Simultaneous Heat & Mass Transfer

(Lab Report)

Topic:
Determination of Moisture Content of Sand
Using Oven Dryer

Submitted To:
Miss. Ayesha Saddiqua
Department of chemical Engineering

Submitted By:
Mohammad Rizwan
Aneel Ahmed

BEC-FA11-115

Tamoor Tariq

BEC-FA11-021

COMSATS Institute of Information

Technology, Lahore

Introduction:

BEC-FA11-119

Drying is a mass transfer process consisting of the removal of water or

another solvent by evaporation from a solid, semi-solid or liquid. This process is often used as a
final production step before selling or packaging products[1].
The removal of relatively small amounts of water or other liquid to solid material to reduce the
content of residual liquid to an acceptable low value is drying. Occasionally the product
contains no liquid is bone-dry.
The air entering a dryer is seldom completely dry but contains some moisture and has a
definitely relative humidity. For air of definitely humidity, the moisture content of solid leaving
the dryer cannot be less than the equilibrium moisture content corresponding to the humidity
of entering air. The portion of water in the water in the wet solid that cannot be removed by
the inlet air, because of humidity of latter, is called equilibrium moisture content.
Water content or moisture content is the quantity of water contained in a material, such

as soil (called soil moisture), rock, ceramics, fruit, or wood. Water content is used in a wide
range of scientific and technical areas, and is expressed as a ratio, which can range from 0
(completely dry) to the value of the materials' porosity at saturation. It can be given on a
volumetric or mass (gravimetric) basis.[2]
In equation form, it can be written as; [3]

Where

w = moisture content of sand (expressed as a percentage)

= mass of water in sand sample
= total mass of sand including water

An oven is a thermally insulated chamber used for the heating, baking or drying of a
substance, and most commonly used for cooking. Kilns and furnaces are special-purpose ovens,
used in pottery and metalworking, respectively.[4]
A laboratory oven heats its contents via the principle of convection. The heating element is not
located within the specimen chamber of the oven, but in a separate external envelope. This
prevents radiant heat from affecting the specimen, but the resulting temperature of the oven
walls is enough to heat and dehydrate a specimen.
Convective heat transfer is achieved by gravity or mechanical convection. In the former, cooler
air is displaced by warmer air and directed towards the heating element until the entire
chamber is up to temperature. Since this method has poor uniform heat distribution, energy
waste, and a longer preheat time than mechanical convection, mechanical convection lab

ovens are favorable. These types heat quicker and more evenly due to blowers and baffles in
the oven chamber.

The essential functions of a laboratory oven are:[5]

Drying: removing the moisture from the specimen and chamber as efficiently as possible.
Baking: heating a substrate without dehumidifying it.
Curing: the sample is physically or chemically altered by a slow baking and drying process.
In a bed of wet solid, over which air is circulated. Assume that temperature, humidity, velocity
and direction of air flow across the drying surface constant. This is called drying under constant
drying conditions.
Following different types of dryers are available;
1. Tray dryer
4. Flash dryer

2.Tower dryer
5. Fluid bed dryer

3. Rotary dryer

Tray Dryer
The apparatus comprises of an air duct mounted on floor standing frame to give a comfortable
working height for the operator. Air is drawn into the duct through a mesh guard by a motor
driven axial flow fan impeller whose speed can be controlled to produce a range of air
velocities. The air passes over a power regulator to provide a variation in air temperature at low
air velocities.
The air passes into the central section of the duct where three trays of material to be dried are
suspended in the air stream. The trays are carried on support frame. The trays are inserted or
removed from duct through a latched side door.
After passing over the drying trays, the air is discharged at outlet duct section where a velocity
meter can be positioned.

Observations & Calculations:

Weight of dish = w1 = 286.5 g

Weight of dish + Weight of sand = w2 = 372 g
Weight of sand = ws = w2 w1 = 372 286.5 = 85.5 g
Weight of sand + Weight of dish + water added = w3 = 398 g
Weight of water added = wm = w3 - w2 = 398 -372 = 26 g

Moisture content =

Observations:
Natural
No

time

10

15

20

25

30

35

weight

398

392

387

382

378

375

373

372

Moisture

By Force
No

Time (min)

10

15

20

25

30

Weight (gm)

398

390

385

381

377

374

372

Moisture
(gm)

Res
ult:

NATURAL
7
6

MOISTURE

5
4
3
2
1
0
0

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

TIME (MIN)

BY FORCE
7
6

MOISTURE

5
4
3
2
1
0
0

10

15

20
TIME (MIN)

25

30

35

Safety Guidelines:[6]
1.
2.
3.
4.

Be aware of what you are doing and follow proper safety procedures.
Do not overload the machine.
Do not exceed recommended operating temperatures.
Do not use mercury thermometers to monitor the temperature inside the oven as
breakage can cause accidental spill and exposure to mercury.
5. Do not plug in equipment with an extension cord.
6. If you have a model with an exposed heating element on the bottom, do not place items
on the shelf that can potentially fall onto the heating element.
7. Make sure the equipment is properly maintained. Report any faults to your supervisor
immediately

Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

What is moisture content? How we can calculate it?

What is drying process?
What is difference between free and force drying?
What is tray dryer?
What are the different types of dryers?
What is the effect of temperature gradient on drying process?
What are the different factors that effects drying?
Differentiate between crystallization and drying?
How can we get effective drying?
What are applications of Tray Dryer?
How can we calculate heat duty of oven tray dryer?
Why we carry out drying?
What is general principal of Drying?
What is difference between free moisture and bound moisture?
What is difference between drying process and distillation process?
What are the important functions of laboratory oven?
How we can calculate Humidity?
What is difference between relative humidity and percentage humidity?
What is difference between drying process and absorption process?
What is difference between drying process and adsorption process?

References:

[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drying.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_content.
m. content, "<EXPeriment-9.pdf>."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oven.
http://www.globalspec.com/learnmore/labware_scientific_instruments.
B. university, "<EHS-Oven-and-Dryer-Safety-Guidelines-.pdf>."
Coulson and Richardson Vol (II)
Process Heat transfer by D.Q.kern
Unit operation by Mccabe Smith & heriott

Apparatus diagram: