EXPERIMENT

FORCED DRAFT TRAY DRYER

OBJECTIVES

i) To determine the drying rate of a solid under forced draft condition

ii) To determine the critical moisture content.

THEORY

In many cases, drying of materials is the final operation in the manufacturing process, carried out
immediately prior to packaging or dispatch. Drying refers to the final removal of water, and the
operation often follows evaporation, filtration or crystallization. Drying is carried out for one or
more of the following reason:
 To reduce the cost of transport.

 To make a material more suitable for handling.

 To provide definite properties.

 To remove moisture to prevent corrosion.

Drying of solids is considered to occur in two stages, a constant rate period followed by a falling
rate period. In the constant rate period, the rate of drying corresponds to the removal of water from
the surface of the solid. The falling rate period corresponds to the removal of water from the interior
of the solid. The rate in either case is dependent on:
1. Flow rate of air.
2. The solid characteristics.
3. Tray material.
The rate of drying can be determined for a sample of a substance by suspending it over an electronic
balance in the duct, in a stream of air, from a balance. The weight of the drying sample can then be
measured as a function of time. Certain precautions must be observed if the data are to be of
maximum utility. The sample should not be too small. Further, the following conditions should
resemble as closely as possible those expected to prevail in the contemplated large-scale operation:

(I) the sample should be similarly supported in a tray or frame;

(II) it should have the same ratio of drying to nondrying surface;
(III)it should be subjected to similar conditions of radiant-heat transfer; and

1
 (IV) The air should have the same temperature, humidity, and velocity (both speed and
direction with respect to the sample).
If possible, several tests should be made on samples of different thicknesses. The dry weight
of the sample should also be obtained. The drying rate is calculated from:

dx 1
N =-S (Kg/m2-s).
d A

A Schematic diagram of the experimental set-up is given below:

AIR IN AIR OUT

TRAY

It is a wind-tunnel type tray dryer. The main components are:

 drying chamber
 air blower
 heater
 orifice in the air duct
 a tray
 balance
The air flow is controlled by a valve in the blower outlet and its flow rate is measured by a pre-
calibrated orifice meter. Thermometers are placed at the inlet and outlet of the drying chamber.

PROCEDURE

1. Switch on main and balance only. Weigh the empty tray. Tear it to bring reading to zero.
2. Load the tray with brick particles ( ~ 45 gms size: passing through 4.75 mm GI sieve and
retained on 6 mesh BSS seive ).
3. Start the air blower, open the air flow control valve partially to adjust 3 cm level difference
on manometer, record corresponding air flow rate using anemometer (it will be
approximately 0.3 m/s). Start the heaters 1 & 2 and let the system achieve temperature ( ~ 95
o
C ). If required switch on or off heater 1 and 2 as and when required. Throughout the
experiment, maintain a steady temperature between 95 to 97oC.

2
 4. When the desired conditions of temperature and air velocity is reached note the brick
weight, put 30 - 35 mL water (using a dropper) in it to give desired initial moisture content.
5. Note the weight of brick plus water. Start the stop watch.
6. Keep recording the weight with time at about 1 min interval initially and then at 2 min
intervals until readings remain unchanged..
7. Drying is assumed to be complete when at least 3 consecutive readings are unchanged.
8. The temperatures at the inlet and outlet of the drying chamber and the air flow rate
(manometer reading fixed across the orifice) are recorded at least three times during the
course of a run to give average operating conditions.

NOMENCLATURE:
A = drying surface area, m2
G = mass velocity of gas, kg/m2
N = drying rate, kg/m2-s
Nc = constant drying rate, kg/m2-s
S = mass of dry solid (kg)
Tg = absolute temp. of gas (dry bulb), k
X = moisture constant of a solid (kg of water/kg of dry solid)
Xc = Critical moisture content.
 = time, s
R = Manometric difference, m
h = head, m
m = density of manometric fluid kg/m3
a = density of air kg/m3
ao = area of orifice, m2 .

OBSERVATIONS

Known data

Tray diameter = 150 mm

Surface area of solid = 0.0706 m2

Diameter of orifice = 0.026 m

Diameter of the pipe = 0.052 m

3
Area of orifice, ao = 0.0005311 m2

Area of Pipe, ap = 0.0021237 m2

Density of water ρm = 998 kg / m3

Density of air ρa = 1.184 kg / m3

OBSERVATIONS

Solid dry wt., S = ---------- Kg

Initial moisture content = ---------- Kg
Manometric difference, R = ---------- cm
Drying area, A = ----------m2

DATA AQUISITION

S.No. Time Ө Wt. W (kg) Moisture content X= (W-S)/S

(second) W= wt of solid + water (Kg water/Kg solid)

Plot Moisture content X vs time  and draw a line through all the points. Fit a second degree
polynomial to the X vs  data & obtain slope dX/ d corresponding to various values of . Then use
these dX/ d values to calculate drying rate N .

X
Moisture content
(kg of water per
kg of dry solid) Slope = -dx/d

Time,4 s
DATA REDUCTION

Time Ө W= (wt of solid X= (W-S)/S X Drying rate

Slope =
(second)  S X
+ water), Kg (Kg water/Kg N= -
S.No. (From plot of A 
solid) X vs  )

Plot drying rate N (kg/m2-s) vs moisture content X (kg of water/kg of dry solid (Drying curve).
From this plot, critical moisture (Xc) content is obtained.

Nc
Constant
rate
N
Falling
rate

XCX

CALCULATIONS

 
1. Head, h  R m  1 ---------------------- (1)
 a 

2. Mass flow rate of air,

 
 
 0.61* a * 2 * g * h 
G o
 *  a ----------------------- (2)
 a
2

 1 o2 
 a p 

5
3. Moisture content present in solid,

W S
X  ---------------------- (3)
S

4. The drying rate is thus calculated from:

dx  S * X
N  S  Kg/m2-s
d * A A * 

Head, h = ------------ m

flow rate, G = ------------ Kg/s

Initial moisture content of solid, X = ------------

EXPECTED RESULTS
1.Plot a graph of moisture content X Vs time .

2.Plot drying rate N (kg/m2-s) Vs moisture content X (kg of water/kg of dry solid,
Drying curve). From this plot obtain critical moisture (Xc).

PRECAUTIONS & MAINTAINANCE INSTRUCTIONS

1. Don’t open the door of the chamber during experiment.

2. Don’t disturb the balance during experiment.
3. Never switch on heaters before blower.

REFERENCES
Treybal, R.H.: “Mass-Transfer Operations”, 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill, NY, 1981.