VACUUM TRAY DRYER

OBJECTIVES

i) To evaluate the drying characteristics using vacuum dryer.

ii) To find critical and equilibrium moisture percentage.

THEORY

Vacuum dryers are tray driers which are operated batchwise and whose cabinet is made up
of cast-iron or steel plates, fitted with tightly closing doors so that they may be operated at sub-
atmospheric pressure. No air is blown or recirculated through such driers. The trays containing the
solid to be dried rests upon hollow shelves through which warm water or steam or electrical heater
is used to provide the necessary heat for vaporization of moisture. The heat is conducted to the solid
through the metal of the shelves and trays. After loading and sealing, the air in the drier is evacuated
by a mechanical vacuum pump or steam jet ejector, and distillation of moisture proceeds. The
vapors usually pass to a condenser, where they are liquefied and collected, and only
noncondensable gas is removed by pump. Dryer of this type is expensive to build and to operate.
Consequently they are used only for valuable materials which must be dried at low temperatures or
in the absence of air to prevent damage, such as certain pharmaceutical products, or where the
moisture to be removed is an expensive or poisonous organic solvent which must be recovered more
or less completely.

A vacuum dryer is typically used for separating a volatile liquid by vaporization from a powder,
cake, slurry, or other moist material. This process is fundamentally thermal and doesn't involve
mechanically separating the liquid from the material, such as in filtration or centrifugation.

Unlike a direct-heat dryer, in which the material is immersed directly into the heating media
(usually a hot gas stream) and is dried by convection, a vacuum dryer is an indirect-heat dryer, that
is, the heat is transferred to the material as it contacts the dryer's heated surface, drying the material
by conduction. Understanding this distinction is essential for grasping the advantages and
limitations of vacuum drying, as well as for selecting a vacuum dryer that efficiently and
economically achieves your process goals.

To understand how vacuum operation aids drying, let's look at a simplified drying theory, beginning
with this equation:

Q = U A ΔT

Where Q is the total heat (in British thermal units [BTU])

U is the overall heat transfer coefficient BTU/[ft2/0F])

A is the effective heat transfer surface area (in square feet)

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ΔT is the temperature difference between the liquid's boiling point (that is, vaporization
temperature) and the heating media's temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit).

The process goal is to achieve an effective heat transfer (Q) to the material so that its liquid content
is vaporized.

Most often, the material's properties and the dryer type effectively establish the U and A values for
the process.2 So when using a dryer, your focus turns to maximizing the ΔT value to increase the Q
value.

Here vacuum drying provides a unique advantage. By controlling atmospheric pressure, the vacuum
dryer increases the effective ΔT for a given process. That is, vacuum drying simple reduces the
boiling point - or vaporization temperature - required for removing the liquid.

By controlling pressure and the heat introduced to the dryer, you can significantly increase the
effective ΔT and thus dry the material faster than at normal atmosphere. For this reason, a vacuum
dryer is especially suited to drying a heat-sensitive material that degrades above a given temperature
and would otherwise require a lengthy drying cycle. Examples of such materials are vitamins,
antibiotics, and many fine chemicals.

The closed-system design required for achieving and maintaining the low-pressure atmosphere
inside the dryer also provides advantages for processing a hazardous material. Examples include
toxic chemicals or solvents and explosive materials. The vacuum dryer safely contains and
condenses the hazardous vapors from such substances without any threat to your workplace
environment or outside atmosphere. With some hazardous materials, you can provide further
protection by using inert gas to limit the oxygen level in the vacuum dryer.

When comparing a vacuum dryer with a direct-heat dryer, such as a direct-heat rotary dryer or fluid
bed dryer, keep some limitations in mind. The vacuum dryer almost inherently operates in batch
mode because of the dryer's sealing requirements. But depending on your industry's practices, this
may not be a problem. For example, if you need to identify and trace individual lots of your
products, batch operation is probably preferable. Batch drying also permits greater process
versatility and can be more easily adapted to changing manufacturing practices. But if your vacuum
dryer is part of a continuous process, you'll need to install surge hoppers and other material handling
equipment before the dryer to create a hybrid batch-continuous operation.

