ENERGY ANALYSIS OF A ROTARY DRYER

Experiment No. 12

I. OBJECTIVE
1. To determine the thermal efficiency of a counter current rotary dryer in the
Mechanical Engineering Laboratory of the University of San Carlos.
2. To analyze the mass transfer, heat transfer, mass balance and heat balance of the
counter current rotary dryer.
3. To determine the moisture removed from the sample as a function of time.

II. MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

1 Counter current rotary dryer 1 Beaker
1 Heater/Blower 1 Bucket
1 Sling psychrometer 1 Psychrometric chart
1 Thermometer 1 Triangle or ruler
1 Weighing scale 1 Sack of saw dust

III. THEORY
Drying is a highly energy-intensive process, accounting for 10–20% of total industrial energy use
in most developed countries. The main reason for this is the need to supply the latent heat of
evaporation to remove the water or other solvent. There are thus clear incentives to reduce
energy use in drying: to conserve finite resources of fossil fuels, to reduce carbon footprint and
combat climate change, and to improve process economics, but it is a challenging task facing
real thermodynamic barriers (Kemp 2012). Drying is perhaps the oldest and most commonly
used technique in the mechanical industries. Basically drying is done by vaporizing the moisture
of wet feedstock, by supplying heat to it. Heat may be supplied by three common means i.e.
convection, conduction, and radiation, or by placing the wet material in a microwave or in an
electromagnetic field (Deshmukh 2013).
The dryer consists basically of a cylindrical shell inclined at a small angle to the
horizontal. Wet feed is introduced into the upper end of the dryer and the dried product
withdrawn at the lower end. The inside of the shell is equipped with lifting flights. As

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the dryer rotates, the solids are picked up by the flights and are conveyed for a certain
distance around the periphery before dislodging and falling back as a rain of particulate
material through a hot air stream. The majority of the drying occurs during this period,
when the solids are in intimate contact with the air. Therefore, a good flight design is
essential to promote the gas–solid contact that is required for rapid and homogeneous
drying (Baker 1988; Fernandez 2009). A dryer may incorporate one or more different
types of flights. A sufficient number of flights must be distributed across the drum in
such a way that the volume of material transported by the flights is between 10 and 15%
of the total material volume inside the dryer. The number and format of flights influence
the amount of material present in the rotary dryer (Lisboa 2007)
For this experiment, a counter-current rotary dryer is used. This dryer consists of
a slightly inclined rotating cylinder, fitted with a series of peripheral flights arranged to
lift, distribute the material; cascading wet material through a hot gas stream. The hot gas
induces moisture evaporation. The heat lost to the material and evaporation of water
vapor reduces the gas temperature (APV Dryer Handbook, n.d.).

Fig 1. Typical Rotary Dryer Arrangements (APV Dryer Handbook)

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In a counter-current rotary dryer, warm air enters the dryer at the opposite end to the feed
material. Counter-current flow therefore brings the highest temperature air into contact with the
product as the final traces of moisture are being removed, and this helps to ensure the lowest
possible moisture content. The product temperature is normally higher than the equivalent
parallel flow dryer and this system can be used where it is desired to discharge the material at a
high temperature (APV Dryer Handbook, n.d.).

Fig 2. Behavior of Two Gases A (red) and B (gray) With and Without a Partition
(Retrieved from: HyperPhysics.com)

