Solids drying is generally understood to follow two

distinct drying zones, known as the constant-rate

period and the falling-rate period. The two zones
are demarcated by a break point called the critical
moisture content.

drying rate curves experimentally determined air

conditions (P, T, RH) kept constant
sample weighed at specified intervals of time t,
the reduction of mass W is calculated
(X = W/Ws), and the drying rate is obtained:

R is drying rate in kg H20/h.m2, Ls kg of dry solid

used, and A exposed surface area for drying in m2.
Constant rate drying period

Layer of saturated air on solid surface

Rate (Rc) determined by the capacity and
properties of the inlet vapor
Solid temperature = wet bulb temperature
Free water drying
Evaporation rate per unit drying area is constant

Governed by rates of external heat and mass

transfer since a film of free water at the surface.
Rate independent of the material being dried.
Critical moisture content, Xc

At Xc drying rate first begins to drop

R begins to fall with decrease in X since water
cannot migrate at the rate Rc to the surface due to
internal transport limitations - depends on material
and drying conditions. Drying surface becomes
first partially unsaturated and then fully
unsaturated until it reaches the EMC X*.

Falling rate period

Begins when surface or free water is removed

Solid temperature increases from wet bulb temp to
that approaching the inlet air temperature
Rate falls continuously in time
Interior moisture must travel to reach the surface
Moisture fails to reach surface fast enough to
maintain a constant drying rate, transition to
falling-rate period occurs.
TIME FOR DRYING

Constant-rate period

During the period from initial moisture content X1

to the CMC Xc, rate is constant, and time of drying
tc is given by:

A 100 kg batch of granular solids containing 30

per cent moisture is to be dried in a tray drier to
15.5 per cent of moisture by passing a current of
air at 350 K tangentially across its surface at a
velocity of 1.8 m/s. If the constant rate of drying
under these conditions is 0.0007 kg/s m2 and the
critical moisture content is 15 per cent, calculate
the approximate drying time. Assume the drying
surface to be 0.03 m2/kg dry mass.
Rc calculated using empirical or analytical
techniques to estimate the external heat/mass
transfer rates
where q sum of heat fluxes due to convection,
conduction and/or radiation
s latent heat of vaporization at solid temperature.

In the case of purely convective drying, drying

surface saturated with water in constant rate period
- liquid film attains wet-bulb temperature, Tw

Tw is independent of geometry of the drying object

Heat transfer and mass transfer are critical aspects
in drying processes. Heat transferred to product to
evaporate liquid, and mass transferred as a vapour
into the surrounding gas. Drying rate is determined
by set of factors that affect heat and mass transfer.

During constant-rate period drying rate per unit

area Rc estimated with fair precision from
correlations developed for evaporation from a free
liquid surface. The calculations may be based on
mass transfer or on heat transfer
q rate of convective heat transfer in Watts (J/s)
from air at TC to the surface of the solid at Tw C,
h is the heat-transfer coefficient in W/m2 K
A is the exposed drying area in m2
w is the latent heat at Tw in J/kg
ky is the mass-transfer coefficient in kg mol/s m2
MB is the molecular weight of air
H is the humidity of the air, kg water vapour/kg
dry air
Hw is the humidity of the air at the solid surface, kg
water vapour/kg dry air
Substituting for Rc in
CaCO3 filter cake in a tray is to be dried by cross-
circulation from the top surface. Each tray is 2.5
cm high, with an area of 1.5 m2, and is filled with
73 kg of wet filter cake having a water content of
30% on a dry basis. The heating medium is air at 1
atm and 770C with a relative humidity of 10%. The
velocity of air passing across the wet solid is 4 m/s.
Estimate time in hours needed to reach the
experimentally determined, critical moisture
content of 10% on a dry basis, if the preheat period
is neglected.
Effect of Process Variables on Rc

theoretical equations helpful to predict effect of

changing drying process variables
Effect of air velocity. Rc is proportional to h and
hence to G0.8 for air flow parallel to the surface.
Effect of air humidity, If air humidity H is
decreased for a given T of air, Tw will decrease.
Then Rc will increase e.g., if original conditions
are Rc1, T1, Tw1, H1, and Hw1, then if H1 is changed
to H2 and H1 is changed to H2, Rc2 becomes

Effect of air temperature. If air temperature T is

increased, Tw also increases, but not as much as the
increase in T. Hence, Rc increases as follows:

Effect of thickness of solid being dried. For heat

transfer by convection only, Rc is independent of
the thickness x1 of the solid. However, the time t
for drying between fixed moisture contents X1 and
X2 will be directly proportional to the thickness x1.
as increasing the thickness with a constant A will
directly increase the amount of Ls kg dry solid.
1 Mg of dry mass of a non-porous solid is dried
under constant drying conditions in an air
stream flowing at 0.75 m/s. The area of surface
drying is 55 m2. If the initial rate of drying
is 0.3 g/m2.s, how long will it take to dry the
material from 0.15 to 0.025 kg water/kg dry
solid? The critical moisture content of the material
may be taken as 0.125 kg water/kg
dry solid. If the air velocity were increased to 4.0
m/s, what would be the anticipated
saving in time if the process were surface-
evaporation controlled?
Falling-rate period

idealized theories for capillary flow and diffusion

can be used to estimate drying rates.

