Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Selected Chemical Engineering

Operations

LECTURE - 23
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Drying
• Introduction
• Classification and selection of dryers
• Solids handling in dryers
• Principles of drying
• Temperature patterns in dryers
• Heat transfer in dryers
• Calculation of heat duty
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Drying
• Drying a solid means
– To reduce the content of residual liquid to an acceptably low
value
• In many cases, drying of a material is the final operation
in a manufacturing process
• The liquid content of a dried substance varies from
product to product
– occasionally the product contains no liquid and is called bone-
dry (paper salt)
• The solids to be dried may be in many different forms
– flakes, granules, crystals, powders, slabs, or continuous sheets-
and may have widely differing properties
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Dryers
• The liquid to be vaporized
– may be on the surface of the solid as in drying salt crystals
– it may be entirely inside the solid, as in solvent removal from a
sheet of polymer
– or it may be partly outside and partly inside
• The feed to some dryer is a liquid in which the solid is
suspended as particles or is in solution
• Drying is carried out for one or more of the following
reasons:
– To reduce the cost of transport
– To make a material more suitable for handling
– To provide definite properties, such as maintaining the free
flowing nature of salt
– To remove moisture which may otherwise lead to corrosion
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Classification and Selection of Dryers

• In assessing the efficiency of a drying process
– the effective utilization of the heat is major consideration
• Because of the very wide range of dryer designs
available on the market
– classification is a virtually impossible task
• In selecting a dryer for particular application two steps
are of primary importance:
– A listing of the dryers which are capable of handling the material
to be dried
– Eliminating the more costly alternatives on the basis of annual
costs (capital costs + operating costs)
• Some dryers are continuous, and some are batch wise
– some agitate the solids, and some are essentially unagitated
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Classification and Selection of Dryers

• Operation under vacuum may be used to reduce the
drying temperature
• Some dryer can handle almost any kind of material
– while others are severely limited in the type of feed they can
accept
• A major division may be made between:
– Dryers in which the solids is directly exposed to a hot gas
• Direct or Adiabatic dryers
– Dryers in which the heat is transferred to the solid from an
external medium
• Indirect or Non-adiabatic dryers
– Some units combine adiabatic and non-adiabatic drying
• direct-indirect dryers
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Solids Handling in Dryers

• Most individual dryers handle particulate solids during
part or all of the drying cycle
• To understand the principle of drying
– the different patterns of motion of solid particles through dryer is
required to be studied
• In adiabatic dryers the solids are exposed to the gas in
the following ways:
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

(a) Cross circulation drying (b) through circulation drying (c) showering action in a rotary dryer
(d) Fluidized solids bed (e) cocurrent gas-solid flow in a pneumatic-conveyor or flash dryer
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Solids Handling in Dryers

• In non-adiabatic dryers the only gas to be removed is the
vaporized water or solvent
– sometimes a small amount of “sweep gas” (often air or nitrogen)
is passed through the unit
• Non-adiabatic dryers differs chiefly in the ways in which
the solids are exposed to the hot surface or other source
of heat
– Solids are spread over a stationary or slowly moving horizontal
surface and cooked until dry
– Solids are moved over a heated surface, usually cylindrical, by
an agitator, or a screw or paddle conveyor
– Solids slide by gravity over an inclined heated surface or are
carried upward with the surface for a time and then slide to new
location
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Principles of Drying
• There is no single theory of drying that covers all
materials and dryer types
• Variations in
– shape and size of stock
– moisture equilibria
– the mechanism of flow of moisture through the solid
– the method of providing the heat required for the vaporization
all prevent a unified treatment
• The water removed by vaporization is usually carried
away by air or hot gases
• The ability of these gases to pick up the water will
determined by their temperature and humidity
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Principles of Drying
• In designing dryers using air, the properties of air-water
system are required
– Humidity
– Humidity of Saturated Air
– Percent Relative Humidity
– Percent Humidity
– Humid Volume
– Saturated Volume
– Humid Heat
– Dew Point
– Wet Bulb Temperature
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Temperature Patterns in Dryers

• The way in which temperature vary in a dryer depends
on
– the nature and liquid content of the feed stock
– the temperature of the heating medium
– the drying time
– and the allowable final temperature of dry solids
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Temperature Patterns in Dryers

(a) Batch dryer (b) Continuous countercurrent adiabatic dryer

 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Temperature Patterns in Dryers

• In a non-adiabatic dryer with no sweep gas
– Tv is essentially the boiling point of the liquid at the pressure
prevailing in the dryer
• If a sweep gas is used or if the dryer is adiabatic
– Tv is at or near the wet bulb temperature of the gas
• The temperature of the heating medium may be constant
or it may be programmed to change as drying proceeds
• In a continuous dryer each particle or element of the
solid passes through a cycle similar to on its way from
inlet to the outlet of the dryer
• In steady-state operation the temperature at any given
point in a continuous dryer is constant
– but it various along the length of the dryer
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Heat Transfer in Dryers