The evaporation of water is due to the intermingling of surface molecules. This is

called diffusion. Diffusion refers to the process by which molecules intermingle as a
result of their kinetic energy of random motion. The left illustration of figure 2 shows a
container of gas A (red) and B (gray) separated by a partition. The molecules of both
gases are in constant motion and make numerous collisions with the partition. If the
partition is removed as in the right illustration, the gases will mix because of the random
velocities of their molecules. In time a uniform mixture of A and B molecules will be
produced in the container (Retrieved from: HyperPhysics.com)
Molecules on the water, if given enough energy by a substance with high momentum, can
escape from the surface into the air. The rate at which water molecules escape from the surface
depends on a number of factors such as air temperature and water temperature, humidity ratio,
and surface area of water exposed. Material or mass balance in a rotary dryer is an account of
material entering a system, which must equal the material leaving a system if no hold up, occurs.
Care must be taken to account for the various means through which material can leave a system.
Heat Balance is an account of the heat supplied to the system and the heat used. The heat
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required in the dryer is generally made up of the following: (a) Sensible heat to for raising the
material to the drying temperature. (b) Heat required for raising the temperature and then the
evaporation of the liquid. (c) Heat losses through the equipment losing by radiation and
convection. (d) Heat lost in exhaust or due to air leakage and in the rejected heating medium like
condensate if it is not recovered or recycled (Bulanon, Sebalda, Sedoriosa, and Zerda, BSME
2015).

Fig 3. Mass and Energy Balance in a Counter Current Rotary Dryer (Bulanon; Sebalda,
Sedoriosa, and Zerda, BSME 2015).

Fig. 3 shows the mass and energy balance in a counter current rotary dryer. Qw
represents the heat loss in the dryer, G and P represent the gas and product flow
respectively, X represents the moisture content in the product, Y represents the moisture
content in air, and j and h represent the enthalpy content of the product and of the air
respectively (Bulanon; Sebalda, Sedoriosa, and Zerda, BSME 2015).
The total energy within the system of the rotary dryer is divided in to six
components. These are namely; the heat input of the blower, Qblower , the paddle work from
the motor, Q Paddle, the heat loss,Qloss, the heat absorbed by the drum, Qabsorbed ,drum, the heat
absorbed by the sample,Qabsored , sample , and the heat of the exhaust, Qout . With these
components an energy balance can be constructed as

Qblower +Q Paddle =Qloss +Qabsorbed , drum +Qabsored , sample +Q out Equation1 a

Qblower =C p , air ( T inlet −T ambient ) Equation1 b
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 Qabsorbed ,drum =C p , material drum ( T initial −T final )drum
Equation1 c
Q Paddle=C p , sample ( T s−¿ −T after paddle ) Equation1 d
4 4
Qabsorbed ,sample =(a C ¿ ¿ p , saw dust+ b C p ,water ) ( t ¿ −t out ) + Le @ drying temperature+σε (T i −T ∞ )¿
Qout =C p , air ( T out −T ambient ) Equation1 e
Equation1 f

thus,

C p ,air ( t inlet −t ambient ) +(a C ¿ ¿ p , saw dust+ b C p ,water ) ( t initial −t after paddle )=Qloss +C p ,iron ( t beforeheating−t after heating ) +(a C ¿ ¿ p ,

Equation1
where C p ,air is the specific heat of the ambient air, t inlet is the temperature at the inlet of the dryer
inlet, t ambient is the temperature of the ambient air, C p ,saw dust is the specific heat of the saw dust,
t initial is the initial temperature of the saw dust, t after paddle is temperature of the saw dust after the
paddling motion, Qloss is the heat lost in the system, C p ,ironis the specific heat of material used in
the rotary dryer, t beforeheating is the temperature of the drum before heating, t after heatingtemperature of
the drum after heating, a is the ratio of saw dust to moisture, b is the ratio of moisture to saw
dust, C p ,water is the specific heat of water, t out is the exit temperature of the sample, Leis the latent
heat of vaporization of water, σ is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, ε is the emissivity of saw dust,
and t exhaust is the exhaust temperature.

