Applied Thermal Engineering 127 (2017) 292–301

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Research Paper

Numerical simulation of moisture-heat coupling in belt dryer and

structure optimization
Zhang Hang ⇑, Deng Shengxiang
School of Energy Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China

h i g h l i g h t s

We added the viscous dissipation term in the energy equation.

We used the porous medium model and the evaporation model in the calculation process.

When material thickness increases, the ‘‘ripple” phenomenon disappears.

Material thickness has the largest influence on moisture uniformity, followed by velocity.

Wing defector reduces areca-nut moisture content and improves moisture content uniformity.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In order to improve internal air flow field of belt dryer and increase moisture standard deviation of drying
Received 14 March 2017 material in dryer, we used FLUENT software to study influences of material thickness, air velocity, air
Revised 1 July 2017 temperature and air relative humidity on material moisture content and uniformity in dryer on the basis
Accepted 12 August 2017
of computational fluid mechanics and heat and mass transfer theory. Viscous dissipation was added to
Available online 14 August 2017
the energy equation. Porous medium model and evaporation model were used to improve result accu-
racy. A comparison between the moisture content of material inside the dryer was made when no deflec-
Keywords:
tor, a common deflector and a wing deflector are applied. Results show that air velocity in each
Belt dryer
Flow velocity
measuring point is consistent with the numerical simulation. Material thickness had the largest influence
Moisture content on moisture content uniformity among four factors, followed by drying air velocity. The result of variance
Uniformity of material moisture content indicates that the thicker material thickness was, the better moisture con-
Wing deflector tent uniformity would be. When test conditions were shown as follows: 80 mm thickness; 343 K inlet air
temperature; 1.5 m/s air velocity; 0.24 air initial humidity, moisture standard deviation of material was
optimal. The wing deflector reduced material moisture content as a whole and moisture content unifor-
mity was improved.
Ó 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction
Belt dryer is a continuous drying equipment, which has the
advantages of no damage to the surface of the material. It is suit-
able for the drying of vegetables, such as traditional Chinese med-
icine and so on [1,2]. It has been a hot point in the research and
application of drying machine [3–7], and the main reason is that
the process and structure of the dryer are not reasonable. L.Q.
Hao [8] found that the process structure was the main factor that
affected the moisture unevenness of corn after drying. It was sug-
gested that the air flow should be reduced properly in the mixed
flow dryer. F.D. Román and O. Hensel [9] have provided four drying
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zhanghang4202@126.com (H. Zhang).
designs of round bale and simulated flow field inside the dryer. It
was showed that the simplest dryer provides a deficient air distri-
bution and inadequate drying, but an improved air distribution and
drying uniformity to other designed dryer. Insufficient height of
the ventilation duct was also one of the reasons why the horizontal
airflow was not smooth and the drying was uneven [10]. In addi-
tion, the unreasonable working parameters (including hot air
velocity [8,11,12], hot air temperature [11,12], material layer
thickness [8,12,13], hot air humidity [12], material layer length
and conveyor belt speed [13] and other factors) leaded to uneven
distribution of material moisture.
It is difficult and expensive (sensor expensive) to obtain the
internal flow field and moisture distribution in the working state
of the dryer [14], even so, there are still the error of measuring
instrument, limited measuring range and so on. Numerical simula-

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2017.08.071
1359-4311/Ó 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
 H. Zhang, S. Deng / Applied Thermal Engineering 127 (2017) 292–301 293

