Created in COMSOL Multiphysics 5.

2a

Vacu u m D ryi n g

This model is licensed under the COMSOL Software License Agreement 5.2a.
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. See www.comsol.com/trademarks.
Introduction
Vacuum drying is a chemical process frequently used in the pharmaceutical and food
industries to remove water or an organic solvent from a wet powder. When designing a
vacuum drying system, engineers aim to minimize the drying time while maintaining high
quality in the product. This model investigates vacuum drying in a Nutsche filter dryer,
which consists of a cylindrical drum filled with wet cake as seen in Figure 1. The top of the
cake is exposed to a low-pressure head space, and the side and bottom walls are exposed
to heating fluid. By operating at a very low pressure and an elevated temperature, the
evaporation rate of the liquid increases, thus accelerating the drying process of the powder.
By modeling the heat transfer and evaporation of the solvent in the powder, the
temperature and liquid phase profiles can be studied.

This example is based on the paper published by Murru and others for a powder dried with
n-propanol under static conditions (Ref. 1).

Figure 1: Vacuum drying in an axisymmetric Nutsche filter dryer (Ref. 1).

Model Definition
The cylindrical cake can be modeled using a rectangular geometry in a 2D axisymmetric
component. The cake radius is 40 cm and the cake height is 10 cm.

The vacuum drying process involves heat transfer and vapor transport in modeling the
evaporation of the solvent. This example simulates the heat transfer through the cake using
the Heat Transfer in Solids interface and the volume fraction of solvent using a Coefficient

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Form PDE interface. A predefined multiphysics interface for modeling moisture transport
in porous media is available in the Heat Transfer module.

Heat-flux boundary conditions are defined on the side and bottom boundaries to account
for the external heating fluid. The evaporation of solvent is captured in two ways: a
heat-sink term to account for the energy lost from the cake as the liquid solvent changes
to vapor phase, and a mass-sink term to account for the loss of solvent in the cake.

LIQUID PHASE EVAPORATION

The equation in the Coefficient Form PDE interface solves for the volume fraction of
liquid, L, in the cake:

L
m LG
--------- = ( D L L ) ------------
t L

where DL is the apparent liquid diffusion coefficient, m LG is the evaporation rate, and L
is the liquid phase density.

The source term m LG L accounts for the loss of solvent as it evaporates. All boundaries
are prescribed as no flux conditions.

The evaporation rate m LG is related to the difference in the equilibrium vapor pressure of
the gas in the cake p* and head space vapor pressure pG with:

m LG = k vap L ( p p G ) p G , if L > 0

m LG = 0 , if L < 0 or p p G

where kvap is the evaporation rate constant (1/s). In this case, the head space pressure, or
the vacuum pressure surrounding the cake, is set to be 15 mbar.

Evaporation should cease once the value of liquid phase reaches zero (fully evaporated) or
if the local vapor pressure does not exceed the head space vapor pressure (no driving force
for the evaporation). The model uses step functions to smoothly ramp the evaporation rate
down to zero under these conditions.

The equilibrium vapor pressure of n-propanol, which is related to the temperature (T), can
be found using Antoines equation, p* = 10A B/(C + T), where A, B, and C are constants
found in Ref. 2.

The solvent migrates in the cake due to capillary flow. Instead of directly solving for the
velocity field of the liquid phase in the porous media, the transport of the solvent through
the cake can be approximated as a diffusion process. Therefore, when there is a gradient

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in the volume fraction of solvent, the liquid phase migrates from the region with a high
volume fraction of solvent to the region with a low volume fraction of solvent. The liquid
diffusion coefficient is calculated with:

D L = ( L L ) , if L L

D L = 0 , if L < L

where L* is the residual saturation and is the proportionality constant, both of which
are determined experimentally in Ref. 1. When the volume fraction of liquid phase present
is below the critical value of L*, diffusion of the solvent in the cake should no longer
occur. The model uses a step function to smoothly ramp the diffusion coefficient down to
zero under these conditions.

As the cake dries, the liquid phase evaporates and is replaced by gas between the solid
particulates. The sum of the volume fractions of the three phases should equal unity.
Therefore, the volume fraction of gas present (G) can be calculated with respect to the
constant volume fraction of solid powder (S) and the variable liquid volume fraction (L)
as G = 1 (L + S).

HEAT TRANSFER
The equations in the Heat Transfer in Solids interface solve for the temperature, T, in the
cake:

T
eff c p, eff ------- = ( eff T ) + Q
t

where eff is the density (kg/m3), Cp is the heat capacity (J/(kgK)), eff is the thermal
conductivity (W/(mK)), and Q is the heat source (W).

Energy is required for evaporation to occur, which is characterized in a heat source domain

condition with Q = m LG H vap , where H is the latent heat of vaporization (J/kg)
found in Ref. 3.

The side and bottom boundaries of the filter dryer are exposed to a heating fluid. In this
model, heat flux boundary conditions account for the energy transferred to the cake from
60 C heating fluid given a heat transfer coefficient of 10 W/(m2K).

