Presented at the COMSOL Conference 2009 Boston

A Moisture Transfer Model for Drying of Grain

by

Kurt O. Lund

Kurt Lund Consulting

135 Sixth Street, Del Mar, CA 92014. kurtlund@roadrunner.com
Single-Kernel
Moisture Transfer
Spherical Kernel Model
 Single-Kernel Moisture Transfer

∂M k
∂t
1 ∂  2 ∂M k 
= 2  r Dk
r ∂r 

∂r 
( )
hm M k R − M eq = − Dk
∂M k
∂r R
Dk = Akexp(-Bk/Ta)
ξ = r/R τ = t/tk tk = dk2/Dk

m = (M – Meq)/(M0 – Meq) Bim = hmdk/Dk ≈ 107

∂m 1 ∂  2 ∂m  2 ∂m
= 2 ξ  m1 = − ≈0
∂τ ξ ∂ξ  ∂ξ  Bim ∂ξ 1
 Equilibrium Moisture Content (Meq= EMC)

Chung-Henderson Correlation:
Meq = Eeq – Feqln[-(T [C]+Ceq)ln(rh)]
.35

.3
T = 25 C
.25
50 C
.2 75 C
Meq

.15

.1

.05

-.05
0 .1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8 .9 1
rh
 Volume-Average Concentration
100

10
Legend
m , dm/dτ

dm/dtau
m
1

0.1

0.01
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
τ
 Single-Kernel Moisture Transfer Correlation

1.0

dm
− =βm
dτ
0.8

12τ + 0.11
0.6

β= m avg
τ + 0.0011 0.4

0.2

0.0
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
scaled time, τ

dM hk = βdk/6tk
− V1k ρ k = hk S1k ρ k ( M − M eq ) = 2/3 β Dk/dk
dt
Multiple-Kernel Moisture Transfer
 One-Dimensional Mass Transport Equations
Volumetric Moisture Transfer
Qm 6hk
qVm = = (1 − ε ) ρ k ( M − M eq )
VT dk
Solid-Phase Moisture Transport
 ∂M ∂M 
(1 − ε ) ρ k  +Us  = −qVm
 ∂t ∂x 
Air Humidity Transport
 ∂ω ∂ω 
ερ a  +Ua  = qVm
 ∂t ∂x
 One-Dimensional Heat Transport Equations

Volumetric Heat Transfer

Q 6ha
qV = = (1 − ε ) (Ta − Ts )
VT dk
Solid-Phase Heat Transport

 ∂Cs' Ts ∂C '
T  ∂M

(1 − ε ) ρ s  + Us s s  = qV − um qVm − (1 − ε ) ρ s h fg

 ∂t ∂x  ∂t
C’s = Cs + CmM
Air Heat Transport
 ∂Ca' Ta ∂C '
T 
ερ a  + Ua a a  = −qV + u m qVm

 ∂ t ∂ x 
C’a = Ca + ωCm um - um0 = Cm(Ts – Tm0)
Moisture Fraction for Stationary Bed or Bin
Moisture Fraction for Stationary Bed or Bin
Moisture Fraction for Stationary Bed or Bin

Meq

ω
Moving Column of Grain
Kernels Moisture Fraction Air Humidity Ratio

Us = 0.05m/s, Ua = 5m/s ε = 85%

Air Relative Humidity Air Temperatures
Moving Column of Grain
The End