Another vacuum dryer limitation is related to the equipment's heat transfer mode. A vacuum dryer's
upper temperature limit (typically about 600° F) is lower than that of a direct-heat dryer. The rate at
which material temperature can be raised in a vacuum dryer is also limited. This is because the
indirect-heat vacuum dryer is limited by the surface area available for heat transfer, unlike a direct-
heat dryer, which is limited only by the hot gas volume in the drying chamber

REQUIREMENTS

Stop watch, thermometer, vacuum pump, measuring cylinder, ice cubes.

PROCEDURE

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1. Keep ice ready for condenser. Check that the release valve is in close position, fill water in
condenser bath, and fill some water in burette ( say upto 3 mL), note the water level in burette.
2. Weigh about 100 gm of sample (sand) and add 50 ml of water Place the paste inside the drier and
close the door..
3. May put thermometer and oil in oil well.
4. Pour ice in condenser bath (the container where copper coils are placed).
5. Maintain the temperature of the drier constant at around 600C to 650C by heating using
thermostat.
6. Open the bypass completely and start the suction pump.
7. Regulate the release valve to get the desired vacuum (~ 300 mm Hg).
8. Immediately start the stop watch and note initial burette reading.
9. Note time (in sec) for every 1 mL rise in liquid level. ( note readings till you have collected
about 20 to 25 mL water).
10.Switch off the pump and release the vacuum.
11. Open the door, use tongs to remove tray.

OBSERVATIONS
Known data

Diameter of the plate, D = 0.155m

Drying area, A =  D2 /4 = 0.0189 m2
ms = mass of sand taken.= --------------

DATA ACQUISITION
Sl.No. volume of condensate in the Time (sec)
receiver (ml)
1 x1 t1

2 x2 t2

3 x3 t3
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .

Specimen Calculations of moisture content :

Xinitial = X1 = (wt. of water remaining)/ (wt. of dry solid)=( 50- x1 ) / 100

X2 = (50-x2)/ 100

X3 = (50-x3)/ 100

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 Sl.No. t(sec) Moisture dt -dX -dX/dt
content, X
(gm/gm)
1 t1 X1 --- ---- ---

2 t2 X2 t2 - t1 X2 - X1

3 t3 X3 t3 - t 2 X3 - X2

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. t4 X4 t4 - t3 X4- X3
. . . .
. . . .
. . . . .
. . . . .
. . . .

 ms dX
Drying rate,  = (Kg/m2 sec)
A dt

Sl.No. Moisture content Drying rate,

X ( gm/gm)  ms dX
=
A dt
Kg/m2sec

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 I. Graph of  vs X

Constant rate
C


Falling
rate

X* Xf XC

II. Graph of 1/ vs X

Choose your final reading or any nearby point on the falling rate period (see that the point lies on
the straight line portion of the falling rate period as shown, and note corresponding Xf .

EXPECTED RESULTS
Initial moisture content = Xi =--------------kg/kg

Critical moisture content , XC = ---------------kg/kg

Final moisture content Xf = ---------------- kg/kg
Equilibrium moisture content X *=------------ kg/kg
Free Initial moisture content = Xi’ = Xi ─ X *--------------kg/kg

Free Critical moisture content XC ‘ = XC ─ X *---------------kg/kg

Free Final moisture content Xf ‘ = - Xf ─ X *--------------- kg/kg

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Drying rate at critical moisture content (From graph), C = __________Kg/m2-sec

Time of constant rate period, tC =

ms
A c
 X i'  X C'  = __________sec

ms ' X C'
Time of falling rate period, tF = X C ln ' =________________sec
A c Xf

Calculate total drying time t = , tC + tF

REFERENCES
1. Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering, W.L. McCabe & J.C. Smith, Int. ed.