• Drying of wet solids is by definition a thermal process
• While it is complicated by diffusion in the solid or through
a gas
• Wet solids for example can be dried by exposure to
highly superheated steam
• Here there is no diffusion; the problem is solely one of
heat transfer
• In most adiabatic drying, of course, diffusion is nearly
always present
– but often drying rates are limited by heat transfer, not mass
transfer
• Many, perhaps most, dryers are designed on the basis of
heat transfer consideration
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Calculation of Heat Duty

• Heat must be applied to a dryer to:
– Heat the feed (solids and liquid) to the vaporization temperature
– Vaporize the liquid (most significant as compared to others)
– Heat the solids to their final temperature
– Heat the vapor to its final temperature
• In the general case total rate of heat transfer may be
calculated
– the quantity of heat transferred per unit mass of solid qT/ms is

qT
= c ps (Tsb − Tsa ) + X a c pL (Tv − Tsa ) + ( X a − X b )λ
m& s
+ X b C pL (Tsb − Tv ) + ( X a − X b )C pv (Tva − Tv )
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Calculation of Heat Duty

• It is based on average specific heats for the temperature
range from inlet to outlet
– the heat of vaporization at Tv
• If vaporization occurs over a range of temperature,
above equation still applies
– because the total enthalpy change is independent of the path
followed from the initial to the final state
• In an adiabatic dryer Tv is the wet bulb temperature of
the gas and Thb and Tha are the inlet and exit gas
temperatures
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Calculation of Heat Duty

• The heat transferred to the solids, liquid and vapor,
comes from the cooling of the gas

where, mg = mass rate of dry gas; Hb = humidity of gas at inlet;

csb = humid heat of gas at inlet humidity
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Heat Transfer Coefficient

• In dryer calculations the basic heat transfer equation can
be applies

• The capacity of the dryer can be estimated from a

calculated or measured value of U
– but often there is considerable uncertainty in the area actually
available for heat transfer
• The total surface area of solid particles exposed to
heated surface is difficult to estimate
• Many dryers are designed on the basis of a volumetric
heat transfer coefficient Ua
– where a is the (unknown) heat transfer area per unit dryer
volume
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Heat Transfer Coefficient

• The governing equation is

• Because of the rather complex temperature pattern

– the true average temperature difference for the dryer as a whole
is not easy to define
• Sometimes, the outlet temperature of solids and gas are
so nearly the same that the difference between them
cannot be measured
• One general equation that is useful in drying calculations
for heat transfer from a gas to a single or isolated
spherical particle
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Heat Transfer Units

• Some adiabatic dryers, especially rotary dryers, are
conveniently rated in terms of the number of heat
transfer units they contain
• Heat transfer unit is analogous to the mass transfer unit
• One heat transfer unit is the section or part of the
equipment
– in which the temperature change is one phase equals the
average driving force (temperature difference) in that section
• Transfer units may be based on the temperature change
in either phase
– but in dryers they are always based on the gas
• The number of transfer units in the dryer is given by
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Heat Transfer Units

• When the initial liquid content of the solid is high and
most the heat transferred is for vaporization
– ∆T may be taken as the logarithmic mean difference between
the dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures

– For the system water air Twa = Twb

– The length of the transfer unit and the number of transfer units
appropriate for good design
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Mass Transfer in Dryers

• Mass must be transferred from the surface of the solid to
the gas and sometimes through interior channels of the
solid
• The resistance to mass transfer
– may control the drying of slabs, sheets, or bed of solids
• This drying is much like adiabatic humidification
– It is like evaporation when the solid is very wet
– and like solvent desorption from an adsorbent when the solid is
nearly dry
• The average rate of mass transfer mv is readily
calculated from the relation m& v = m& s ( X a − X b )
• If the gas enters at humidity Hb, the exit humidity Ha is
given by m& s ( X a − X b ) m& v
Ha = Hb + = Hb +
m& g m& g
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Mass Transfer in Dryers

• Prediction of mass transfer rates per unit area or unit
volume is less straight forward
• It requires a knowledge of
– the mechanism of the liquid and vapor motion in and through the
solid
– complicated phase equilibria between a wet solid and a humid
gas
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Phase Equilibria
• Equilibrium data for moist solids are commonly given as
– relationships between the relative humidity of the gas and the
liquid content of the solid
• When a wet solid is brought into contact with air of lower
humidity
– the solid tends to loose moisture and dry to equilibrium with the
air
• For ease in drying calculation the moisture content is
nearly always expressed in mass of water per unit mass
of dry solid
Selected Chemical Engineering Operations
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Equilibrium Moisture and Free Moisture

