Mechanisms of Drying of Skin-Forming Materials. II.Droplets of Heat Sensitive Materials

ABSTRACT

Drying studies were carried out on single droplets of gelatin solution, typifying a skin forming, heat-sensitive material. Each droplet was suspended from a novel rotating glass nozzle which enabled direct measurement of its weight and temperature during drying. Observations using this appartatus successfully detected the decrease in core temperature and increase in drying rate resulting from granule dissolution at 30 °C.

The study covered air temperatures in the range 19 °C–175 °C. Scanning Electron Microscopy was used to examine the dried crusts. The resistance of the skin to vapour diffusion was significantly increased with an increase in the air temperature. At air temperature > 60 °C the dried particle lost the structure and properties of the original powder. The optimum drying conditions to avoid this were predicted for this type of skin forming-material.     

MECHANISMS OF DRYING OF SKIN-FORMING MATERIALS.III. DROPLETS OF NATURAL PRODUCTS.

ABSTRACT

Drying studies were carried out on single droplets suspended from a rotating nozzle in a horizontal wind tunnel. Droplets were of solution of a third type of skin-forming material, namely the natural products skim milk or fructose. Droplet weight and temperature were measured during the drying process. Dried crusts were recovered and examined by Scanning Electron Microscopy.

With this type of material a skin first forms at any drying condition on the surface of the droplet at a cerlain stage of drying. A crust subsequently forms beneath the skin. The final dried panicle retains the structure and properties of the original powder, unless the material is dried at very high temperatures. e.g. >300 °C. which result in burning.

An increase in air temperature resulted in the formation of a smoother skin offering a higher resistance to vapour diffusion. At temperatures over 100 °C droplets exhibited puffing or ballooning phenomena; i.e. they inflated and deflated many times before forming the final dried particles.     

Simulation of Convective Drying of Wet Porous Materials

Abstract

A simulation model for convective drying of wet porous materials was developed. For the simulation, we measured the moisture diffusivities within them and applied a modified Dubinin-Astakhov equation to the moisture sorption data for a membrane filter. The simulation results not accounting for internal mass transfer resistance were quite different from the experimental ones. The drying characteristics calculated by a shrinking core model with effective moisture diffusivity represented a much lower drying rate and much higher temperatures, respectively, than the experimental ones. This meant that we must consider the plural moisture transport mechanisms within the samples. Therefore, we calculated the drying rate and temperatures with an apparent overall mass transfer coefficient damping with a decrease in the moisture content. The results accounting for the hygroscopic effects broadly agreed with the experimental ones by the evaluation.     

DRYING CHARACTERISTICS OF SLOT JET REATTACHMENT NOZZLE AND COMPARISON WITH A SLOT JET NOZZLE

ABSTRACT

Slot Jet Reattachment (SJR) nozzle is an extension of the Radial Jet Reattachment (RJR) concept used to provide high heat and mass transfer while minimizing flow exerted forces on the reattachment surface. The SJR is a slot jet nozzle with a bottom plate attached to it, which is machined to direct impinging flow at different angles to the surface. The drying characteristics of the SJR nozzle with four exit angles on a paper sample were studied for three Reynolds numbers, three temperatures and two initial moisture contents. Dry air was used as the jet fluid. Correlations to predict drying rates and moisture content for the SJR nozzle as a function of exit angle, temperature, Reynolds number and drying time, for a given initial moisture content, were developed. A comparison of the drying characteristics and net forces of the slot jet and SJR nozzles was also performed under the same flow power and surface peak pressure.     

Influence of Impingement Temperature and Nozzle Geometry on Heat Transfer—Experimental and Theoretical Analysis

Abstract

Based on the earlier studies the most common empirical correlations in the literature predict the impingement heat transfer coefficients rather well at low (close to 100°C) temperatures, but get inaccurate at higher temperatures. Impingement temperatures used in paper drying applications are typically 300 to 700°C, and there has been a need to improve the existing heat transfer correlations at high temperature area. This study presents experimental results of impingement heat transfer measurements with a laboratory-scale heat transfer test rig. Five nozzle configurations were measured. The parameters varied in the investigation were nozzle-to-plate distance, nozzle open area, nozzle diameter, impingement velocity and impingement air temperature. Regression model of heat transfer was developed based on the measurement data. A correction factor including the impingement and heat receiving surface temperatures is proposed. The correction factor can be used to improve the existing correlations at large jet to heat receiving surface temperature differences.     

