Experiment 4: Study the Drying characteristics of a solid Material in Tray Dryer.

1. Objective:
1. To produce a drying curve and drying rate curve for a wet solid being dried with air of fixed
Temperature and humidity.

2. To study the effect of gas flow rate, air temperature, and air humidity on the rate of drying.

2. Introduction:
Drying is a process consisting of the removal of water or another solvent evaporation from a solid, semi-
solid or liquid. This process is often used as a final production step before selling or packaging products. To
be considered "dried", the final product must be solid, in the form of a continuous sheet (e.g., paper), long
pieces (e.g., wood), particles (e.g., cereal grains or corn flakes) or powder (e.g., sand, salt, washing powder,
milk powder). A source of heat and an agent to remove the vapour produced by the process are often
involved.

In the most common case, a gas stream, e.g., air, applies the heat by convection and carries away the
vapour as humidity. Other possibilities are vacuum drying, where heat is supplied by conduction or
radiation (or microwaves), while the vapour thus produced is removed by the vacuum system. Another
indirect technique is drum drying (used, for instance, for manufacturing potato flakes), where a heated
surface is used to provide the energy, and aspirators draw the vapour outside the room. In contrast, the
mechanical extraction of the solvent, e.g., water, by filtration or centrifugation, is not considered "drying"
but rather "draining".

3. Theory:

The feed (wet solid) has a total weight w (dry solid + water). The weight of dry solid isw s.

In the drier, the solid start to lose moisture and then total weight.
w−w s
We can define the amount of water in solid at time t ( X t ) by the relation: Xt=
ws
Since only free water can be removed, the amount of free water is:

X F =X t −X ¿
(X* = Equilibrium moisture)

In the lab experiment:

 First, we measure the weight of wet solid (w) at certain time interval (t). Then we calculate X t
and X F .
¿
 Second, we will plot the variation of moisture content X F ( ¿ X t −X ) versus time.

 Third, for a small∆ t , we estimate the tangent d X F /dt for the∆ t .

CHE 3413_ Unit Operation: Drying characteristics of a solid material. _2019. Page 1 of 7
 −W s d X F
 Fourth, we calculate the rate of drying: R= . The amount of dry solid W s and the
A dt
contact area A should be given data.

 Fifth, taking the average moisture XF during the time ∆ t , we can now plot the rate of drying R as
a function of average moisture XF.

Figure. 1 The drying curve relating moisture content as a function of time.

CHE 3413_ Unit Operation: Drying characteristics of a solid material. _2019. Page 2 of 7
 Figure. 2 Drying rate curve.

4. Procedure:
1. Record the mass of the empty trays.
2. Record the mass of the tray with wood sample.
3. Dry the wood sample at 90°C for 1 hour to drive out the moisture in the sample.
4. Record the mass of the tray with dry wood sample.
5. Soak the wood sample in water for at least 90 minutes.
6. Drain off the excess water from the tray. Record the mass of the wet wood sample.
7. Switch on the main equipment, computer and software.
8. Start communication by clicking on IFD (telephone icon the screen).
9. Set the parameters for air flow, heater and fan control.
10. Record the room temperature and relative humidity of air.
11. Run the tray drier for 10 minutes until the temperature stabilizes.
12. Open the tray chamber and insert the tray with wet (soaked) wood samples.

CHE 3413_ Unit Operation: Drying characteristics of a solid material. _2019. Page 3 of 7
 13. Start the data acquisition (set the required time interval).
14. Record the mass and relative humidity for a minimum of 90 minutes to plot the graph.
15. Remove the tray from the tray drier.
5. Readings and Calculations: Attach the observations from the experiment.

Sample Description: ……………. Mass of the empty trays: ………… g

Mass of the wet sample:...………….. g Mass of the dry sample:……........ g

Ambient Room Temperature: ………… 0C Ambient Humidity:..………… … %

Temperature inside the chamber: (inlet) RH % inside the chamber (inlet):

……………….... 0C ………………..…………….. %

Temperature inside the chamber (outlet)……. RH % inside the chamber (outlet):

…………….... 0C ………………..………….. %
Total Drying Area of three Trays: 0.23m2

6. Results:
dX
6.1. Tabulate X t , X f , ∧R values
dt

Mass of the dry sample (ws) =………………. g Equilibrium moisture content (X*) = 0.055

Mass of X F =X t −X ¿ Average Relative Drying rate

Time the XF Humidity
(minutes) Sample w−w s R=-Ws/A (dXF)/dt
(w) g Xt= RH %
ws
0

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15

18

21

24

27

30

33

36

39

42

45

6.2. Plot the drying curve relating moisture content as a function of time.
6.3. Plot the drying rate curve.(Use Separate Sheet)

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