tion is a good method to adjust and optimize the operating param-
eters, which can predict the heat and flow field under different
conditions [15,16]. Comparing the experimental and predicted
(extracted for the CFD analysis) data revealed a very good correla-
tion coefficient of 99.9% and 86.5% for drying air temperature and
air velocity in the drying chamber, respectively [17]. It provided
the reliability of the numerical simulation results. This approach
has also been touted by structural engineers, since it can be used
to predict the improved results in a computer, which has brought
great convenience for the engineers. For example, L. Czétány and
P. Láng [18] used Fluent software to simulate the flow field and
temperature field of 3 different structures of ventilation system.
In addition to the commonly used FLUENT software, there are
scholars [19,20] using C/C++ language programming method for
the drying process of belt dryer numerical calculation. To analyze
moisture transfer during convective drying, a simultaneous heat
and moisture transfer model was developed based on Fick’s diffu-
sion equation [21]. The model accurately predicted moisture loss
as a function of drying time and position for the potato and carrot
samples during convective hot air drying and further demonstrates
the importance and improved accuracy of obtaining diffusion coef-
ficients and its temperature dependence under isothermal condi-
tions. Karim and Kumar [22] have developed a multiphase
porous media model describing the physics of intermittent micro-
wave convective drying (IMCD) process. In another work [23], they
have taken shrinkage and pore evolution into consideration and
gave a improvement model (IMCD2). Simulated results are vali-
dated against experimental data. An empirical model calculating
moisture evaporation from a particle and droplet was proposed
and validated by Wawrzyniak [24]. It was said that the model
can be applied to the installations for dewatering.
From the point of view of heat and moisture coupling, the air
flow field, temperature field and component concentration field
inside the belt dryer was simulated by FLUENT software with
multi-phase model, porous medium model and evaporation model.
In addition, in order to make the results more accurate, the equa-
tion of viscous dissipation term was added to the governing
equation.
2. Experiment
The testing material is Chinese olive areca-nut from Hainan pro-
vince. Before areca-nut is placed in the dryer for drying, it is
cleaned, soaked, aired, divided, stripped, rinsed and filtered.
The author considers influences of material thickness, air veloc-
ity, air temperature and air initial humidity on material drying. As
designing the test scheme, the author considers that 4 factors and 3
levels should be inspected. If the full assembly (34) is used, it needs
a test for 81 times. However, if the orthogonal trial is used, just 9
points should be applied to be distributed in the testing points
evenly. The orthogonal test design picks up some representative
points to test from the comprehensive test according to orthogo-
nality. These representative points are equipped with some fea-
tures, including ‘‘even distribution and homogeneous/uniform
design”. It is a high-efficient and economic experimental design
method [25]. The orthogonal experiment of the design is shown
in Table 1.
3. Mathematical model and simulation
3.1. Control equation
The heat and moisture transfer model of material layer and air
is established by using areca as the simulation object. Assuming
that fluid is the incompressible fluid, coefficient of gas viscosity
is a constant. The areca-nut applies a porous medium model. The
porosity and mean diameter are used to describe particle property,
and assuming that the areca-nut particle won’t shrink in the drying
process [26]. To simplify calculation, the mesh belt of the ventila-
tion hole is regarded as a porous medium model [27]. The control
equations are shown as follows:
(1) Continuity equation [28,29]
According to the conservation of mass, fluid net quality in and
out of the control volume in unit time is equal to the reduced qual-
ity caused by density fluctuation of fluid in the interval control vol-
ume at the same interval. Air motion in drying process conforms to
the law of conservation of mass. The differential equation is
derived as follows:
@ qa
þ r  ðqa uÞ ¼ 0 ð1Þ
@t

@ qa
A multi-layer horizontal belt dryer self-designed by Xinyuan þ r  ðqa v Þ ¼ 0 ð2Þ
@t
Chain Transmission Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd. was
selected to test. The subject is a five-layer belted cross-flow drying @ qa
system, which is composed of rack, belt chain, elevator, air inlet þ r  ðqa wÞ ¼ 0 ð3Þ
@t
and outlet, and transmission drum. Length  width  height of
the box is 20 m  1.8 m  2.5 m. The primary structure is shown in which qa is fluid density, kg/m3; t is time, s; u is velocity in x
in Fig. 1. direction, m/s; and v is velocity in y direction, m/s; w is velocity
The drying air is supplied by a variable frequency blower, which on the z direction, m/s.
enters into the dryer from the bottom and comes out from the top, (2) N-S equation [28,29]
and then gathered together in the centralized air duct. The heating According to Newton’s second law, time change rate of fluid
system of the air is arranged in the pipeline at the bottom and is momentum should be equal to resultant force by fluid. The resul-
completed by electric heating. The temperature control system tant force on infinitesimal volume is equal to the product between
based on PLC is adopted in the experiment. The material enters fluid quality and fluid accelerated speed. The differential equation
from the top of the left side of the dryer through the elevator, is derived as:
and pass through the conveyer belt to exit from the right side of
@ðqa uÞ * @p
the bottom. þ r  ðqa u u Þ ¼ r  ðl  graduÞ  þ su ð4Þ
The five-layer conveyor belt is the 6-mesh steel wire gauze with @t @x
the length and width of 19 m  1.6 m. The height of each layer is
@ðqa vÞ * @p
fixed, 440 mm. The thickness of the conveyor belt and areca-nut þ r  ðqa v u Þ ¼ r  ðl  gradv Þ  þ sv ð5Þ
@t @y
layer are 40, 60, 80 mm, respectively. Interlayer spacing is 400,
380, 360 mm, accordingly. Structural parameter of drying air
@ðqa vÞ * @p
entrance is 2 m  0.6 m  0.2 m and structural parameter of the þ r  ðqa w u Þ ¼ r  ðl  gradwÞ  þ sw ð6Þ
exit is 1.2 m  0.6 m  0.5 m.
@t @z
294 H. Zhang, S. Deng / Applied Thermal Engineering 127 (2017) 292–301

Fig. 1. A sketch of the belt dryer.

