40th anniversary commemorative issue of Drying Technology

Abstract

It is a matter of distinct pleasure and privilege for me to present this special issue designed to commemorate successful completion of four decades of uninterrupted publication of this archival journal focused on drying science, technology and engineering. The journal was first proposed by Dr. Carl W. Hall, the founding Editor of Drying Technology. The journal was then published by the New York based publishing house Marcel Dekker, Inc. It took two years to publish the first two issues of the journal in camera-ready format in 1982–83. The original idea for a peer-reviewed journal was rooted in successful completion of the first three International Drying Symposia (IDS); the first two in 1978 and 1980 were held in Montreal, Canada and the third one in Birmingham, UK. During the early phase of the journal, I assisted Dr. Hall in forming an International Editorial Advisory Board, inviting authors for articles and reviewing them before revising and getting them in a camera-ready format. As a new journal, as expected, it was a challenge to find authors who could contribute high-quality manuscripts as most preferred to publish their articles in IDS proceedings and in a book series I had established prior to the idea of this journal was conceptualized. The history of this journal will be a topic of future articles and editorials. Suffice it to say here that the journal has had a chequered history and we have had to be truly innovative and fully globalized. The original primary goal of the journal was to bring the widely scattered community of researchers in academia and industry together and then provide them an opportunity to disseminate peer-reviewed original research in drying and closely allied areas. Clearly, this is important for any research area to develop and grow. It was especially crucial for drying research as it was a new emerging area not commonly recognized as an important area for challenging research. In fact, it took over a decade for the journal to establish itself as a result of very hard work of the editors and members of the editorial team in cooperation with program chairs of the biennial IDS series. It is important to note that in the early years, we faced a severe shortage of both authors and expert reviewers. Another challenge we faced was to create interest from diverse industrial sectors to participate in IDS conferences and to contribute to this journal. Fortunately, there has been a continuous increase in the number of refereed articles the journal has published over the past four decades (Figure 1). There is also a continuous increase in the quality of articles published as indicated by the impact factor and citations. It is noteworthy that the journal has published articles from authors based in over 100 countries. It is obvious that globalization is the key to continuing success of the journal. Different countries have been the major contributors to the journal during different periods of its publication. Currently, China is the main contributor, with more than 870 papers published in this journal (Figure 2). Not surprisingly, the journal has undergone numerous transformations and changes in the composition of the editorial team. We have made special effort to ensure true international representation and attempted to seek representation from diverse industrial sectors where drying is a key operation. It is difficult to quantify the influence this journal has had in enhancing drying technologies in numerous industrial sectors. The journal has nevertheless published numerous articles focusing on design and scale-up as well as control of conventional as well as innovative dryers. Some of these ideas have found applications in industry. Many more will be incorporated in future drying systems to enhance thermal efficiency, product quality, safety and ensure better environmental control in coming years. These are especially important to ensure sustainability and reduce negative impact on climate change. With the rapid advent of artificial intelligence, I believe we will see a major shift in R&D in drying and drying technologies. More attention will be given to achieving sustainability goals and mitigating climate change through newer innovative technologies. New applications for drying and dewatering research in biotechnology and medicine can be expected in the coming decade. Indeed, we are looking forward to advanced modeling and analytical research, which will help with the development of new products and processes. The editorial team is especially delighted that Professor Judson King of University of California, Berkeley and