A COMPARTMENTAL MODEL OF THIN-LAYER DRYING KINETICS OF ROUGH RICE

ABSTRACT

Rough rice at about 21% (wet basis) was dried at various conditions of temperatures and evaporating capacities of air. The influence of both parameters on drying rate has been studied. At high temperatures, high drying rates can be achieved with low evaporating capacities. In addition, desorption isotherms of rough rice were measured at 35, 60 and 85°C and the experimental isotherms data were fitted using a modified Pfost equation.

A compartmental model was developed to simulate the grain moisture content. Heat and mass transfer coefficients were optimized using a Nelder & Mead method. Internal mass transfer coefficient was written as an exponential function of the average moisture content and temperature of the grain and the external mass transfer coefficient as a function of air temperature. The compartmental approach predicts very well the average moisture content with a mean error of about 5% in static and dynamic conditions.     

COMPARISON OF SUPERHEATED STEAM AND AIR OPERATED SPRAY DRYERS USING COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS.

ABSTRACT

In this paper a numerical simulation of a spray dryer using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code Fluent is described. This simulation is based on a discrete droplet model and solve the partial differential equations of momentum, heat and mass conservation for both gas and dispersed phase.

The model is used to simulate the behaviour of a pilot scale spray dryer operated with two drying media : superheated steam and air Considering that there is no risk of powder ignition in superheated steam, we choosed a rather high inlet temperature (973 K). For the simulation, drop size spectrum is represented by 6 discrete droplets diameters, fitting to an experimental droplets size distribution and all droplets are injected at the same velocity, equal to the calculated velocity of the liquid sheet at the nozzle orifice.

It is showed that the model can evaluate the most important features of a spray dryer : temperature distribution inside the chamber, velocity of gas, droplets trajectories as well as deposits on the walls. The model predicts a fast down flowing core jet surrounded by a large recirculation zone. Using superheated steam or air as a drying medium shows only slight differences in flow patterns. Except for the recirculation which is tighter in steam.

The general behaviour of droplets in air or steam are quite the same : smallest droplets are entrained by the central core and largest ones are taken into the recirculation zone. In superheated steam, the droplets penetrate to a greater extent in the recirculation zone. Also, they evaporate faster. The contours of gas temperature reflect these differences as these two aspects are strongly coupled. In both air and steam there is a “cool” zone which is narrower in steam than in air. Finally, the panicle deposit problem seems to be more pronounced in air than in steam.

Adding to the inherent interest in using superheated steam as a drying medium, the model predicts attractive behaviour for spray drying with superheated steam. In particular. under the conditions tested with the model, a higher volumetric drying rate is obtained in superheated steam.     

DRYING OF TOBACCO PARTICLES IN A MOBILISED BED

ABSTRACT

The drying performance of a novel device capable of mobilising a bed of fibrous materials is evaluated. The drying kinetic of the vegetable product used for this work, cut lamina tobacco particles, was determined from fixed bed experiments. A falling-rate period was observed for the entire drying curve. The results showed that the drying rate is controlled by internal mass transfer mechanism for gas superficial velocities above 0.8 m/ s. The proposed model is based on an effective liquid diffusion coefficient that varies with solids temperature according to an Arrhenius-type relationship. Batch drying experiments were carried out in the mobilised bed apparatus under various conditions of inlet air temperature, humidity and flowrate. Assuming perfect mixing and no internal resistance to heat transfer for the solids, the performance of the mobile bed can be predicted using the proposed internal liquid diffusion model     

Microwave Drying of Porous Materials

Abstract

Experimental results on microwave drying of the porous particles exposed to air stream at 40°C are presented. The temperature and moisture distribution inside a particle were measured for gypsum spheres of 9, 18, 28, and 38 mm. The mass reduction was monitored during the drying process. The rate of drying and changes in temperature and moisture profiles for different drying conditions were analyzed and compared with the ones for convective drying.     

A MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR DRYING OF SHRINKING MATERIALS

ABSTRACT

A mathematical model has been developed to describe heat and mass transfer within materials undergoing shrinkage during drying. Both heat and mass transfer equations are solved simultaneously using a numerical technique A beat pump dryer has been used to conduct experiments to validate the model. Several samples were placed in the drver and after the commencement of each drying test one sample was taken oat at rceular time interval: The bone-dry mass of each piece was also determined. This enables to determine moisture distribution within the materials. Temperatures at different locations of the material were measured with thermocouples. The predicted temperature and moisture distribution within the material agreed fairly well with the experimental results.     

SUPERHEATED STEAM IMPINGEMENT DRYING OF TORTILLA CHIPS

ABSTRACT

Low-fat snack products are the driving forces for the drying of tortilla chips before frying. Super-heated steam impingement drying of foods has the advantage of improved energy efficiency and product quality. The temperature profile, drying curves, and the physical properties (shrinkage, crispiness, starch gelatinization and microstructure) of tortilla chips dried at different superheated steam temperatures and heat transfer coefficients were measured. Results indicated that the steam temperature had a greater effect on the drying curve than the heat transfer coefficient within the range of study. The microstructure of the samples after steam drying showed that higher steam temperature resulted in more pores and coarser appearance. The modulus of deformation and the shrinkage of tortilla chips correlated with moisture content. A higher steam temperature caused less shrinkage and a higher modulus of deformation. The pasting properties showed that samples dried under a higher steam temperature and a higher heat transfer coefficient gelatinized less during drying and had a higher ability to absorb water. Comparison of the superheated steam drying and air drying revealed that at elevated temperatures the superheated steam provided higher drying rates. Furthermore, there was a less starch gelatinization associated with air drying compared to superheated steam drying.     

CFD analysis of the dispersed phase behavior for micropowders production via spray drying and ultrasonic atomization

Abstract

This work is devoted to the use of modern computer simulation tools based on the principles and methods of computational fluid dynamics that are applied to develop processes and equipment for producing spray dried micropowders. The feed solution was atomized into small droplets using an ultrasonic nozzle that exploits the principle of liquid disintegration caused by impact of high-frequency wave oscillations. The use of this device for spraying a liquid allowed obtaining spherical particles with diameters less than 20?μm and with a narrow size distribution. The process development is based on a mathematical model incorporating the hydrodynamics, heat and mass transfer mechanisms, which has been formulated to numerically predict particles trajectories and temporal changes of their mass and temperatures. The generated data were used to analyze the trajectories of discrete phase particles considering various process parameters and to estimate adhesion of wet particles to the drying chamber and nozzle. Also, predicted were the degree of particles deposition and precipitation in a cyclone, since these are useful for selection of process parameters to ensure maximum quality of particles and maximum attainable efficiency of the system collecting finished products.     

Modelling Diffusion-Limited Drying Behaviour in a Batch Fluidized Bed Dryer

ABSTRACT

Fluidized bed dryers are often used to extract water from granular materials. When the drying process is mainly limited by the resistance against water transport inside the particle the drying behaviour is said to be diffusion-limited. In the literature there are several models that predict this drying process with very diverging results. In this study a model is set up to arrive at a better prediction for this drying process. The heat and mass transfer in the granular material and the drying air is described. The resulting equations are solved numerically. The model must be extended to incorporate the heat capacity of the dryer.     

MULTI-STAGE SPRAY DRYING METHOD IN MANUFACTURING HEAVY DUTY DETERGENTS

Collision of droplets; counter-current spray dryer; drying rate; heat transfer; nonphosphated detergent; spray drying

The spray drying method of non-phosphated granular detergents is studied to decrease the amount of agglomerate particles. The formation of agglomerates is mainly influenced by the concentration of droplets in spray cloud and the water content of droplets at the time of collision. The overlaps of different spray clouds should be de- creased.

The drying rate near the nozzle zone is considerably faster than that calculated by Ranz-Marshal’s equation. According to these phenomena, “Multi-stage spray drying” is developed, which is characterized by in stalling plural spraying stages in a spray dryer.

Consequently, non-phosphated detergents are manufactured with the same powder properties and productivity as phosphated detergents.     

