Problems 471

Draw the drying curve for this material and construct a curve for the drying rate as a function
of the moisture content.
(a) What is the critical moisture content for each of the falling rate zones?
(b) What is the constant drying rate?
(c) Determine the residual moisture content for each of the falling rate stages.
(d) The dehydration was conducted at an air flow rate of 50 m/s at a dry bulb temperature of
82 C and a wet bulb temperature of 43 C. The wet material has a density of 947 kg/m3
and were dried in a layer 2.5 cm thick. If the same conditions were used but the initial
moisture content was 91% (wet basis) and a thicker layer of material (3.5 cm) were used
on the drying trays, how long will it take to dry this material to a final moisture content of
12% (wb)?
12.4. A continuous countercurrent drier is to be designed to dry 500 kg/h of food product from 60%
(wet basis) moisture to 10% (wet basis) moisture. The equilibrium moisture content for the
material is 5% (wet basis) and the critical moisture content is 30% (wet basis). The drying
curve of the material in preliminary drying studies showed only one falling rate zone. Air at
66 C dry bulb and 30 C wet bulb will be used for drying. The exit air relative humidity is 40%.
Assume adiabatic humidification of the air. The drying air is drawn from room temperature at
18 C and 50% RH. The wet material has a density of 920 kg/m3 . The drying tunnel should
use trucks that hold a stack of 14 trays, each 122 cm wide, 76 cm deep along the length of the
tunnel, and 5 cm thick. The distance between trays on the stack is 10 cm. The drying tunnel has
a cross-sectional area of 2.93 m2 . The material in the trays will be loaded at a depth of 12.7 mm.
Calculate:
(a) The number of trays of product through the tunnel/h.
(b) The rate of travel by the trucks through the tunnel. Assume distance between trucks is 30
cm.
(c) The constant drying rate and the total time for drying.
(d) The length of the tunnel.
(e) If air recycling is used, the fraction of the inlet air to the drier that must come from recycled
air.
(f) The capacity of the heater required for the operation with recycling.
12.5. A laboratory drier is operated with a wet bulb temperature of 115 F and a dry bulb temperature
of 160 F. The air leaving the drier is at 145 F dry bulb. Assume adiabatic operation. Part of
the discharge air is recycled. Ambient air at 70 F and 60% RH is heated and mixed with the
recycled hot air. Calculate the proportion of fresh air and recycled hot air that must be mixed
to achieve the desired inlet dry and wet bulb temperatures.
12.6. If it takes 8 hours to dry a material in a freeze drier from 80% H2 O to 10% H2 O (wet basis) at
an absolute pressure of 100 m and a temperature of 110 F (43.3 C), how long will it take to
dry this material from 80% to 40% water if the dehydration is carried out at 500 m and 80 F
(26.7 C). The material is 25 mm thick, has a density of 950 kg/m3 , and the thermal conductivity
of the dried material is 0.35 W/m K. Thermal conductivity and heat transfer coefficients are
independent of plate temperature and vacuum.
12.7. Calculate the constant rate of drying in a countercurrent continuous belt dehydrator that pro-
cesses 200 lb/h (90.8 kg/h) of wet material containing 80% water to 30% water. Air at 80 EF
(26.7 C) and 80% RH is heated to 180 F (82.2 C) in an electric heater, enters the drier and
leaves at 10% RH. The critical moisture content of the material is 28%. The drier is 4 ft (1.21
m) wide, the belt loaded to a depth of 2 in. (5.08 cm) of material, and the clearance from the