Chapter 3

3 Drying of Latex Films

Drying is an important operation in a manufacturing process. An example is film

formation which requires the removal of water to allow the particles to pack and to
form a coherent film. This water removal is achieved by evaporation. In addition
to film formation, there are a number of other examples where it is desirable to
reduce the amount of water (or indeed any solvent) from a product:
● To reduce transport costs for products, such as washing powder, which –
although used and manufactured in the wet state – are shipped in a dry form.
● To maintain suitable handling properties. For example, sand will flow easily
when dry yet will be difficult to handle if wet.
● To stop corrosion and the growth of microorganisms.
The removal of water from a product requires an input of energy to overcome
the latent heat of the solvent. Here, we concentrate on the evaporation of water
into air. We need to consider the amount of water that a sample of air can support,
the energies involved, and the rates of mass transfer. There are a number of terms
relating to water dissolved in air. They are defined in Appendix C and graphically
displayed on a psychrometric chart, shown in Fig. C.1.

3.1 Humidity and Evaporation

3.1.1 Background

Atmospheric air has water dissolved in it, with the amount dissolved being called
the ‘humidity’. High humidity may feel uncomfortable to those in it, and anyone
trying to exercise in a hot, humid climate knows how difficult it is to stay cool
under these conditions. The body regulates its temperature by sweating and using
the latent heat of the evaporating water to cool the body. In humid conditions the
96 3 Drying of Latex Films

evaporation rate slows, and hence the cooling effect of perspiration is reduced.
The latent heat of vaporisation for water is 2260 kJ/kg. This is a large number as is
illustrated in the following example. If 1 kg of latex, cast on a substrate, contains
about 400 g of water, 904 kJ of energy is required to evaporate the water. The
remaining 600 g of latex would need to cool by approximately 350°C to provide
this amount of energy. Of course, this is not observed in practice because heat
transfer from the surroundings provides the necessary energy. But, it is illustrative
to note the significance of the large magnitude of the latent heat of vaporisation
for water. Evidence for evaporative cooling leading to a reduction in evaporation
rate is given by Erskelius et al. (2007).

3.2 Evaporation Rate from Pure Water

The evaporation rate, E, of a liquid may be expressed in units of mass per unit
area of surface per unit of time. In models of evaporation, it is often useful to
describe the evaporation rate as a velocity, Eɺ , which represents the distance that
the surface drops downward per unit of time. Eɺ can be easily found through an
experimental value of E divided by the density of the liquid, ρ, to give Eɺ = E/ρ. In
the case of water, the calculation is trivial when the value used for the density of
water is 1 g cm–3.
As discussed in Appendix C, the evaporation rate of pure water is determined
by the difference in the chemical potential of the water vapour just above the
liquid water and in the bulk. Expression C.3 gives an overall mass transfer rate,
although the value of the mass transfer coefficient, km, can vary widely depending
on the specific situation. The simplest example of water evaporating into stagnant
air has a mass transfer coefficient on the order of 0.004 m/s (as found below from
an estimate). A convenient visualisation of the evaporation process is to consider a
boundary layer of thickness Lb above the pool of liquid. As sketched in Fig. 3.1,
the water partial pressure changes linearly over the boundary layer thickness from
the saturated vapour pressure at the liquid surface, to the bulk value at the edge.
The flux of water vapour is then written as the diffusion coefficient of the water
vapour through the air, Dvap, multiplied by the water vapour concentration
gradient, which is the partial pressure difference divided by the thickness of the
boundary layer. It is therefore simple to recognise that the mass transfer coeffi-
cient is the diffusion coefficient divided by the boundary layer thickness:
km=Dvap/Lb .
For stagnant air, the diffusion coefficient of water vapour can be estimated as
2 x 10–5 m2s–1 (Cussler 1984). Inserting an evaporation rate of 0.3 cm per day into
expression C.3, and using a differential pressure of 1/76 of atmospheric pressure,
results in a mass transfer coefficient of 0.004 m/s. The boundary layer thickness
for stagnant air is therefore estimated to be 5 mm. It will be thinner when there is
flowing air.