Table 1
Four factors and three levels orthogonal experiment table.

Test number Combination Air humidity (kg/kg) Air temperature (K) Air velocity (m s1) Material thickness (mm)
1 A1B1C1D1 0.22 343 1.25 40
2 A1B2C2D2 0.22 348 1.5 60
3 A1B3C3D3 0.22 353 1.75 80
4 A2B1C3D3 0.24 343 1.5 80
5 A2B2C3D1 0.24 348 1.75 40
6 A2B3C1D2 0.24 353 1.25 60
7 A3B1C3D2 0.26 343 1.75 60
8 A3B2C1D3 0.26 348 1.25 80
9 A3B3C2D1 0.26 353 1.5 40

where qa is fluid density, kg/m3; t is time, s; p is pressure on fluid in areca-nut layer, respectively; j is heat transfer coefficient of
infinitesimal volume, Pa; m is viscosity coefficient of fluid, kg/(m s). fluid, W(m K)1; keff is heat transfer coefficient of areca-nut layer;
(3) Energy conservation equation [28,29] T is fluid temperature, K.
According to first law of thermodynamics, internal energy And ST, Sh are source items, named viscous dissipation. they
increment in fluid infinitesimal volume is equal to outside heat mean that internal heat source of fluid is converted to thermal
exchange plus work of surrounding fluid on infinitesimal volume. energy through fluid machinery, due to the function of viscidity.
The definition is shown as follows: The scholar Thorpe [30] found that source item Sh of the energy
equation can be expressed as follows:
@ðqa TÞ @ðqa uTÞ @ðqa v TÞ @ðqa wTÞ
þ þ þ @W
@t @x @y @z Sh ¼ hs ð1  eÞqs ð9Þ



 @t
@ j @T @ j @T @ j @T
¼ þ þ þ ST ð7Þ in which W is moisture in areca-nut; hs stands for adsorption heat
@x cp @x @y cp @y @z cp @z
on areca-nut surface. Afterwards, Hunter [31] got the relationship
Considering that the research object in the paper is energy between adsorption heat on areca-nut surface and latent heat of
transfer, general energy equation is materialized as the corre- vaporization hv in free water:
sponding equation:

  hs Psat dT dr
¼1þ þ ð10Þ
@H @T hv r dPsat dT
qa eca þ qb ð1  eÞ cg þ cw W þ W þ ca r  ðqa lTÞ
@T @t dT dr
dPsat
and dT are represented by substituting the formula (4)–(10), (4)–
¼ keff r2 T þ Sh ð8Þ (11) and (4)–(12):
where qb is areca-nut density on a wet basis; Cp is fluid specific heat   
at constant pressure, J(kg K)1; e is porosity of areca-nut layer; Hw dT T þ 273:15 6800
¼ 5 ð11Þ
is overall heat of areca-nut layer; m is viscosity coefficient of fluid, dPsat Psat T þ 273:15
kg/m s; Ca, Cg and Cw are specific heat of air, areca-nut and moisture
 H. Zhang, S. Deng / Applied Thermal Engineering 127 (2017) 292–301 295

