DRYING PROCESS

Drying commonly describes the process of thermally removing substances (moisture) to yield a solid product. Moisture
held in loose chemical combination, present as a liquid solution within the solid or even trapped in the microstructure of
the solid, which exerts a vapor pressure less than that of pure liquid, is called bound moisture.
When a wet solid is subjected to thermal drying, two processes occur simultaneously:
1. Transfer of energy from the surrounding environment to evaporate the surface moisture
2. transfer of internal moisture to the surface of the solid and its subsequent evaporation due process 1.

The rate at which drying is accomplished govern by the rate at which the two processes proceed. Energy transfer as heat
from surrounding environment to the wet solid can occur as a result of convection, conduction, or radiation and in some
cases as a result of a combination of these effects.

Classification according to the method of heat transmission to wet solids

 Direct dryers:
In direct dryers, the drying medium contacts the material to be dried directly and supplies the heat required for drying by
convection; the evaporated moisture is carried away by the same drying medium. Heat transfer for drying is achieved
by direct contact between wet solids and hot gases.
Also known as convective dryers there are the most common, despite their relatively low thermal efficiency caused by
the difficulty in recovering the latent heat of vaporization contained in the dryer.

Characteristics

 Direct contact between hot gases and solids is used to heat the latter and separate the steam.
 Variable drying temperatures up to 1000 K, which is the limiting temperature for almost all commonly used structural metals.
 At gas temperatures below the boiling point, the vapor content of the gas influenced by the drying rate and the final moisture
content of the solid. At higher temperatures the effect is minimal, therefore the superheated vapors of the liquid that separate
can serve to dry out.
 For drying at low temperatures and when the atmospheric humidity is excessively high, it may be necessary to dehumidify
the drying air.
 Efficiency is improved by increasing the temperature of the inlet gas, for a constant outlet temperature.
 Require Large equipment is stored when solid particles are small.

Classification
Direct Continuous Dryers: the operation is continuous without interruptions, while the wet feed is supplied.
Direct Batch Dryers: They are designed to operate with a specific wet feed batch size, for given time cycles. In batch
dryers the conditions of moisture content and temperature vary continuously at any point of the equipment.

Rotary Dryers
A Rotary Dryer uses a rotating cylindrical drum, which acts as a container for the uniform transfer of thermal energy
from a hot gas stream to a moisture laden product, for the purpose of moisture reduction in the product. Wet product is
introduced into the inlet of the drum where it is dried as it is conveyed to the drum’s outlet. The drum is equipped with
flighting to disperse the product into the drying gas stream as the drum rotates.

VIDEO: The dryer is made up of a large rotating cylindrical tube.

Material enter the dryer, and as the dryer rotates, the material is lifted up by a series of internal fins. When the material
gets high enough to roll back off the fins, if falls back down to the bottom of the dryer, passing through the hot gas steam,
allows the mass transfer.