saturation temperature, Ts-

equilibrium gas temperature reached by

unsaturated gas and vaporizing liquid under
adiabatic conditions. Only for air/water system,
it is equal to the wet bulb temperature
• Bone-dry solid: A solid without any moisture
in it is called bone-dry solid.

• Moisture Content of Solids:

w
Wet basis: x=
ms  w
w
Dry basis: x' =
ms
x x'
x' = or x=
1 x 1 x '
 MOISTURE

Bound moisture-Liquid physically and/or

chemically bound to solid matrix so as to exert a
vapor pressure lower than that of pure liquid at
the same temperature

Equilibrium moisture content, Xe-at a given

temperature and pressure, the moisture content
of moist solid in equilibrium with the gas-vapor
mixture (zero for non-hygroscopic materials)
Free moisture-moisture content in excess of the
equilibrium moisture content (hence free to be
removed) at given air humidity and
temperature.

Unbound Moisture: XT - XB

Free Moisture: XT - X*
 MATERIAL AND ENERGY BALANCE

• Mass Balance:

water removed = ms ( X1 ' X 2 ')  mda (H2  H1 )

• Energy Balance:

msCpF (TF 2  TF1)  [  CpW (Ta2  TF1)]ma (H2  H1)  Qloss

 ma (CpA  H1CpW )(Ta1  Ta2 )
 DRYING RATE CURVE
Constant rate drying
period-drying period when
evaporation rate per unit
drying area is constant
(when surface moisture is
removed

Falling rate period-drying

period under constant
drying conditions during
which the rate false
continuously with time
 DRYING TIME

ms  '  ' 
tT    x
 x1  xc'  xc' ln  c'  
ARc   x 
  2 

constant rate falling rate

note :
1. All moisture contents must be in d.b.
2. All moisture contents must be subtracted by xe '
 Constant Drying Rate, Rc
h(Ta1  Twb1 ) mass H2O removed
Rc  in
 area × time
  3207  2.55Twb1

for Parallel flow:

Geankoplis
(G  kg / m 2  s )
 Tray Driers
Tray driers consist of an insulated cabinet fitted with
shallow mesh or perforated trays, each of which contains
a thin (2-6 cm deep) layer of food. Hot air is blown at 0.5-
5.0 m/s through a system of ducts and baffles to promote
uniform distribution over and/or through each tray.
 OTHER DRYING TECHNIQUES
b. Microwave drying: It involves use of
microwaves.

c. Freeze drying: It is also known as

lyophilization and is usually used for drying heat
sensitive food material by freezing the material and
then reducing the surrounding pressure to allow
the frozen water to sublimate directly from the
solid phase (ice) to gas phase (water vapour).
 PROBLEM
Milk is usually dried in a

A. tray drier
B. spray drier
C. freeze drier
D. rotary drier
 PROBLEM
A wet solid is dried from 40 to 8 per cent
moisture in 20 ks. If the critical and the
equilibrium moisture contents are 15 and 4 per
cent respectively, how long will it take to dry the
solid to 5 per cent moisture under the some
drying conditions? All moisture contents are on
a dry basis.
a. 7.9 h c. 8.6 h
b. 4.7 h d. 6.4 h
 Problem
In the constant rate period of the drying rate
curve for batch drying
A. cracks develop on the surface of the solid
B. rate of drying decreases abruptly
C. surface evaporation of unbound moisture
occurs
D. all of these
 PROBLEM
A slab of paper pulp 1.2 m x 1.2 m x 5 cm is to be dried
under constant drying conditions from 85% to 15%
moisture content on dry basis. The equilibrium moisture
content is 2.5% (dry basis) and the critical moisture
content is 0.45 kg free-water per kg of dry pulp. The
drying rate at the critical point has been estimated to be
1.40 kg/(m2)(hr). The dry weight of them slab is 13.0 kg.
Assuming drying to take place from two large faces only,
estimate the drying time
to be provided.

A. 1.31 h B. 2.96 h C. 5.6 h D. 4.3 h

 PROBLEM
A wet filter cake in a pan 1 ft x 1 ft and 1 in. thick is dried
on the top surface with air at a wet bulb temperature of
80 ˚F and a dry bulb of 120 ˚F flowing parallel to the
surface at a velocity of 2.5 ft/s. The dry density of the
cake is 120 lbm/ft3 and the critical free moisture content
is 0.09 lb H2O/lb dry solid.How long will it take to dry the
material from a free moisture content of
0.20 lb H2O/lb dry material to the critical moisture
content?

A. 4.6 h B. 13.3 h C. 17.8 h D. 12.1 h

 PROBLEM
What type of flow is preferred for drying a heat-
sensitive material in a continuous drier?
a. cross-current flow
b. counter-current flow
c. co-current flow
d. none of these
 PROBLEMS
A rotary counter-current dryer is fed with ammonium
nitrate containing 5% moisture at the rate of 1.5 kg/s,
and discharges the nitrate with 0.2% moisture. The air
enters at 405 K and leaves at 355 K; the humidity of
the entering air being 0.007 kg moisture/kg dry air.
The nitrate enters at 294 K and leaves at 339 K.
Neglecting radiation losses, calculate the mass of dry
air passing through the dryer and the humidity of the
air leaving the dryer. Specific heat capacity of
ammonium nitrate = 1.88 kJ/kg K.
a. 6.1 kg/s c. 2.3 kg/s
b. 10.8 kg/s d. 1.89 kg/s
 PROBLEMS
Flights are provided in rotary driers to
A. lift and shower the solids thus exposing them
to the action of the drying gas or air
B. reduce the residence time of the solids
C. increase the residence time of the solids
D. none of these
 PROBLEMS
A chemical engineer designs a tray dryer that is fed with
sand at the rate of 1 kg/s. The feed is 50% wet and the
sand is discharged with 3% moisture. The entering air is at
380 K and has an absolute humidity of 0.007 kg/kg. The
wet sand enters at 294 K and leaves at 309 K and the air
leaves at 310 K. Calculate the mass flowrate of air fed to
the dryer. Allow for a radiation loss of 25 kJ/kg dry air.
Latent heat of water at 294 K = 2450 kJ/kg. Specific heat
capacity of sand = 0.88 kJ/kg K.

a. 26.7 kg/s c. 12.9 kg/s

b. 34.1 kg/s d. 17.2 kg/s