A CFD integrated drying model for improving drying conditions in industry Scale dryers

Abstract

Drying is a complex process involving simultaneous momentum, heat and mass transfer driven by gradients in pressure, temperature, moisture concentration, and velocity. While recent efforts have integrated drying models with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to improve process understanding, most existing models focus on convective drying of single samples. There remains a critical need for further studies to optimize drying conditions using CFD-integrated models for multiple samples under diverse inlet air velocities. In this study, a CFD-integrated drying model was developed to investigate drying uniformity for multiple samples under various conditions. This includes investigating whether a meshed inlet can enhance airflow distribution, thereby improving both drying uniformity and drying rates. Moreover, the study examined the uniformity of air velocity, moisture content, and sample temperature for different sample arrangements and positions within the drying chamber. Results indicated that higher air velocities significantly enhance moisture removal and temperature uniformity among samples, while sample placement notably affects drying rates. Moreover, the inclusion of meshed inlet can reduce the low energy spots within the drying chamber for optimizing the drying efficiency of the system. However, higher uniformities in air velocity and sample temperature, and moisture content were achieved from the non-perforated air inlet. This research highlights the critical role of meshed inlet and sample orientations in optimizing airflow and drying conditions, providing insights to improve energy efficiency, achieve consistent drying performance, and reduce quality degradation during the drying process.