 
6  1025 6800 3.2. Physical properties and boundary conditions
Psat ¼ exp  ð12Þ
ðT þ 273:15Þ 5 T þ 273:15
Velocity inlet boundary condition and pressure outlet boundary
dr Ar condition are selected. The wall of the dryer is insulated so that the
¼ expðBW e Þ ð13Þ
dT ðT þ CÞ2 wall condition is insulated and no sliding. This paper uses SIMPLE
  algorithm in pressure-base solver to simulate incompressible fluid
A
r ¼ exp  expðBWÞ ð14Þ in the dryer. The discrete variables such as momentum, turbulent
T þC
kinetic energy and turbulent change rate term adopted with two
in which r is relative humidity of air, A, B and C stand for empirical order upwind scheme, The other settings are kept by default. Envi-
constants, where A = 921.69 °C1, B = 18.077, C = 112.35 °C [30], and ronmental temperature and initial temperature areca-nut are 20 °C
W and We are moisture and water content in areca-nut, respec- and other physical property parameters are shown in Table 2.
tively, and T represents temperature.
User Define Function (UDF) was used to decode from formula 3.3. Mesh dividing and independence verification
(9) to formula (14), adding the control equation, and UDF code is
shown as follows: The geometric model of the dryer is established by using the
front processor of FLUENT software. Then, geometric model of
DEFINE_SOURCE(energy_source,c,t,dS,eqn) the dryer is conducted mesh generation. It is the structured hexa-
{ hedral mesh unit, as shown in Fig. 2. Material layer has mesh
Real Tabs, T, w, psat, dpsatdt, drdt, hsbyhv, hs; encryption.
Real pe, re, We, we, dwsebydt, Source_t; The dryer geometry model is divided into 4 classes of models
Tabs = C_T(c,t); with different mesh sizes (Mesh I = 496,000, Mesh II = 855,600,
T = Tabs-273.15; Mesh III = 1438,200, Mesh IV = 2,584,000). Under the 1# boundary
We = C_UDSI(s,t,0); condition, the transient simulation of the geometry model with
psat = 6.0e25/pow(Tabs,5) ⁄ exp(-6800/Tabs); time step 0.01 s is carried out for the 4 different numbers of mesh.
pe = we ⁄ PATM/(0.622 + we); Fig. 3(a) indicates the velocity distribution in the length direction
re = pe/psat; of the dry top layer channel, and Fig. 3(b) is the bottom of the
if(re< = 0) dryer. Comparison results of different mesh number models: the
Source_t = 0; calculation error of I and II is 13.24%, the calculation error between
else if(-(T + CP)/AP ⁄ log(re)< = 0) II and III is 5.33%, and the calculation error of III and IV is 1.40%.
Source_t = 0; Therefore, the computational results of mesh number III and IV
else are relatively close. Considering the computational resources, the
{We = -1/BP ⁄ log(-(T + CP)/AP ⁄ log(re)); /⁄formula (14)⁄/ grid number III can be considered more reasonable, and the simu-
dpsatdt = psat/Tabs ⁄ (-5 + 6800/Tabs); /⁄formula (11)⁄/ lation results have a certain reliability.
drdt = AP⁄re/pow((T + CP),2) ⁄ exp(-BP ⁄ We); /⁄formula
(13)⁄/
3.4. Experimental verification
hsbyhv = 1 + psat/re ⁄ 1/dpsatdt ⁄ drdt; /⁄formula (10)⁄/
hs = hsbyhv ⁄ (2501.33–2.363 ⁄ TC) ⁄ 1.0e3;
Drying air is the medium for heat transfer, and the material
C_UDMI(c,t,4) = hs;
absorbs heat from the air to evaporate its moisture. The greater
Source_t = C_UDMI(c,t,1) ⁄ hs; /⁄formula (9)⁄/
the air velocity is, the lower the moisture content of the material
//dS[eqn] = 0.0;
is. Therefore, the air flow field can be used to verify the rationality
Return Source_t;
of the simulation results [32,33]. In the paper, air velocity is
}
regarded as a parameter of test measurement. The measurement
}
methods are shown as follows: QDF-2B hot-bulb electric anemo-
scope (range: 0.05–5 m/s) is used to measure air velocity in inlet,
outlet and the box. Measuring points are arranged on the top and
(4) Porous medium model bottom, showing X = 0.8, 2.4, 4.0, 5.6, 7.2 m. Under the stable work-
ing conditions of the dryer, velocity of hole site is observed, aver-
Areca-nut is regarded as a wet porous medium model. Airflow aging air velocity of every hole for 5 times. Air velocity on the
passes through areca-nut layer and flow in layers is regarded as first layer and fifth layer of the dryer is shown in Fig. 4. The air
the flow of porous medium. The porous medium model is consti- velocity relative error of bottom layer between the simulated value
tuted by adding the momentum equation behind the momentum and the measured value is 4.25%, while it is 2.77% to top layer. The
equation. For isotropous porous medium (suitable for areca-nut simulated data are within the allowable range of error.
layer), the source item used the following equation:
l 1 4. Results and discussion
s¼ v þ c q jv jv ð15Þ
a i 22 b i i
where a stands for permeability and C2 represents inertial resis- 4.1. 1Flow field inside dryer and analysis of effective factors
tance factor.
a and C2 can be calculated as the following formulas: The internal flow field of the dryer under 1#, 5# and 9# test con-
ditions is shown in Fig. 5. It can be observed from the figure that
D2b e3
a¼ ð16Þ velocity closing to the entrance of the first layer is the largest
150ð1  eÞ2 and reaches 1.0 m/s (the red circle is about 1.8–2.0 m/s), because
obstruction of the material layer changes air direction and it forms
3:5ð1  eÞ
c2 ¼ ð17Þ around the corner. Meanwhile, the comparison shows that velocity
Db e3
in 5# test is obviously higher than other test conditions. Voids in
and Db is mean diameter of areca-nut particle, mm. porous media also makes some drying-air pass through the mate-
296 H. Zhang, S. Deng / Applied Thermal Engineering 127 (2017) 292–301

Table 2
Physical parameters of areca nut and fluid.

