Principles of Chemical Engineering
Mass Transfer
Dr. M. Subramanian
Department of Chemical Engineering
SSN College of Engineering
July 8, 2021
Syllabus Contents
Drying - Equipment for Drying
Objectives
I To introduce the role of drying in industries.
I To give an overview of the most common dryers.
Drying
I Drying converts a solid, semi-solid or liquid feedstock into a
solid product by evaporation of the liquid into a vapor phase
via application of heat.
I Drying is an essential operation in the chemical, agricultural,
biotechnology, food, polymer, ceramics, pharmaceutical, pulp
and paper, mineral processing, and wood processing industries.
I Drying of various feedstocks is needed for one or several of the
following reasons: need for easy-to-handle free-flowing solids,
preservation and storage, reduction in cost of transportation,
achieving desired quality of product, etc.
Drying (contd..)
I Drying occurs by effecting vaporization of the liquid by
supplying heat to the wet feedstock. Heat may be supplied by
convection (direct dryers), by conduction (contact or indirect
dryers), radiation or volumetrically by placing the wet material
in a microwave or radio frequency electromagnetic field.
I Majority of dryers are of direct (or convective) type. In other
words, hot air is used both to supply the heat for evaporation
and to carry away the evaporated moisture from the product.
I Drying with heated air implies humidification and cooling of
the air in a well-insulated (adiabatic) dryer.
Role of Humidity and Temperature of Contacting Air
I Relative humidity of air should be low for faster drying.
I High temperature air is preferred for faster drying, as it can
hold more amount of moisture.
Drying Equipments
I Tray dryer
I Rotary drum dryer
I Spray dryer
Tray Dryer
Tray Dryer (contd..)
Tray Dryer (contd..)
The most common dryer for small tonnage products is a batch tray
dryer. It consists of a stack of trays placed in a large insulated
chamber in which hot air is circulated. These dryers require large
amount of labour to load and unload the product. Drying times
are long (10–60 hours).
Rotary Dryer
Rotary Dryer (contd..)
Drying Equipments
Rotary Dryer (contd..)
The rotary dryer is a continuously operated direct contact dryer
consisting of a slowly revolving cylindrical shell that is typically
inclined to the horizontal a few degrees to aid the transportation of
a wet feedstock which is introduced into the drum at the upper
end and the dried product withdrawn at the lower end.
Rotary Dryer (contd..)
I The drying medium (hot air, combustion gases, flue gases,
etc.) flows axially through the drum either cocurrently with
the feedstock or countercurrently.
I The countercurrent mode is preferred when the material is not
heat-sensitive and needs to be dried to very low moisture
content levels.
I The concurrent mode is preferred for heat-sensitive materials,
and for higher drying rates.
I Rotary dryers are especially suited for high production rates.
Rotary Dryer - contercurrent flow
Rotary Dryer - cocurrent flow
Spray Drying
Spray-drying is a rapid, continuous, cost-effective, reproducible and
scalable process for the production of dry powders from a fluid
material by atomization through an atomizer into a hot drying gas
medium, usually air.
(Ref: [Link]
Spray Drying (contd..)
Quiz
1. What are the required conditions of air for increasing the rate
of drying in direct-contact dryers?
2. Differentiate between cocurrent and countercurrent contact in
rotary drum dryers.
3. Explain about the various types of dryers.