Through Air Drying

Process of through-air-drying is becoming increasingly popular in the manufacture of textiles, non-wovens, tissue, and towel. Very high drying rates, enhanced product properties, i.e., softness, bulk, absorbency, unique 3D structure are the driving forces behind its increasing popularity. In this article, experimental results on convective heat and mass transfer and fluid flow characteristics of tissue and towel products using commercially realistic structures are presented. Comparison with literature data using wet pressed, dried, rewetted sheets indicate significant differences in drying and permeability characteristics confirming that the internal structure of the material does indeed play a significant role in through-air-drying and should be taken into account in modeling, optimization, and control of commercial systems.