Physical parameter Unit Value Physical parameter Unit Value

Viscous resistance (1/a) / 989847 Heat capacity kJ/(kg K) 3.082
Inertia resistance (C2) / 1142 Thermal conductivity W/(m K) 1.43
Air density (qf) kg m3 1.225 Thermal diffusivity m2/s 0.16
Nut initial moisture (mi) % 64.9 Moisture diffusion m2/s 5.7  1010
Nut density (qb) kg m3 154.2 Turbulence intensity (I) % 3.96
Porosity (e) m3 m3 0.544 Hydraulic diameter (D) m 1

Fig. 2. Geometric model and mesh of dryer.

Mesh I; Mesh II; Mesh III; Mesh IV 0.8 (a) Bottom layer
Velocity / (m.s-1)

Calculated
1.0
(a) Bottom layer 0.6
Measured
Velocity / (m⋅s-1)

0.8
0.6 0.4

0.4 0.2
0.2 0.0
0.0 0 2 4 6 8
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Dryer length / (m)
Dryer length / (m)
1.6
Velocity / (m.s-1)

(b) Top layer Calculated

1.6 Measured
Velocity / (m⋅s-1)

(b) Top layer 1.2

1.2
0.8
0.8
0.4
0.4
0.0
0.0 0 2 4 6 8
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Dryer length / (m)
Dryer length / (m) Fig. 4. Comparison of velocity between calculated and measured results.

Fig. 3. Comparison of velocity between different mesh numbers.

rial layer to enter into the upper layer space. It can be observed
that the higher layer is, the lower velocity will be. Flow velocity
of the third layer is only 0.3–0.5 m/s. After drying air enters into
the fourth layer, velocity has no big change, only 0.3 m/s. Because
the fourth layer closes to the outlet, velocity stops reducing, but its
uniformity increases gradually. Such an explanation can be verified
that velocity in the top layer increases. Results show that drying air
velocity has no continuous change, but it changes discontinuously,
similar to ‘‘ripple” shape.
The internal flow field of the dryer under 2#, 6# and 7# test con-
ditions are shown in Fig. 6. It can be observed that features of the
three flow fields are basically similar to Fig. 5. The difference is air
velocity in the first layer. Moreover, horizontal velocity of drying
 H. Zhang, S. Deng / Applied Thermal Engineering 127 (2017) 292–301 297

Fig. 5. Flow field inside dryer under conditions of 40 mm thickness of the material layer.

Fig. 6. Flow field inside dryer under conditions of 60 mm thickness of the material layer.

air is also increased. Based on 7#, drying air velocity in the first
layer increases and this also enlarges velocity in the upper layer.
By combining with velocity among them, drying air velocity of
7# is obviously higher than the other ones, followed by 2#. As
shown in red circle in the Fig. 6, drying air velocity increases in
Type C (having eddy), because drying air moves in the layer and
gathers to the end of the conveyer belt, it vertically flows to the
upper layer. Some of them move forward under the inertia force
until it contacts with wall surface and is kept off, forming eddy.
Some of them close to the conveyor belt and flow in the horizontal
upper layer.
Internal flow field of the dryer under 3#, 4# and 8# test condi-
tions is shown in Fig. 7. It can be observed from the figure that
the difference between 3#, 4# and 8# tests and the above-
mentioned tests lines in continuity of velocity change. Based on
3# test, velocity of drying air is centered the entrance and gradually
reduces from both sides, showing no ‘‘ripple” as the above-
mentioned tests. Such a phenomenon can be summarized that
the increase of material thickness enlarges vertical upward
obstruction of drying air, thus horizontal movement of drying air
in the layer is fully developed. Velocity is larger and it is distributed
more evenly.
4.2. Moisture content inside dryer and analysis of effective factors
The distribution situation of material moisture content in the
top layer in the horizontal direction is shown in Fig. 8. It can
be observed from the figure that moisture content around
X = (4–6 m and 14–16 m) is even and moisture content is lower
than other places, because drying air in the length direction
298 H. Zhang, S. Deng / Applied Thermal Engineering 127 (2017) 292–301

Fig. 7. Flow field inside dryer under conditions of 80 mm thickness of the material layer.
Moisture/(100%)