The cake consists of solid powder particulates, a liquid solvent and a gas that fills the voids
between the solid powder particulates. Therefore, the material properties of the cake must
take into account the properties of the 3 phases in proportion to their presence in the cake.
In this case, the effective density eff and effective heat capacity cp,eff are calculated with:

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 eff = L L + S S + G G

c p, eff = ( L L c p, L + S S c p, S + G G c p, G ) eff

where L, S, and G represent the volume fraction of the liquid, solid, and gas phases in
the cake, respectively. The material properties of the liquid phase (L and cp,L) are taken
from Ref. 4 for n-propanol at a temperature of 40 C. Solid powder properties are found
in Ref. 1.

The effective thermal conductivity is calculated as

L
eff = dry + --------------- ( wet dry )
1 S

where dry and wet are the thermal conductivities of the dry and fully saturated cake,
respectively, found in Ref. 1.

Results and Discussion

The following figures show the temperature (Figure 2), volume fraction of liquid phase
(Figure 3), and the apparent moisture diffusivity (Figure 4) in the cake after 30 hours. The
temperature of the cake approaches the temperature of the heating fluid (60 C or
333.15 K) at the bottom and side boundaries, as seen in Figure 2. Because the liquid phase
evaporates in the heated region, the volume fraction of the liquid phase is lowest near the
heated side and bottom boundaries and highest in the center of the cake, as seen in
Figure 3. The apparent moisture diffusivity is also highest in the center of the cake where
liquid phase has not yet evaporated and approaches zero in areas where the liquid phase
has already evaporated, as seen in Figure 4.

The evaporation rate after 10, 20, and 30 hours is shown in Figure 5, Figure 6, and
Figure 7. The evaporation front starts near the side and bottom walls where the cake is
heated. As the amount of solvent present near these boundaries decreases, the evaporation
rate decreases in turn, shifting the evaporation front towards the center of the cake.

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Figure 2: Temperature in the cake after 30 hours.

Figure 3: Volume fraction of liquid phase in the cake after 30 hours.

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Figure 4: Apparent moisture diffusivity in the cake after 30 hours.

Figure 5: Evaporation rate after 10 hours.

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Figure 6: Evaporation rate after 20 hours.

Figure 7: Evaporation rate after 30 hours.

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References
1. M. Murru and others, Model-based scale-up of vacuum contact drying of
pharmaceutical compounds, Chemical Engineering Science, vol. 66, pp 50455054,
2011.

2. H.R. Kemme and S.I. Kreps, Vapor pressure of primary n-alkyl chlorides and
alcohols, Journal of Chemical Engineering Data, vol. 14, no. 1, pp 98102, 1969.

3. I.M. Smallwood, Handbook of Organic Solvent Properties, Arnold, 1996.

4. n-Propanol, BASF, Technical Leaflet, March 2008.

Application Library path: COMSOL_Multiphysics/Chemical_Engineering/

vacuum_drying

Modeling Instructions
From the File menu, choose New.

NEW
In the New window, click Model Wizard.

MODEL WIZARD
1 In the Model Wizard window, click 2D Axisymmetric.
2 In the Select Physics tree, select Heat Transfer>Heat Transfer in Solids (ht).
3 Click Add.
Add also a PDE interface to solve for the volume fraction of liquid in the cake.
4 In the Select Physics tree, select Mathematics>PDE Interfaces>Coefficient Form PDE (c).
5 Click Add.
6 In the Field name text field, type theta.
7 In the Dependent variables table, enter the following settings:

thetaL

8 In the Unit text field, type 1/s.

9 Click Study.

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10 In the Select Study tree, select Preset Studies for Selected Physics Interfaces>
Time Dependent.
11 Click Done.

The list of parameters and variables are imported from files available in the Application
Libraries folder.

GLOBAL DEFINITIONS

Parameters
1 On the Home toolbar, click Parameters.
2 In the Settings window for Parameters, locate the Parameters section.
3 Click Load from File.
4 Browse to the models Application Libraries folder and double-click the file
vacuum_drying_parameters.txt.

DEFINITIONS

Variables 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1) right-click Definitions and
choose Variables.
2 In the Settings window for Variables, locate the Variables section.
3 Click Load from File.
4 Browse to the models Application Libraries folder and double-click the file
vacuum_drying_variables.txt.

Next define two step functions to smoothly decrease the evaporation rate and apparent
moisture diffusivity to zero as the solvent evaporates.

Step 1 (step1)
1 On the Home toolbar, click Functions and choose Global>Step.
2 In the Settings window for Step, locate the Parameters section.
3 In the Location text field, type 1.005.
4 Click to expand the Smoothing section. In the Size of transition zone text field, type
0.01.

Step 2 (step2)
1 On the Home toolbar, click Functions and choose Global>Step.
2 In the Settings window for Step, locate the Parameters section.

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3 In the Location text field, type 0.005.
4 Locate the Smoothing section. In the Size of transition zone text field, type 0.01.