Fig 4. Mass Balance of the System (Bulanon, Sebalda, Sedoriosa, and Zerda, BSME 2015)

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As shown in Fig. 4, the final mass of the sample is considerably less than that of the initial mass.
This is due to the moisture removal of the product and the significant losses incurred during the
drying process. The mass balance is shown as

ms−¿ −mms−msl =ms−f Equation2

ma−¿ + mms −mal =ma−f Equation3

where ms−¿is the mass of the sample entering the dryer, mms is the moisture evaporated from the
sample, msl is the loss of the sample in the system,ms− f is the final mass of the sample,ma−¿ is the
mass of the supply air entering the dryer, mal is the loss of supply air in the system, and ma−f is
the final mass of the supply air.
In both scenarios, it can be concluded that there is a change in energy for both the sample
and supply air. In order to quantify this change in energy, we refer to the use of enthalpy.
Enthalpy by definition is the measure of the total energy stored in a thermodynamic system. It
includes the internal energy, which is the energy required to create a system, and the amount of
energy required to make room for it by displacing its environment and establishing its volume
and pressure. This is given by

H=U + PV Equation 4

where H is the total enthalpy of the system, U is the internal energy, P is the Pressure and V is
the volume. The change in internal energy is defines as the heat applied to the system minus the
work done by the system. This is given by

∆ U =Q−W Equation5

where ∆ U is the change of internal energy in the system, Q is the heat applied to the system , W
is the work done by the system.
From equation 4, it can be constructed that the change in internal energy would be equal
to the change in internal energy plus the change in pressure times its volume. Substituting
equation 5 to equation defined above gives:
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 ∆ H =Q−W + ∆ PV Equation6

where ∆ H is the Change in enthalpy and ∆ P is thechange in pressure.

The work done by the system is defined as the pressure times the change in volume

W =P ∆ V Equation7

Substituting equation 6 to equation 7 gives

∆ H =Q−P ∆ V + ∆ PV Equation 8

The change in enthalpy will be equal to the heat applied to the system if the last two
terms of equation 8 will cancel out.
In order for the change in enthalpy to be equal to the heat applied to the system, the
pressure multiplied by the change in volume must be equal. The condition at which this occurs is
when the pressure is constant. Therefore when the pressure is constant, which is the condition
during the performance of the experiment, the change in enthalpy will be equal to the heat added.
This is shown as,

Equation 9 a
∆ H =Q

where ∆ H is the change in enthalpy and Q is the heat added to the system.
Enthalpy depends on three (3) things: temperature, mass, and specific heat. The specific
heat is a property of a substance that indicates how much energy is required to raise the
temperature of 1 kilogram by 1 kelvin. Thus,

∆ H =mC p ∆ T Equation 9 b

where m is the mass of substance, C p is the specific heat of substance at constant pressure and
∆ T is the change in temperature of the substance.

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 With enthalpy now fully defined, the total heat input of the blower will be the difference
between the enthalpy at the air inlet and the enthalpy of the ambient air. This gives

H dr =H inlet −H out Equation10 a

H dr =C p t ¿ −C p t out Equation10 b
h−¿ h−¿

H dr =C p (t ¿−t out ) Equation10

h−¿

where H dr is the total heat input of the blower C p is the specific heat of ambient air, t ¿ is the
h−¿

temperature of air at inlet and t out is the temperature of exhaust air.

Specific heat of ambient air is obtained by summating the specific heat of dry air and the
specific heat of water vapor since the ambient air is composed of dry air and water vapor.
Therefore,

C p =C p , a+(W amb C p ,v ) Equation11

h−¿

where C p ,a is the Specific heat of dry air, W amb is the humidity ratio of ambient air, and C p ,v is
the specific heat of water vapor.
The theoretical evaporation of water is obtained by dividing the heat input by the
summation of the sensible heat of water and the latent heat of vaporization of water at the drying
temperature. Thus,

Total heat input per kg of ambient air of blower

ETH = raise the water temperature+latent heat of vaporization ¿
Sensible heat ¿
C p (t ¿−t amb) Equation12
ETH = h−¿

