Simulation of Superheated Steam Drying from Coupling Models

Modeling of the transfer between a porous medium and its surroundings is commonly made using transfer coefficients that are theoretically well known only under boundary layer hypothesis. The resolution of Navier-Stokes equations in the surroundings of the product in order to get information about the boundary conditions avoids the classical use of these transfer coefficients. In this article, a modeling and a simulation of superheated steam drying of a rectangular piece of porous medium is proposed using a coupling method between a porous medium code and a CFD software. In some cases of superheated steam drying, even if a thermal boundary layer exists, a mass boundary layer cannot be defined. Moreover, boiling occurs during the process. An analysis of the interfacial transfer coupled with the analysis of the temperature, moisture content, and pressure profiles inside the porous medium is proposed.