0.32 (a) 1# case 5 # case 9 # case

0.30
0.28
0.26
0.24
0.22
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Dryer length /(m)
Moisture/(100%)

0.32 (b) 2 # case 6 # case 7 # case

0.30
0.28
0.26
0.24
0.22
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Dryer length /(m)
Moisture/(100%)

0.44
0.40 (c) 3 # case 4 # case 8 # case
0.36
0.32
0.28
0.24
0.20
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Dryer length /(m)

Fig. 8. Moisture of material in top layer. (a) 40 mm layer thickness, (b) 60 mm layer thickness, (c) 80 mm layer thickness.

passes through and takes away moisture on the material surface.
Moreover, drying air from the bottom passes through the material
layer and absorbs lots of moisture. Moisture layer on other posi-
tions is short of upward drying air from the bottom. In addition to
the entrance, moisture content in other places is high, because
length and height in the transport layer are too big. It is caused
by the smaller entrance size of drying air. By comparing with
them, it shows that in three tests with the thickness of 80 mm,
the moisture content is close to other two groups, as shown in
Fig. 8(c). Moreover, moisture content in the middle of (X = 6–
14 m) in Fig. 8(a, b) is not distributed evenly and it is slightly
higher. Moisture content curve of Fig. 8(c) is flat and almost has
no change.
The distribution of material moisture content in horizontal
direction of the middle-level layer is shown in Fig. 9. Material
moisture content around the entrance is even. By comparing with
 H. Zhang, S. Deng / Applied Thermal Engineering 127 (2017) 292–301 299

Moisture/(100%)
0.32
0.30
(a) 1# case 5 # case 9 # case
0.28
0.26
0.24
0.22
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Moisture/(100%) Dryer length /(m)

0.36
0.33
(b) 2 # case 6 # case 7 # case
0.30
0.27
0.24
0.21
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Dryer length /(m)
Moisture/(100%)

0.39
0.36 (c) 3 # case 4 # case 8 # case
0.33
0.30
0.27
0.24
0.21
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Dryer length /(m)

Fig. 9. Moisture of material in middle layer. (a) 40 mm layer thickness, (b) 60 mm layer thickness, (c) 80 mm layer thickness.

the moisture content in the entrance, the regional area of even
moisture content with the material thickness of 40 mm is greater
than others. When the thickness is 40 mm, 9# is greater than 1#
and 1#, while 5# is greater than 1#, showing that the above-
mentioned material thickness plays a role on moisture content dis-
tribution around the entrance, followed by temperature. When
thickness temperature is increased to 80 mm, curve fluctuation is
reduced and materials are drying and even.
Distribution of material content in the horizontal direction
of the bottom layer is shown in Fig. 10. It can be observed
that moisture content has the higher uniformity in the bot-
tom. Only the curve in both ends and middle fluctuates. In
X = 0–1.5 m in Fig. 10(c), moisture content curve fluctuates
strongly, because there is 1 m interval from the end of con-
veyor end and drying box. Therefore, drying air flows
upward rapidly. Materials in the dead space region can’t
be dried. Left-side material is affected by drying air back-
flow in the bottom, so as to reduce moisture water. There-
fore, moisture content increases rapidly and then it
decreases.

0.32
Moisture/(100%)

0.30 (a) 1# case 5 # case 9 # case

0.28
0.26
0.24
0.22
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Dryer length /(m)

0.34
Moisture/(100%)

0.32 (b) 2 # case 6 # case 7 # case

0.30
0.28
0.26
0.24
0.22
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Dryer length /(m)

0.39
Moisture/(100%)

0.36 (c) 3 # case 4 # case 8 # case

0.33
0.30
0.27
0.24
0.21
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Dryer length /(m)

Fig. 10. Moisture of material in bottom layer. (a) 40 mm layer thickness, (b) 60 mm layer thickness, (c) 80 mm layer thickness.
300 H. Zhang, S. Deng / Applied Thermal Engineering 127 (2017) 292–301

