Natural Draft Tray Drier

INTRODUCTION

Drying of solids is considered to occur in two stages , a constant rate period

followed by a falling rate period. In the constant rate period the rate of drying
corresponds to the removal of water from the surface of solid. The falling rate
period corresponds to the removal of water from the interior of the solid. The
rate in either case is dependent on :

1.Flow rate of air

2. Solid characteristics

3. Tray material.

Drying can be described in terms of gas mass transfer and heat mass
transfer co-efficients.
Rate of drying is given by :

.................................................1

Where Q is the total heat supplied by the gas stream to the solid and is
given by :

.....................................2

Total heat supplied = Convective heat + Radiation heat + Conduction heat

Where hc , hr , hk are the heat transfer co-efficient for convection ,
radiation , and conduction respectively.
These co -efficients are given by :
 ...................................................3

.......................................4

...........................................5

Putting the value gives

..........................................6

Ratio of (hc/ky) = Lewis number (Le) and is given by

.......................................7

Cs is the specific heat of saturated gas at Ts

For an air water system Le is approximately equal to 1
Equations (3) and (7) yields hc and ky respectively.
Simultaneously iterative solutions of eqn. (6) with saturation humidity
curve provides the the solid surface temperature ,Ts and the corresponding
value of humidity Ys.
Knowing Ys eqn. (1) is used to find out the drying rate Nc.

NOMENCLATURE:
A : Drying surface area, m2
AU : Non drying surface area of drying solid , m2
Am : Average solid surface area , m2
CS : Saturated specific heat of air, J/kg0C
G : Mass velocity of gas, kg/m2-sec
N : Drying rate
NC : Constant drying rate , kg/m^2-sec
S : Mass of dry solid
Tg : Absolute temperature of gas (dry bulb),K
Zm : Metal thickness
Tr : Absolute temperature of radiating surface ,K
Ts : Absolute temperature of solid surface ,K

The main components are :

- Drying chamber
- Heater
- A tray
- Balance

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE:

1. Load the pre - weighed tray with solid and place it over the balance in
the drying chamber.
2. Record the weight of sand and tray.
3. Start the heater
4. When the desired conditions of temperature is reached, remove the
sample tray and put known amount of water in it to give a desired initial
moisture content.
5. Keep the tray gently in the drying chamber and start the stop watch.
Record the balance reading with time at about 3-5 min interval.
6. Drying is assumed to be complete when atleast 3 consecutive readings
are unchanged.
7. The same steps are repeated for other runs at different operating
conditions.