C p , w ( t out −t s −¿ ) + Le

Where ETH is the theoretical evaporation of water, t ambis the temperature of ambient air, C p ,w is
the specific heat of water, t out is the exhaust air temperature,t s−¿ is the initial temperature of the
sample, and Le is the latent heat of evaporation of water.
The actual evaporation is obtained by experimental method. This is done by subtracting
the final humidity ratio by the initial humidity ratio. Referring back to fig. 4, an increase in the
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mass of air is to be expected due to the absorption of water molecules from the sample. Thus,

E a=
( ) ( )
mw
ma out
−
mw
ma amb
Equation13
E a=W out −W amb

where E a is the actual evaporation, mw is the mass of water vapor, ma is the mass of dry air, W out
is the humidity ratio at exhaust W amb is the humidity ratio of ambient air.
With the theoretical and actual evaporation obtained, the percent heat loss of the dryer is
obtained by dividing the difference between the theoretical and actual evaporation by the
theoretical evaporation the multiplied by 100. Therefore,

ETH −E a Equation14
R= ×100
ETH

where R is the percent heat loss of the dryer.

With the percent heat loss, the percent heat utilized can be obtained. The product of the
heat utilized and the total heat input of the dryer is the actual heat of vaporization supplied by the
dryer,

H e =( Heat utilized ) (H dr ) Equation15 a

(100−R) Equation15 b
H e= (H dr)
100

where H e is the actual heat of vaporization supplied by the dryer.

The dryer efficiency is expressed as the actual heat of vaporization divided by the heat supplied
to the air;
Equation16
He
ɳ= ×100
Cp h−¿
(t ¿ −t amb)
where ɳ is dryer efficiency.

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 Psychrometrics deals with the thermodynamic properties of moist air and uses these
properties to analyze conditions and processes involving moist air. Dry air exists when all water
vapor and contaminants have been removed from atmospheric air. Moist air is a binary (two-
component) mixture of dry air and water vapor. The amount of water vapor in moist air varies
from zero (dry air) to a maximum that depends on temperature and pressure. The latter condition
refers to saturation, a state of neutral equilibrium between moist air and the condensed water
phase (liquid or solid). The psychrometric chart indicates the properties of this water vapor
through the following parameters shown in fig. 5.

Fig 5. Parameters of Moist Air from Psychrometric Chart (Earle, R. L.1983)

The dry bulb temperature, t db, of the air is measured with a thermometer. Traditional
thermometers have a bulb that contains a liquid that expands, and a tube indicating the
temperature on a scale. As the liquid expands, it rises up the scale. In the HVAC business, we
use a thermocouple and electronic meter or an infrared thermometer because these are faster and
more rugged. Whichever method is used, this measurement is called the dry bulb temperature
because the end of the thermometer that is making the measurement has no moisture on it. This
temperature is shown as the horizontal axis of the chart. The wet bulb temperature, t wb, is
measured by having he bulb of the thermometer moist. The moisture evaporates, lowering the
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temperature recorded by the thermometer. Less moisture in the air will result in a faster rate of
evaporation and therefore a colder reading. In practice, we can use an electronic thermometer
and wrap a paper tissue over the thermocouple. Make the paper tissue moist, but not too wet that
water is dripping from it. Move air over the tissue (or move the thermocouple through the air) so
the water evaporates (Bhatia 2012).
Relative humidity, ∅ , is the ratio of the fraction of water vapor in the air to the fraction of
saturated moist air at the same temperature and pressure. RH is dimensionless, and is usually
expressed as a percentage. 100% RH indicates the air is saturated and cannot hold any more
moisture. The line at 100% is referred to as the saturation line. The dew point, t dew, of the air is
the temperature at which a moist air sample reaches water vapor saturation. It is equivalent to a
wet bulb temperature at 100% relative humidity. At this combination of temperature and
humidity, further removal of heat results in water vapor condensing into liquid. A practical view
of the dew point is the temperature to which air must be cooled before condensation will begin.
An example is when you take a bottle of beer out of the refrigerator. Water condenses on the
outside of the bottle only if the original temperature of the bottle was below the dew point. The
instantaneous temperature of the water is the dew point temperature (Bhatia 2012).
Humidity ratio,W , is the proportion of the mass of water vapor per unit mass of dry air.
Humidity ratio is dimensionless, but in the US it is usually expressed as pounds of moisture per
pound of dry air; elsewhere it may be expressed as grams of water per kilogram of dry air or as a
percentage. Enthalpy, H , is the total amount of heat energy of the moist air and therefore
includes the amount of heat of the dry air and the water vapor in the air. In the approximation of
ideal gases, lines of constant enthalpy are parallel to lines of constant WB temperature. Thus the
enthalpy is indicated by diagonal lines on the chart. In the US, enthalpy is measured in BTU per
pound of dry air; elsewhere it is measured in Joules per kilogram of air. Specific volume, , is the
inverse of density or the volume per unit mass of the air sample. This is shown as diagonal lines
on the chart. In the US, this is measured by cubic feet per pound of dry air; elsewhere it is
measured by cubic meters per kilogram of dry air. Fig. 8 shows the commonly used
psychrometric chart at atmospheric pressure (Bhatia 2012).