0.40 4.3. Structure modification of belt dryer

Based on the above-mentioned results and analyzes, the author

0.35 conducts structural optimization on the dryer, so as to distribute
Moisture uniformity (Mu)

moisture evenly. Deflector is installed in the entrance to guide dry-

ing air to both sides. It can be observed from Fig. 12(b) that drying
0.30 air guided by the common deflector flows to the middle and both
sides of the dryer. Moisture content in the entrance is reduced dra-
matically. In the remote place, it still gathers small moisture, while
0.25
wing deflector in Fig. 12(c) expands the drying area. Moisture con-
tent presents the descending tendency as a whole.
0.20
5. Conclusion
1# 2# 3# 4# 5# 6# 7# 8# 9#
Experiment number Based on the computational fluid mechanics and heat and mass
transfer theory, FLUENT software is used to do numerical situation
Fig. 11. moisture standard deviation of material.
on flow field and material moisture in the belt dryer and calculate
moisture standard deviation in the dryer. Finally, the author pro-
poses some suggestion on improvement and main conclusions
are shown as follows:
The moisture content uniformity [12] is expressed Mu. The com-
putational formula is shown as follows:
(1) Air velocity in the test is identical to the numerical simula-
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi tion. When material thickness increases, the flow velocity
X M i  M av g 2 is centered the entrance and reduces gradually to both sides.
Mu ¼ ð18Þ There is no ‘‘ripple” phenomenon. The increase of material
M av g
thickness makes drying air distribution become even.
(2) Material thickness has the largest influence on moisture
where Mi is mean moisture of every observation point under the content uniformity, followed by velocity. The results of Mu
same time. Mavg is the arithmetic mean value on all observational show that when the thicker thickness is, the better moisture
points of the conveyor belt. The smaller Mu is, the closer Mi to Mavg content uniformity will be. Test condition is 80 mm, drying
will be (namely moisture content on every measuring point is close air temperature at the entrance is 343 K, drying air velocity
to the overall mean moisture content), indicating that material is 1.5 m/s, moisture content at the entrance is 0.24, thus
layer moisture is evener. material moisture distributes evenly. Material thickness is
It can be observed from Fig. 11 that moisture content in 3#, the primary factor of moisture content uniformity, while
4 and 8# has the smaller uniformity index, indicating that in
#
condition in 4# better conforms to the requirements of low
influence factors, material thickness plays a critical role on mois- energy consumption.
ture standard deviation. Meanwhile, Mu of 4# is less than 3# (3) Wing deflector reduces areca-nut moisture content and
and 8#. improves moisture content uniformity.