Alternatively, estimates could be made by a strictly

empirical approach - experimental determination
of drying rate as a function of average moisture
content for a particular set of conditions.

Drying rate in the falling rate period is a function

of X (or Xf) determined experimentally for a given
material dried in a given type of dryer.

If the drying rate curve (R versus X) is known, the

total drying time required to reduce the solid
moisture content from X1 to X2 can be simply
calculated by:

Analytical expressions obtained for drying times t

depend on the functional form of R or the model
used to describe the falling rate, e.g., liquid
diffusion, capillarity, evaporation-condensation.
Rate is a linear function of X.
if both X1 and X2 are less than Xc and the rate R is
linear in X over this region,
R=aX+b

Rate is a linear function through origin.

In some cases a straight line from the critical
moisture content passing through the origin
adequately represents the whole falling-rate period.
Often for lack of more detailed data, this
assumption is made.
R = aX

A wet solid is dried from 25 to 10 % moisture

under constant drying conditions in 4.17 h. If the
critical and the equilibrium moisture contents are
15 and 5 % respectively, how long will it take to
dry the solid from 30 to 8 % moisture under the
same conditions?
Assume rate of drying in falling rate period is
proportional to the free moisture content
Falling rate period, diffusion control

where X = average free moisture content at time h,

X1 = initial free moisture content at t = 0, X =
equilibrium free moisture content, x1 = - the
thickness of the slab when drying occurs from the
top and the bottom parallel faces, and x1 = total
thickness of slab if drying only from the top face.
when internal diffusion controls R is directly
proportional to the free moisture X and the liquid
diffusivity and that the rate of drying is inversely
proportional to the thickness squared

Falling rate period, capillary movement control

When capillary flow controls R is inversely

proportional to the thickness. The time of drying
between fixed moisture limits varies directly as the
thickness and depends upon the gas velocity,
temperature, and humidity.
A piece of hemlock wood measuring
15.15X14.8X0.75 cm is to be dried from the two
large faces from an initial total moisture content of
90% to a final average total moisture content of
10% (both dry basis), for drying taking place in the
falling-rate period with liquid-diffusion
controlling. The moisture diffusivity has been
experimentally determined as 1.7x10-6 cm2/s.
Estimate the drying time if bone-dry air is used.
Heat Requirements of Dryers

1. Heating the feed (dry material and moisture) to

evaporation temperature
2. Evaporation of water
3. Heating the material to exit temperature
4. Heating the evaporated liquid to exit
temperature
The heat consumption is determined from an
energy and mass balance of the system. Figure
shows the situation for a batch dryer.
Mass balance is
In these equations, hi and hf are the entering
(initial) and exiting (final) enthalpies of the moist
drying agent, respectively; hs is the enthalpy of
the dry solid and hl the enthalpy of the liquid.
Qheat is the heat requirement from the heaters;
Wvent is the power required by the ventilation
unit; and
Q lost is the heat lost to the surroundings.
Material and Heat Balances for Continuous Dryers

the drying gas flows counter-currently to the solids

flow.
The solid enters at a rate of Ls kg dry solid/h,
having a free moisture content X1 and a
temperature Ts1. It leaves at X2 and Ts2. The gas
enters at a rate G kg dry air/h, having a humidity
H2 kg H20/kg dry air and a temperature of TG2. The
gas leaves at TG1 and H1.
material balance on the moisture,

heat balance on the dryer is

where Q is the heat Loss in the dryer in kJ/h. For

an adiabatic process Q = 0, and if heat is added, Q
is negative.
enthalpy of the wet solid = enthalpy of the dry
solid + enthalpy of the Liquid as free moisture.
enthalpy of the gas HG in kJ/kg dry air is

0 is the latent heat of water at T0C= 2501 kJ/kg at

0C, and cs is the humid heat kJ/kg dry air K.
cs = 1.005 + 1.88H

The enthalpy of the wet solid H in kJ/kg dry solid,

where

cpS heat capacity of the dry solid kJ/kg dry solidK

cpA heat capacity of liquid moisture kJ/kg H20K.
A granular material containing 40 per cent
moisture is fed to a counter-current rotary dryer at
a temperature of 295 K and is withdrawn at 305 K,
containing 5 per cent moisture. The air supplied,
which contains 0.006 kg water vapour/kg dry air,
enters at 385 K and leaves at 310 K. The dryer
handles 0.125 kg/s wet stock.
Assuming that radiation losses amount to 20 kJ/kg
dry air used, determine the mass flowrate of dry air
supplied to the dryer and the humidity of the exit
air.

The latent heat of water vapour at 295 K = 2449

kJ/kg,
specific heat capacity of dried material =
0.88 kJ/kg K,
the specific heat capacity of dry air = 1.00 kJ/kg K,
and the specific heat capacity of water vapour =
2.01 kJ/kg K.