C HARLES DARWIN U NIVERISTY

Australia

Laboratory Project

Tray Dryer

Name: Adam Bednarski

Student number: 331909
Date: 05/04/2020
Unit: ENG487 HVAC Systems
College: College of Engineering, IT and Environment
Lecturer & Tutor: Hooman Mehdizadeh Rad
Contents

List of Figures ii

List of Tables iii

1 Introduction 1
1.1 Aim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2 Theoretical analysis 3
2.1 General principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 Drying periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

3 Experimental analysis 6
3.1 Obtaining the drying curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2 Influences on the air speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.3 Influences on the temperature of the air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.4 Experimental errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

4 Discussion 14

5 Conclusion 16
5.1 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5.2 Suggestions for improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Bibliography 17

Appendices 17
Appendix A: Laboratory data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

i
List of Figures

2.1 The effect of loss rate of moisture of different materials . . . . . . . . . 3

2.2 Constant and falling drying period of drying process . . . . . . . . . . 4

3.1 Humidity (X) as a function of the Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3.2 Drying speed as a function of the Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.3 Drying speed as a function of the Humidity (X) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.4 Humidity (X) as a function of the Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.5 Drying speed as a function of the Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.6 Drying speed as a function of the Humidity (X) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.7 Humidity (X) as a function of the Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.8 Drying speed as a function of the Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.9 Drying speed as a function of the Humidity (X) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

4.1 Drying curves for constant drying conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

4.2 Performance data for direct heat tray dryers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

ii
List of Tables

5.1 Laboratory data for the flow 94 Ls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

5.2 Laboratory data for the flow 51 Ls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.3 Laboratory data for the flow 72 Ls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.4 Laboratory data for the air temperature 40◦ C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.5 Laboratory data for the air temperature 30◦ C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

iii
Chapter 1

Introduction

Drying of products and raw materials is a process of water or moisture content removal.
This technique is used in food, chemical, pharmaceutical, and other industries to elimi-
nate moisture during product processing. Drying is carried out for the following reasons
(Coulson, Richardson, Backhurst & Harker 1954):
• reduce the cost of transportation
• make a material more suitable for handling
• provide definite properties
• remove moisture which may lead otherwise to corrosion
There are many different methods of drying such as direct drying (hot air), supercritical
drying, vacuum drying or contact drying.
Tray dryers are the common type of direct dryers used in various industries. To
begin the process the tray is filled with a wet solid and placed into apparatus.
During the process water evaporates into the air. The drying speed can be calculated
by subtracting the initial weight and final weight at various time intervals (Parikh 2014).

1.1 Aim
The aim of this experiment is to investigate the drying of wet sand and gain the un-
derstanding of heat and mass transfer between the sand and the surrounding air. The
experiment includes three parts:
• obtaining the drying curve
• influences on the air speed
• influences on the temperature of the air

1
1.2 Background
Since the beginning of recorded history man has been drying food to preserve it. This
method was highly influenced by weather, so it was unpredictable and it was hard to
achieve uniform quality. The natural sun drying remained a popular drying method for
a long time. It changed in the 20th century when mechanical drying began to replace
natural sun drying. Different techniques and high-quality products were available after
1950 (Hayashi 1989).

1.3 Scope
Over the past three decades drying has seen exponential growth. Drying is a highly
energy-intensive operation, because of that the progress was driven be the need to con-
serve energy. Drying is used almost in all industrial sectors and it provides challenging
areas for research (Mujumdar 2004).

2
Chapter 2

Theoretical analysis

2.1 General principles

Tray dryer operates by direct drying with hot air over the surface of solid, which is
loaded into the apparatus in racks. This dryer type is the simplest and cheapest dryer
type, but unfortunately, the drying times are usually between 12 h to 48 h.
The moisture content of a material can be defined as its water content as a percentage
of the mass of the dry material. Figure 2.1 illustrates moisture loss rate of different
materials (Prabhansu, Karmakar & Chatterjee 2016).

Figure 2.1: The effect of loss rate of moisture of different materials

Mass transfer and heat transfer are essential for the drying process. Heat transfer

3
is driven by the temperature difference between the examined solid and the surround-
ing air., and mass is transferred as a vapor. Newton’s Law of Heating can be used to
calculate the heat transfer of hot air (Parikh 2014):

q = mw ∆Hvap = hy A(Ta − Ts ) (2.1)

where,
q - heat transferred
mw - evaporated water
∆Hvap - enthalpy of vaporization
hy - heat transfer coefficient
A - surface area
Ta - hot air temperature
Ts - surface temperature

2.2 Drying periods

Solids drying includes generally two distinct drying periods, known as the constant
drying period and the falling drying period (Figure 2.2).

Figure 2.2: Constant and falling drying period of drying process

4
 In the constant drying period moisture evaporates from a saturated surface. This
depends on humidity, air temperature, surface temperature, as well on moisture speed.
In the course of constant drying, the period liquid is transported to the surface at a
sufficient rate to maintain saturation. A point, in which a break in the drying curve
occurs, is called the critical moisture content.
In the falling drying period, moisture reaches the surface, which is no longer saturated
and it results in rising above the wet bulb temperature.
Inlet air temperature is the first essential element for the drying process, the airflow
rate represents the second one. The drying rate is determined by the amount of the air
streamed to absorb moisture (Parikh 2015).

5
Chapter 3

Experimental analysis

The aim of the experiment was to conduct a drying process of wet sand in order to
determine drying speed and analyse how the process depends on air velocity and tem-
perature. Tray dryer contains an adjustable fan and adjustable heater to allow variations
in air flow rate and temperature.
To begin the drying the tray was filled evenly with wet sand and loaded into the ap-
paratus. The mass of sand was weighted before and after the experiment. During the
experiment, the mass of sand was recorded every 2 minutes.
Laboratory data can be found in Appendix A.

3.1 Obtaining the drying curve

The drying curve was accomplished under following conditions:

• flow rate = 94 Ls

• empty tray = 458.7 g

• dry sand = 527.5 g

• time frame = 2 min

The content of humidity (X) presented in following plots can be calculated by using the
formula:
weight of liquid weight of wet sand − weight of dry sand
X= = (3.1)
weight of dry sand weight of dry sand

Figure 3.1 illustrates humidity as a function of time. Humidity decreases linearly with

6
time because the temperature was kept constant as possible in this section. Humidity
varies between 0.363 and 0.345.
Second characteristic value, which was analysed, was drying speed. Drying speed can

Figure 3.1: Humidity (X) as a function of the Time

by calculated by the formula (Krokida, Marinos-Kouris & Mujumdar 2006):

moisture content(t1 ) − moisture content(t2 )

drying speed = (3.2)
time

where, moisture content is defined as:

mass of wet sand − mass of dry sand
moisture content = (3.3)
mass of dry sand

Figure 3.2 represents drying speed as a function of time. Drying speed increased
sharply in the first time interval and it was approximately constant in the next 14
minutes.

The last graph 3.3 shows drying speed in correlation with humidity. Drying speed
was in a constant range for humidity between 0.347 and 0.36, but the drying rate de-
clined rapidly after the humidity value of 0.36. Humidity at this point is called critical
humidity.

7
 Figure 3.2: Drying speed as a function of the Time

3.2 Influences on the air speed

Influences on the air speed were analysed for three various flow rates, while the temper-
ature was kept constant.
Adequately to the previous section, we started with humidity function over time. As we
can observe in Figure 3.4 all flows are characterized by a linear decrease of humidity.
As in each section of this experiment, the drying speed for all three flows was anal-
ysed over a specific time period. The flow rate corresponds directly with drying speed.
Higher flow rate accelerates drying speed, therefore, 51 Ls flow has the smallest drying
rate, and respectively the 94 Ls flow has to highest examined drying rate. Because of the
experiment errors, the 72 Ls initial flow increase was on the same level as the higher flow
rate. Results can be found in Figure 3.5.
Drying speed in correlation with humidity for various flow rates was analysed in
Figure 3.6. Critical humidity content for 94 Ls flow was 0.362, 0.31 for 72 Ls flow and
0.285 for the slowest flow rate at 51 Ls .

3.3 Influences on the temperature of the air

In the last section of the experiment, the flow rate was kept constant for various tem-
peratures. We analysed two cases, the first case with temperature 40◦ C and second case
with 30◦ C.

8
 Figure 3.3: Drying speed as a function of the Humidity (X)

Humidity decreases linearly over time, the initial humidity value for the 30◦ C flow was
0.3257 and for the 40◦ C 0.39. Figure 3.7 illustrates the results. The time frame was to
short to observe a different decrease rate for two corresponding temperatures.
Another plot 3.8 represents drying speed for out to variants of the flow. As expected
the 40◦ C flow had a higher drying rate in comparison to the 30◦ C flow.
Accordingly to previous section of the experiment, the last plot includes drying
speed versus humidity. The critical content of humidity for the 40◦ C flow was 0.307, on
the other hand 0.324 the 30◦ C flow. Figure 3.9 shows the achieved results.

3.4 Experimental errors

Experimental data is imperfect, we need to take it into consideration for our experiment.
Potential errors occurred during this experiment:

• temperature inside the apparatus dropped every time we opened the door for
weighting

• scale was poorly calibrated

• time intervals were measured manually

• constant flow rate was assumed for the second part of the experiment

9
 Figure 3.4: Humidity (X) as a function of the Time

• incorrect reading of measurement

10
 Figure 3.5: Drying speed as a function of the Time

Figure 3.6: Drying speed as a function of the Humidity (X)

11
Figure 3.7: Humidity (X) as a function of the Time

Figure 3.8: Drying speed as a function of the Time

12
Figure 3.9: Drying speed as a function of the Humidity (X)

13
Chapter 4

Discussion

We conducted this experiment to analyse the drying curve based on the humidity
content and drying speed of wet sand. The study of this experiment was realised with
the use of a direct drying type of dryer. The dryer supplied the heat into the wet sand
and used the air velocity to evaporate the moisture content of sand.
Figure 4.1 illustrates moisture content and drying rate for theoretical drying curves for
constant drying conditions. We can observe a lot of similarities to our experimental
analysis from the previous chapter. Differences were caused mostly by experimental
errors.
Additionally, our experiment duration was relatively short, accordingly to performance