GEOMETRY 1

Rectangle 1 (r1)
1 On the Geometry toolbar, click Primitives and choose Rectangle.
2 In the Settings window for Rectangle, locate the Size and Shape section.
3 In the Width text field, type R0.
4 In the Height text field, type H0.
5 Click Build All Objects.

H E A T TR A N S F E R I N S O L I D S ( H T )

Solid 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Heat Transfer in Solids (ht)
click Solid 1.
2 In the Settings window for Solid, locate the Heat Conduction, Solid section.
3 From the k list, choose User defined. In the associated text field, type lambda_eff.
4 Locate the Thermodynamics, Solid section. From the list, choose User defined. In the
associated text field, type rho_eff.
5 From the Cp list, choose User defined. In the associated text field, type Cp_eff.

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Heat Source 1
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Domains and choose Heat Source.
2 Select Domain 1 only.
3 In the Settings window for Heat Source, locate the Heat Source section.
4 In the Q0 text field, type -mdot*deltaH.

Heat Flux 1
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Heat Flux.
2 Select Boundaries 2 and 4 only.
3 In the Settings window for Heat Flux, locate the Heat Flux section.
4 Click the Convective heat flux button.
5 In the h text field, type hq.
6 In the Text text field, type Th.

Initial Values 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Heat Transfer in Solids (ht)
click Initial Values 1.
2 In the Settings window for Initial Values, type T0 in the T text field.

Next, define the Coefficient Form PDE interface for the liquid phase evaporation.

COEFFICIENT FORM PDE (C)

On the Physics toolbar, click Heat Transfer in Solids (ht) and choose
Coefficient Form PDE (c).

Coefficient Form PDE 1

1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Coefficient Form PDE (c) click
Coefficient Form PDE 1.
2 In the Settings window for Coefficient Form PDE, locate the Diffusion Coefficient section.
3 In the c text field, type DL.
4 Locate the Source Term section. In the f text field, type -mdot/rhoL.

Initial Values 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Coefficient Form PDE (c) click
Initial Values 1.
2 In the Settings window for Initial Values, locate the Initial Values section.
3 In the thetaL text field, type thetaL0.

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Set the mesh to extremely fine to better resolve the evaporation front in the domain.

MESH 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1) click Mesh 1.
2 In the Settings window for Mesh, locate the Mesh Settings section.
3 From the Element size list, choose Extremely fine.
4 Click Build All.

STUDY 1

Solution 1 (sol1)
1 On the Study toolbar, click Show Default Solver.
The dependent variable scaling for thetaL is manually set to 1. This provides a better
convergence.
2 In the Model Builder window, expand the Solution 1 (sol1) node.
3 In the Model Builder window, expand the Study 1>Solver Configurations>
Solution 1 (sol1)>Dependent Variables 1 node, then click
Dependent variable thetaL (comp1.thetaL).
4 In the Settings window for Field, locate the Scaling section.
5 From the Method list, choose Manual.

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Step 1: Time Dependent
1 In the Model Builder window, under Study 1 click Step 1: Time Dependent.
2 In the Settings window for Time Dependent, locate the Study Settings section.
3 From the Time unit list, choose h.
4 In the Times text field, type range(0,1,70).
5 On the Study toolbar, click Compute.

RESULTS

2D Plot Group 3
1 In the Model Builder window, under Results click 2D Plot Group 3.
2 In the Settings window for 2D Plot Group, locate the Data section.
3 From the Time (h) list, choose 30.
4 On the 2D Plot Group 3 toolbar, click Plot.

2D Plot Group 5
1 On the Home toolbar, click Add Plot Group and choose 2D Plot Group.
2 In the Settings window for 2D Plot Group, type Temperature in the Label text field.
3 Locate the Data section. From the Time (h) list, choose 30.

Surface 1
1 Right-click Temperature and choose Surface.
2 In the Settings window for Surface, locate the Coloring and Style section.
3 From the Color table list, choose ThermalLight.
4 On the Temperature toolbar, click Plot.

2D Plot Group 6
1 On the Home toolbar, click Add Plot Group and choose 2D Plot Group.
2 In the Settings window for 2D Plot Group, type Apparent moisture diffusivity in
the Label text field.
3 Locate the Data section. From the Time (h) list, choose 30.

Surface 1
1 Right-click Apparent moisture diffusivity and choose Surface.
2 In the Settings window for Surface, locate the Expression section.
3 In the Expression text field, type DL.
4 On the Apparent moisture diffusivity toolbar, click Plot.

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2D Plot Group 7
1 On the Home toolbar, click Add Plot Group and choose 2D Plot Group.
2 In the Settings window for 2D Plot Group, type Evaporation rate in the Label text
field.
3 Locate the Data section. From the Time (h) list, choose 30.

Surface 1
1 Right-click Evaporation rate and choose Surface.
2 In the Settings window for Surface, locate the Expression section.
3 In the Expression text field, type mdot.
4 On the Evaporation rate toolbar, click Plot.

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