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Page 12
 Fig. 8 Psychrometric Chart (Stoecker and Jones)
IV. PROCEDURE

A. Measurements
1. Preheat the rotary dryer using the heater/blower for about 5 to 10 minutes in order to remove
moisture inside the dryer. At the same time, turn on the motor of the rotary dryer to remove
left over samples from the previous tests.
2. Using the sling psychrometer, measure the dry bulb and wet bulb temperature of the ambient
air by whirling it for 5 min. Record as t db−amb and t wb−amb respectively.
3. From the obtained readings, find the humidity ratio W amb using a psychrometric chart.
4. Fill a bucket with the sample provided by the laboratory.
5. After filling the bucket, wet the sample with water; make sure that the sample is completely
wet to assure uniform moisture content.
6. Once the sample is completely wet, drain the bucket of excess water.
7. Fill a beaker with the wetted sample. The wetted sample must be compressed as the beaker is
filled. Once the beaker is filled, take the weight of the controlled sample and divide it by its
occupied volume to obtain its initial density. Record as ❑i.
8. Return the controlled sample back to the bucket.
9. Measure the temperature of the wet sample before feeding to the dryer. Record as t s−¿.
10. Feed the sample at the dryer’s feed inlet in small amounts but continuous manner, do it until
the bucket is empty.
11. As the sample is being dried inside the rotary dryer, use a thermometer to measure the
temperature of the hot air at dryer inlet and also the temperature at the dryer exhaust. Record
as t ¿ and t out respectively.
12. Still as the sample is being dried, use the sling psychrometer again to measure the dry bulb
and wet bulb temperature at the exhaust of the dryer and record them as t db−out and t wb−out
respectively. There is no need to sling the psychrometer as there is air flow from the exhaust.
13. With the obtained temperature values from step 12, use a psychrometric chart to find the
moisture content of the exhaust air, record as W out.
14. Once all of the sample has been dried and collected, perform step 7 for the dried sample to
obtain its final density, record as ❑f .
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B. Calculations
1. Having obtained all necessary parameters, determine the specific heat of humid air entering
the dryer, C p , using equation 11.
h−¿

2. After determining the specific heat of humid air entering the dryer, calculate the total heat
input to the dryer, H dr , using equation 10.
3. Calculate the theoretically possible evaporation without any losses, ETH , using equation 12.
4. Calculate the actual evaporation, E a, using equation 13
5. Calculate the % heat loss, R , in dryer out of the total heat usage of H dr using equation 14.
6. Calculate the heat used only for the evaporation in the dryer, H e , using equation 15.
7. Calculate the thermal efficiency of the dryer, ɳ , using equation 16.
8. Calculate the change in density, ∆ , of the sample by subtracting the final density by the
initial density.