From Laboratory Experiments to Design of a Conveyor-Belt Dryer via Mathematical Modeling

Abstract

A conveyor-belt dryer for picrite has been modeled mathematically in this work. The necessary parameters for the system of equations were obtained from regression analysis of thin-layer drying data. The convective drying experiments were carried out at temperatures of 40, 60, 80, and 100°C and air velocities of 0.5 and 1.5 m/sec. To analyze the drying behavior, the drying curves were fitted to different semi-theoretical drying kinetics models such as those of Lewis, Page, Henderson and Pabis, Wang and Singh, and the decay models. The decay function (for second order reactions) gives better results and describes the thin layer drying curves quite well. The effective diffusivity was also determined from the integrated Fick's second law equation and correlated with temperature using an Arrhenius-type model. External heat and mass transfer coefficients were refitted to the empirical correlation using dimensionless numbers (J _h , J _D  = m · Re ⁿ ) and their new coefficients were optimized as a function of temperature. The internal mass transfer coefficient was also correlated as a function of moisture content, air temperature, and velocity.     

Energy Analysis on Use of Air and Superheated Steam as Drying Media

ABSTRACT

The physical properties of air and superheated steam were analysed in a range of temperature applied in paper and paperboard drying processes. On the basis of tests carried out on a pilot stand the values of energy indices for air and steam drying processes are compared. With the drying media temperature as T_m = 300°C, nozzle velocity v= 60m/s and using the Huang and Mujumdar model as well as relationships given by Chance a compartive analysis of the results has been carried out Variation of several indices in the range of temperatures 100-600°C and various nozzle velocities was studied.     

Conjugate heat and mass transfer model for predicting thin-layer drying uniformity in a compact,crossflow dehydrator

Abstract

A conjugate heat and mass transfer model was implemented into a commercial CFD code to analyze the convective drying of corn. The Navier–Stokes equations for drying air flow were coupled to diffusion equations for heat and moisture transport in a corn kernel during drying. Model formulation and implementation in the commercial software is discussed. Validation simulations were conducted to compare numerical results to experimental, thin-layer drying data. The model was then used to analyze drying performance for a compact, crossflow dehydrator. At low inlet air temperatures, the drying rate in the compact dehydrator matched the thin-layer drying rate. At higher temperatures, heat losses through the external walls resulted in temperature and moisture variations across the dehydrator.     

Mathematical Modeling of Drying of Liquid/Solid Slurries in Steady State One-Dimensional Flow

ABSTRACT

A mathematical model of simultaneous mass, heat and momentum transfer for two-phase flow of a gas and a solid/liquid slurry was developed. The model was applied to calculation of the drying process of coal-water slurry droplets in a gas medium in a steady one-dimensional flow. The model was based on the well-known two-stage drying process for slurry droplets. After the first period of drying, in which the evaporation rate is controlled by the gas phase resistance, the evaporating liquid diffuses through the porous shell (crust) and then, by convection, into the gas medium. Inside the dry external crust of the drop, a wet central core forms, which shrinks as evaporation proceeds. The temperature of the slurry droplet rises. The process ends when the temperature of the dry outer crust reaches the coal ignition temperature in the case of combustion or when the moisture of the particle reaches the final required moisture. The developed model was based on one-dimensional balance equations of mass, energy and momentum for the liquid/solid and gas phases. The system of governing equations was represented by first-order differential equations and solved simultaneously. The numerical solution of the governing equations was obtained using Gear's method. The model permitted calculation     

Volatiles Retention in the Drying of Skin Forming Materials PART 1: Materials Which Gelatinise at Moderately High Temperatures

ABSTRACT

Single droplets were dried whilst suspended from a rotating thermocouple in a horizontal wind tunnel, to study the effect of skin formation upon the retention of flavours. Native rice starch, wheat starch, or dextrin were used to encapsulate ethanol as a simulated flavour. The ethanol content of the dried droplets was measured using gas liquid chromatography and the crusts were examined using a scanning electron microecope. The effects of variations in encapsulant concentration, drying air temperature, and air flow rates upon flavour retention were determined.

With the rice starch, the ‘final retention’ of ethanol, defined as the ethanol content of the droplet after drying for ten minutes, was largely independent of initial solids