Figure 4.1: Drying curves for constant drying conditions

14
data form table 4.2 direct heat tray dryers need a couple of hours for drying time. Our
longest drying time was only 16 minutes (Seader, Henley & Roper 1998).
Nevertheless, we were still able to observe from obtained graphs and tables how

Figure 4.2: Performance data for direct heat tray dryers

different conditions affect the drying. We can say that as the temperature is directly
correlated with humidity, that means if temperature increases, humidity also increases.
At the same time, we observed the same correlation for various flows with constant
temperature condition.
Drying speed was the second value that we analysed intensively for different conditions.
Unfortunately due to limited time allocated for the experiment we were able only to
observe a part of the drying curve. Initially drying speed increases at the beginning and
it becomes constant for a period of time and finally the drying speed decrease to null.
We can explain this course of drying speed with the evaporation. In the first frame,
the evaporation occurs at a rapid rate on the top surface of the sand, but the rate drops
significantly at lower layers of sand. In addition, higher average drying speed exists
for higher temperatures if we consider the same flow. On the other hand, if we keep
the temperature constant and analyse the drying speed as a function of the time for
various flow rates, we can observe the same dependencies. Drying speed is directly
proportional to the flow rate.

15
Chapter 5

Conclusion

5.1 Conclusion
The objectives of the experiment were achieved, we analysed the drying process for
various conditions. The results were mostly consistent with theoretical expectations.
The differences were in the acceptable range. The experiment was running smoothly
except for the issues with the first scale, which was not calibrated correctly and we were
forced to change the scale and start the experiment from scratch.

5.2 Suggestions for improvement

A continuing goal of CDU and all of its departments is to improve the operations. Fol-
lowing improvements can be considered:

• drying is a time-consuming process, therefore, more time should be allocated

• second dryer would help to decrease the duration of experiment

• directly increase of the temperature and the flow rate would increase the drying
speed

• another material instead of sand for higher efficiency

• more substantial temperature difference between the flows in the last section of
the experiment

16
Bibliography

Coulson, J. M., Richardson, J. F., Backhurst, J. R. & Harker, J. H. (1954), Chemical

Engineering: Fluid flow, heat transfer and mass transfer, Pergamon press.

Hayashi, H. (1989), ‘Drying technologies of foods-their history and future’, Drying

technology 7(2), 315–369.

Krokida, M., Marinos-Kouris, D. & Mujumdar, A. S. (2006), Rotary drying, in ‘Hand-

book of Industrial Drying’, CRC Press, pp. 176–197.

Mujumdar, A. S. (2004), ‘Research and development in drying: Recent trends and future
prospects’, Drying Technology 22(1-2), 1–26.

Parikh, D. M. (2014), ‘Solids drying: basics and applications’, Chemical Engineering

121(4), 42–45.

Parikh, D. M. (2015), ‘Vacuum drying: basics and application’, Chem Eng 122(4), 48–
54.

Prabhansu, P. C., Karmakar, M. K. & Chatterjee, P. K. (2016), ‘Circulating fluidized

bed gasification: Status, challenges and prospects in indian perspective’, Indian
Journal of Science and Technology 9, 48.

Seader, J. D., Henley, E. J. & Roper, D. K. (1998), Separation process principles,

Vol. 25, Wiley New York.

17
Appendices

Appendix A: Laboratory data

Time [min] Weight of wet sand [g] Humidity (X)

0 718.8 0.567037279
2 717.7 0.564639198
4 716.6 0.562241116
6 715.4 0.559625027
8 714.3 0.557226946
10 712.9 0.554174842
12 711.7 0.551558753
14 710.6 0.549160671
16 709.5 0.54676259

Table 5.1: Laboratory data for the flow 94 Ls

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Time [min] Weight of wet sand [g] Humidity (X)
0 861.6 0.629965948
2 860.7 0.628452516
4 859.9 0.626749905
6 859.2 0.625425653
8 858.3 0.623723042
10 857.6 0.622398789
12 856.8 0.620885358

Table 5.2: Laboratory data for the flow 51 Ls

Time [min] Weight of wet sand [g] Humidity (X)

0 809.3 0.763565047
2 808.1 0.760950098
4 807.1 0.758770974
6 806.3 0.757027675
8 805.2 0.754630638

Table 5.3: Laboratory data for the flow 72 Ls

Time [min] Weight of wet sand [g] Humidity (X)

0 796.5 0.615618661
2 794.9 0.612373225
4 793.8 0.610141988
6 792.8 0.60811359
8 791.9 0.606288032
10 790.9 0.604259635
12 789.9 0.602231237

Table 5.4: Laboratory data for the air temperature 40◦ C

Time [min] Weight of wet sand [g] Humidity (X)

0 778.1 0.695206972
2 776.9 0.692592593
4 775.9 0.690413943
6 775.1 0.688671024
8 774.1 0.686492375
10 773.3 0.684749455
12 772.5 0.683006536

Table 5.5: Laboratory data for the air temperature 30◦ C

19