C. Moisture content removed

1. Perform steps 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7 from part A of the experiment.
2. Prepare a timer and set it at 90 seconds.
3. After the residue from the previous test has been removed and the rotary dryer has been
preheated feed the controlled sample from the beaker to the rotary dryer and at the same time
start the timer.
4. Allow the sample to be dried inside the rotary drier until timer stops. At this point, remove
the blower from the inlet and wait for the sample to be collected from the rotary drier.
5. Perform step 14 from part A of the experiment.
6. Repeat steps 1 to 5 nine more times with each trial being 30 seconds longer than its previous
trial.
7. Tabulate the data obtained and plot the graph between the percent moisture removed versus
time.

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Illustrations of the Procedure (Bulanon, Sebalda, Sedoriosa, and Zerda, BSME 2015):

Fig. 9 Obtaining Properties of Ambient Air Fig. 10 Wetting the sample

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Fig. 11 Wet sample weighing Fig. 12 Plugging in Equipments

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Fig. 13 Turning on Heater/Blower Fig. 14 Dryer Pre-heating

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Fig. 15 Measuring the Inlet Temperature Fig. 16 Measuring the Exhaust Temp

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Fig. 17 Obtaining the Sample Density Fig. 18 Feeding the wet sample

Fig. 18 Weighing of Dried Sample

V. SUGGESTED TABULATION OF RESULTS

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Table 1. Counter Current Rotary Dryer Test Data Obtained From Part A and B
Parameter Nature of Value of Value Unit
Equation #
Trial Duration
Temperature of ambient air, t amb
Moisture content of ambient air, W amb
Temperature of air at dryer inlet, t ¿
Temperature of air at dryer exhaust, t out
Moisture content of exhaust air, W out
Specific heat of dry air, cp a
Specific heat of water vapor, cp v
Specific heat of humid air entering the dryer,
cp h−¿
Temperature of sample at inlet to dryer, t s−¿
Volume occupied by the sample, V
Initial density of sample, ❑i
Specific heat of water, cp w
Latent heat of vaporization of water at t ¿, Le
Total heat input to the dryer, H dr
Theoretically possible evaporation without
losses, Eth
Actual evaporation, E a
Percent heat loss in the dryer out of the total
heat usage of H dr , R
Thermal efficiency of dryer, ŋ
Final density of sample, ❑f

Table 2. Data Recorded From Obtaining the Percent Moisture Removed as a Function of Time
Time Initial density Final density Change in density
% moisture removed
(sec) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3)
90
120
150
180
210
240
270
300
330
360

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VI. REFERENCES
A. Bhatia, B. (2012). Retrieved from HVAC Made Easy - Overview of Psychrometrics:
http://www.hvaceducationaustralia.com/Resources/PDF/Psychrometrics_overview.pdf
APV Dryer Handbook. (2004). APV Crepaco.
C.D., D. (2013). Performance, Effect of Insulation on Rotary Drum Dryer’s. Research Journal of
Engineering Sciences, 32-36.
(n.d.). Classification and Selection of Dryers. In A. S. Mujumdar. Retrieved from SERVE.
Earle, R. (1983). Unit Operations in Food Processing. Retrieved from NZIFST:
http://www.nzifst.org.nz/unitoperations/drying1.htm#httransfer
Ian C. Kemp. (2012). Fundamentals of Energy Analysis of Dryers. In Modern Drying
Technology Volume 4: Energy Savings, First Edition.
M. H. Lisboa, D. S. (2007). A Study of Particle Motion in Rotary Dryer. Brazilian Journal of
Chemical Engineering, 365-374.
Mitchell Dryers Ltd. (n.d.). Rotary Dryers.
N. J. Fernandes, C. H. (2009). Modeling and Experimental Study of Hydrodynamic and Drying
Characteristics of an Industrial Rotary Dryer. Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering,
331-341.
Stoecker, W. F., & Jones, J. W. (n.d.). Refrigeration and Air Conditioning. New York: McGraw-
Hill, Inc.

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