• The portion of the water in the wet solid that cannot be
removed by the inlet air
– because of the humidity of the latter, is called the ‘equilibrium
moisture’
• The free water is the difference between
– the total-water content of the solid and the equilibrium water
content
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Bound and Unbound Moisture

• If an equilibrium curve is continued to its intersection with
the axis for 100 percent humidity
– the moisture content so defined is the minimum moisture this
material can carry
– still exert a vapor pressure at least as great as that exerted by
liquid water at the same temperature
• If such a material contain more water than that indicated
by this intersection
– it can still exert only the vapor pressure of water at the solids
temperature
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Bound and Unbound Water

• The water corresponding to concentrations lower than
that indicated by this intersection of the curves with the
line for 100 percent humidity is called bound water
– because it exerts a vapor pressure less than that of liquid water
at the same temperature
• Water corresponding to concentrations greater than that
indicated by the intersection is called unbound water
• Thus water can be both bound and free at the same time
partially bound to the solid but free to be evaporated
• The distinction between bound and unbound water
depends on the material itself
– while the distinction between free and equilibrium moisture
depends on the drying conditions
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Cross-circulation Drying
• The mechanism of drying depends on
– the nature of the solids
– the method of contacting the solids and gas
• Solids are three kinds: crystalline, porous and non-
porous
– Crystalline particles contains no interior liquid, and drying occurs
only at the surface of the solid
– Truly porous solids, such as catalyst pellets, contain liquid in
interior channels
– Non porous solids include colloidal gels such as soap, glue and
plastic clay; dense cellular solids such as wood and leather, and
many polymeric materials
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

• The drying rate of solids containing internal liquid

– depends on the way the liquid moves and on the distance it must
travel to reach the surface
• This is especially important in cross-circulation drying of
slabs or bed of solids
• Drying by this method is slow
– is usually done by batch wise
– has been displaced by other faster method in most large-scale
drying operations
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Constant Drying Conditions

• During drying
– the temperature, humidity, and velocity and direction of flow of
the air across the drying surface are constant
• Note that only the conditions in the air stream are
constant
– as the moisture content and other factors in the solid are
changing
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Rate of Drying
• The rate of drying curve
– drying rate, R (kg H2O/h m2) vs free moisture, X (kg H2O/kg dry
solid) for constant drying conditions

A’

XC
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Rate of Drying
• The initial unsteady-state adjustment period is usually
quite short
– it is often ignored in the analysis of times of drying
• From point B to C the line is straight, the slope and rate
are constant during this period
– constant rate drying period
• At point C on both plots, the drying rate starts to
decrease in the falling rate period until it reaches point D
• A point D the rate of drying falls even more slowly, until it
reaches point E
– where the equilibrium moisture content is X* and X = X* – X* = 0
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Drying in Constant Rate Period

• The surface of the solid is initially very wet
– a continuous film of water exists on the drying surface
• This water is entirely unbound water and water acts as if
the solid were not present
• The rate of evaporation under the given air conditions is
independent of the solid
• Increased roughness of the solid surface
– may lead to higher rates than from a flat surface
• If the solid is porous
– most of the water evaporated in the constant rate period is
supplied from the interior of the solid
– this period continues only as long as the water is supplied to the
surface as fast as it is evaporated
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Drying in Constant Rate Period

• The rate of removal of the water vapor is controlled by
the rate of heat transfer to the evaporating surface
– which furnishes the latent heat of evaporation for the liquid
• At steady state rate of mass transfer balances the rate of
heat transfer
• To derive the equation for drying
– we neglect heat transfer by radiation to the solid surface
– also assume no heat transfer by conduction from metal pans or
surfaces
• The drying rate per unit area, Rc can be estimated from
correlations developed for evaporation from a free liquid
surface
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Drying in Constant Rate Period

• This calculations may be based on mass transfer or heat
transfer as follows M v k y ( yi − y ) A hy (T − Ti ) A
m& v = =
(1 − y ) L λi
mv = rate of evaporation; A = drying area; hy = heat transfer
coefficient; ky = mass transfer coefficient; Mv = molecular weight
of vapor; T = temperature of gas; Ti = temperature at interface; y
= mole fraction of vapor in gas; yi = mole fraction of vapor at
interface; λi = latent heat at temperature Ti
• To estimate the coefficient for the air flowing parallel with
the surface of a solid in the absence of experimental
information
hy = 8.8G 0.8 De0.2
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Drying in Constant Rate Period

• Equation is based on the properties of air at 95 0C
– it applies for Reynolds numbers between 2600 and 22000
• When the flow is perpendicular to the surface
– at air velocities between 0.9 and 4.5 m/s, the equation is in FPS
units h = 24.2G 0.37
y
• The constant drying rate m& v hy (T − Ti )
Rc = =
A λi
• In most situations
– temperature Ti may be assumed to be equal to the wet bulb
temperature of the air
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Drying in Constant Rate Period