Fig. 12. Species concentration distribution inside dryer. (a) Dryer without deflector, (b) Dryer with common deflector, (c) Dryer with wing deflector.
 H. Zhang, S. Deng / Applied Thermal Engineering 127 (2017) 292–301
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by National Natural Science Foundation
of China (No. 51276023). The authors would also like to thank
Hunan Xinyuan Chain Transmission Equipment Manufacturing
Co. Ltd., Yiyang, Hunan, China.
References
[1] D.I. Onwude, N. Hashim, G. Chen, Recent advances of novel thermal combined
hot air drying of agricultural crops, Trends Food Sci. Tech. 57 (2016) 132–145.
[2] A. Motevali, S. Minaei, A. Banakar, B. Ghobadian, M.H. Khoshtaghaza,
Comparison of energy parameters in various dryers, Energ Convers. Manage.
87 (2014) 711–725.
[3] M. Böhner, I. Barfuss, A. Heindl, J. Müller, Improving the airflow distribution in
a multi-belt conveyor dryer for spice plants by modifications based on
computational fluid dynamics, Biosyst. Eng. 115 (2013) 339–345.
[4] S. Jacek, J.N. Dawid, Improved 3D temperature uniformity in a laboratory
drying oven based on experimentally validated CFD computations, J. Food Eng.
97 (2010) 373–383.
[5] D.A. Tzempelikos, A.P. Vouros, A.V. Bardakas, A.E. Filio, A.P. Margaris, Analysis
of air velocity distribution in a laboratory batch-type tray air dryer by
computational fluid dynamics, Int. J. Math. Comput. Simulat. 6 (6) (2012) 413–
421.
[6] H. Darabi, A. Zomorodin, M.H. Akbari, A.N. Lorestani, Design of cabinet dryer
with two geometric configurations using CFD, J. Food Sci. Technol. 52 (1)
(2013) 359–366.
[7] W. Amjad, A. Munir, A. Esper, O. Hensel, Spatial homogeneity of drying in a
batch type food dryer with diagonal air flow design, J. Food Eng. 144 (2015)
148–155.
[8] L.Q. Hao, Analysis on influence factors for moisture unevenness in post-drying
com, J. Chinese Cereals Oils Assoc. 20 (4) (2005) 110–114, +121.
[9] F.D. Román, O. Hensel, Numerical simulations and experimental
measurements on the distribution of air and drying of round hay bales,
Biosyst Eng. 122 (2014) 1–15.
[10] C.J. You, X.D. Liu, Mathematical model of a level current conveyor dryer, Dry
Tech. Equ. 4 (2) (2006) 91–95.
[11] Z.J. Guan, N. Li, J.J. Zhang, Y.H. Shen, M.L. Wang, Uniformly designed
experimental study on belt type cross-flow drying of carrot, Trans. CSAE 21
(2) (2005) 190–192 (in Chinese with English abstract).
[12] H. Zhang, S.X. Deng, Calculation and validation of moisture uniformity in
drying process based on Shannon-Wiener index, Trans. CSAE. 32 (20) (2016)
290–297 (in Chinese with English abstract).
[13] Z.X. Zhang, Y.L. Zhao, Y.X. Zhang, Experimental research on the airflow
distribution uniformity in material layers of cross flow recirculating drier,
Trans. CASE 17 (6) (2001) 17–21 (in Chinese with English abstract).
[14] Y. Amanlou, A. Zomorodian, Applying CFD for designing a new fruit cabinet
dryer, J. Food Eng. 101 (2010) 8–15.
301
[15] T. Norton, D. Sun, J. Grant, R. Fallon, V. Dodd, Applications of computational
fluid dynamics (CFD) in the modelling and design of ventilation systems in
the agricultural industry: A review, Bioresource Technol. 98 (2007) 2386–
2414.
[16] B. Xia, D.W. Sun, Applications of computational fluid dynamics(CFD) in the
food industry: a review, Comp. Elec. Agric. 34 (2002) 5–24.
[17] Y. Amanlou, A. Zomorodian, Applying CFD for designing a new fruit cabinet
dryer, J. Food Eng. 101 (1) (2010) 8–15.
[18] L. Czétány, P. Láng, CFD simulation of three different geometrical designs of
a conveyor tempering ventilation system, Energy Proc. 78 (2015) 2694–
2699.
[19] L.J. Chen, D.W. Liu, H.Z. Lǜ, Simulation of drying process for 5HCCX-1.6 multi-
zone belt dryer, Trans. CSAE 22 (2) (2006) 122–126 (in Chinese with Eng lish
abstract).
[20] J. Chang, C.J. You, D.Y. Yang, X.D. Liu, Optimization of drying process for
multilayer belt dryer, Trans. CSAM 43 (8) (2012) 148–154.
[21] J. Srikiatden, J.S. Roberts, Predicting moisture profiles in potato and carrot
during convective hot air drying using isothermally measured effective
diffusivity, J. Food Eng. 84 (2008) 516–525.
[22] C. Kumar, M.U.H. Joardder, T.W. Farrell, M.A. Karim, Multiphase porous media
model for intermittent microwave convective drying(IMCD) of food, Int. J.
Therm. Sci. 104 (4) (2016) 304–314.
[23] M.U.H. Joardder, C. Kumar, M.A. Karim, Multiphase transfer model for
intermittent microwave-convective drying of food: Considering shrinkage
and pore evolution, Int. J. Multiphas. Flow 95 (5) (2017) 101–119.
[24] P. Wawrzyniak, M. Jaskulski, I. Zbiciński, M. Podyma, CFD modelling of
moisture evaporation in an industrial dispersed system, Adv. Powder Technol.
28 (11) (2017) 167–176.
[25] L.D. Hao, Z.D. Yu, On use of orthogonal experimental design, Acta Editolog. 17
(5) (2005) 334–335.
[26] X.X. Liu, J.R. Chen, M.H. Liu, Transient shrinkage of tissue of bio-porous
material during dehydration, Trans. CSAM 40 (9) (2009) 122–126.
[27] Z. Zheng, J. Xie, Numerical simulation on flow and temperature fields in quick
freezer with perforated plates, J. Refrig. 30 (5) (2009) 36–40.
[28] J.D. Anderson, Computational Fluid Dynamics: the Basics with Applications,
McGraw-Hill, 1995, pp. 105–106.
[29] P.J. Roache, Fundamentals of Computational Fluid Dynamics, Hermosa
Publisher, 1983.
[30] G.R. Thorpe, The application of computational fluid dynamics codes to
simulate heat and moisture transfer in stored grains, J. Stored Prod Res. 44
(2008) 21–31.
[31] A.J. Hunter, On the heat of sorption of paddy rice, J. Agric. Eng. Res. 44 (1989)
237–239.
[32] X.Y. Yue, J.H. Zhao, E.J. Shi, Y.Q. Chen, X.D. Liu, Analysis of air velocity
distribution in a multilayer conveyor dryer by computational fluid dynamics,
Asia-Pac J. Chem. Eng. 2 (2007) 108–117.
[33] W.X. Zhu, C.R. Bai, X.Y. Xie, Velocity field in chamber of through box dryer, J.
Chi. Agric. Uni. 3 (2) (1998) 61–64.