• The temperature of the interface is greater than the wet
bulb temperature
– When radiation from hot surroundings and conduction from solid
surfaces in contact with the stock are not negligible
– However, yi is increased and rate of drying increased
accordingly
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Critical Moisture Content

• The constant rate period ends at a definite moisture
content
– during further drying the rate decreases
• The point terminating the constant rate period
– critical point
– when the liquid water on the surface is insufficient to maintain a
continuous film covering the entire drying area
• In nonporous solids the critical point occurs
– when the superficial moisture is evaporated
• In porous solids, the critical point is reached
– when the rate of moisture flow to the surface no longer equals
the rate of evaporation
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Critical Moisture Content

• The critical moisture content varies with
– the thickness of the material
– with the rate of drying
– not a property of the material itself
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Falling Rate Period

• The period subsequent to the critical point
• The drying rate curve varies from one type of material to
another
• The shape of the curve also depends on the thickness of
the material and on the external variables
• In some situations, there is a distinct break in the curve
during the falling rate period
– It is called the second critical point, corresponding to the second
critical moisture content
• Method of estimating drying rates in the falling-rate
period depends on whether the solid is porous or
nonporous
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Non-porous Solids and Diffusion Theory

• Once there is no more superficial moisture
– further drying can occur only at a rate governed by diffusion of
internal moisture to the surface
• Diffusion is characteristic of slow-drying materials
– In the solid controls the overall drying rate
• This method of transport of moisture is usually found
– where single phase solutions are formed with the moisture, such
as in paste, soap, gelatin and glue
• In drying many food materials
– the movement of water in the falling rate period occurs by
diffusion
• The moisture content at the surface is at or very near the
equilibrium value
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Non-porous Solids and Diffusion Theory

• The velocity of the air has little or no effect
• The humidity of the air influences the process primarily
through its effect on the equilibrium moisture content
• Since diffusivity increases with temperature
– the rate of drying increases with the temperature of the solid
• Equation for diffusion by assuming that the diffusion law
is given by equation ∂X ' ∂ 2
X
= Dv
∂t ∂b 2
X = concentration of solute in solution within solid; Dv’ =
diffusivity; b = distance
– Equation applies even though the moisture content X is based
on mass, not volume
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Non-porous Solids and Diffusion Theory

• Assumptions
– The diffusivity is constant
– The solid can be considered to be equivalent to very thin slabs of
constant density, size and shape
– The concentration X1 of the liquid in contact with the solid is
constant
– The initial concentration in the solid is uniform
XT − X * X 8  −a1β 1 −9 a1β 1 − 25a1β 
*
= = 2  e + e + e + .... 
X T1 − X X1 π  9 25 
β = Dv' tT s 2 ; a1 = (π / 2) 2
Where, XT = average total moisture content at time tT, h; X =
average free moisture content at time tT, h; X* = equilibrium
moisture content; XT1 = initial moisture content at start of drying
when t = 0; X1 = initial free moisture content; Dv’ = Diffusivity of
moisture through solid; s = one half slab thickness
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Non-porous Solids and Diffusion Theory

• The diffusivity usually is not constant but varies with
moisture content
• It is especially sensitive to shrinkage
• The value of Dv’ is less at small moisture contents than
at large and may be very small near the drying surface
• Thus, the moisture distribution called for by the diffusion
theory with constant diffusivity
Actual

X Center
Free Line
Moisture Theoretical

Slab thickness
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Non-porous Solids and Diffusion Theory

• When β>0.1 4s 2 8 X1
tT = 2 ' ln 2
π Dv π X

• Differentiating with respect to time and rearranging gives

2
dX  π  Dv'
− =  2 X
dt  2  s
• Equation shows that when diffusion controls
– the rate of drying is directly proportional to the free moisture
content
– inversely proportional to the square of the thickness
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Shrinkage and Case Hardening

• When bound moisture is removed from a colloidal
nonporous solid
– the material shrinks
• Since the outer layers necessarily lose moisture before
the interior portions
– the concentration of moisture in these layers is less than that in
the interior
– and the surface layers shrink against an unyielding, constant-
volume core
• This surface shrinkage causes checking, cracking and
warping
• The effect of shrinkage can be reduced
– by impeding the flow of moisture to the surface
 Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Shrinkage and Case Hardening

• In extreme cases,
– the shrinkage and drop in diffusivity may combine to give a skin,
practically impervious to moisture
– which encloses the bulk of the material
– so the interior moisture cannot be removed which is called
casehardening
• These effects can be minimized by reducing the rate of
drying
– Then the shrinkage of the surface is reduced
– and the diffusivity throughout the solid is more nearly constant
• The rate of drying is controlled most readily by
controlling the humidity of drying air
Selected Chemical Engineering Operations

Thank You