MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM

Chapter 4: Drying
❖ Introduction:
➢ Drying is removal of moisture from any substance by using hot air or heat.
➢ Mechanical removal of moisture is not drying like batch centrifuge.
➢ A solution can be dried by spraying it in fine droplets into hot, dry gas which results in
evaporation of liquid but evaporation of solution by boiling in absence of gas to carry away
moisture is not ordinarily considered drying operation.
➢ Drying is applied to liquids if small amount of moisture or other chemical is removed in
small quantity.
❖ Equilibrium:
➢ Moisture in wet solid or liquid solution exerts vapor pressure to extent depending upon
nature of moisture, nature of solid, and temperature.
➢ If then wet solid is exposed to continuous supply of fresh gas containing fixed partial
pressure of vapor p̅, solid will either lose moisture by evaporation or gain moisture from
gas until vapor pressure of moisture of solid equals p̅.
➢ Solid and gas are then in equilibrium, and moisture content of solid is termed as equilibrium
moisture content.
❖ Hysteresis:
➢ Many solids exhibit different equilibrium-moisture characteristic depending upon whether
equilibrium is reached by condensation (adsorption) or evaporation (desorption) of
moisture.

Fig 1: Hysteresis

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 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying
➢ In drying operations, it is desorption equilibrium which is of particular interest, and this
will always show larger of two equilibrium-moisture contents for given partial pressure of
vapor.
➢ Moisture picked up by dry solid when exposed to moist air (adsorption equilibrium), is
sometimes called regain.
➢ Environment should contain perfect dry gas means having 0% moisture in gas so that
curves drawn will go to zero as shown in fig 1.
➢ Because of hysteresis effect, equilibrium point will shift. (Point A on both curve)
➢ To keep solid at low moisture content, it is necessary to pack and store immediately out of
air in moisture impervious container, moisture will not permeate.
❖ Definitions:
1. Moisture content (wet basis):
➢ Moisture content of solid or solution is usually described in terms of weight percent
moisture,
kg moisture kg moisture
Moisture content wet basis = * 100 = * 100
kg wet solid kg moisture + kg dry solid
X∗100
=
1+X
➢ X = kg moisture / kg dry solid
2. Moisture content (dry basis):
kg moisture
Moisture content dry basis = * 100 = 100*X
kg dry solid

Fig 2: Types of moisture

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 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying
3. Equilibrium Moisture (X*):
➢ This is moisture content of substance when at equilibrium with given partial pressure of
vapor.
4. Bound Moisture:
➢ It is moisture of substance which exerts equilibrium vapor pressure less than that of pure
liquid at same temperature.
5. Unbound Moisture:
➢ It is moisture of substance which exerts equilibrium vapor pressure equal to that of pure
liquid at same temperature.
6. Free Moisture:
➢ It is moisture contained by substance in excess of equilibrium moisture, X – X*.
➢ Only free moisture can be evaporated, and free moisture content of solid depends upon
vapor concentration in gas.
❖ Classification of drying operation:
➢ Drying operations can be broadly classified according to whether they are batch or
continuous.
➢ In continuous operations, substance to be dried as well as gas passes continually through
equipment.
➢ In batchwise operations, substance to be dried is exposed to dry air into which moisture
evaporates.
➢ Equipment used for drying can be classified according to equipment type and nature of
drying process.
1. Method of Operation (batch or continuous):
➢ Batch or semi-batch, equipment is operated intermittently or cyclically under unsteady state
conditions.
➢ Continuous driers are usually operated in steady state manner.
2. Based on method of supplying heat:
➢ In direct drier, heat is supplied entirely by direct contact of substance with hot gas into
which evaporation takes place.
➢ In indirect drier, heat is supplied quite independently of gas used to carry away vaporized
moisture, where Heat may be supplied by conduction through metal wall in contact with
substance, or less frequently by exposure of substance to infrared radiation or by dielectric
heating.
3. Nature of substance to be dried:
➢ Substance may be rigid solid such as wood or fiberboard, flexible material such as cloth or
paper, granular solid such as mass of crystals, thick paste or thin slurry, or solution.
➢ Equipments choice will depend on type of solid to be dried.

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 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying
❖ Batch drying:
➢ It is relatively expensive operation and used in small scale operations, to pilot plant or
where product is valuable.
• Direct Driers:
1. Tray Drier:
➢ Tray driers, also called cabinet, compartment, or shell driers are used for drying solids
which must be supported on trays, ex., pasty materials such as wet filter cakes from filter
presses, lumpy solids which must be spread upon trays and similar materials.
➢ Typical device as shown in fig 3, consists of cabinet containing removable trays on which
solid to be dried is spread.
➢ After loading, cabinet is closed and steam heated air is blown across and between trays to
evaporate moisture (cross-circulation drying).
➢ Inert gas, even superheated steam rather than air can be used if liquid to be evaporated is
combustible or if oxygen is damaging to solid.
➢ When solid has reached desired degree of dryness, cabinet is opened and trays replaced
with new batch.

Fig 3: Tray drier

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 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying
2. Truck Drier:
➢ Fig 4 shows modification, truck drier, where trays are racked upon trucks which can be
rolled into and out of cabinet.
➢ Since trucks can be loaded and unloaded outside drier, considerable time can be saved
between drying cycles.
➢ Other obvious modifications of design are also used, depending upon nature of drying
substance.

Fig 4: 2-truck drier

3. Through Circulation Drier:
➢ With granular materials, solid can be arranged in thin beds supported on screens so that air
or other gas can be passed through beds which results in very much more rapid drying.
➢ A typical device for this purpose, batch through-circulation drier, is shown in fig 5.
➢ Crystalline solids and materials which are naturally granular such as silica gel can be dried
in this manner directly.
➢ One of most important difficulties in use of drier is nonuniformity of moisture content
found in finished product.
➢ Drier must be properly insulated.
Prepared By: Mr. Mohammedadil Shaikh Page
 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying

Fig 5: Through-circulation drier

• Advantage of batch drying:
➢ It is used for valuable materials, low temperature drying and where absence of air is
required.
➢ It is used in pharmaceutical industries.
➢ To remove toxic vapors.
➢ For raw material preparation.
• Disadvantage of batch drying:
➢ It is expensive to build and to operate such drier.
• Indirect Driers:
1. Vacuum Shelf Drier:
➢ Vacuum shelf driers are tray driers whose cabinets, made of cast-iron or steel plates, are
fitted with tightly closing doors so that they can be operated at subatmospheric pressure.
➢ No air is blown or recirculated through such driers.
➢ Trays containing solid to be dried rest upon hollow shelves through which warm water or
steam is passed to provide necessary heat for vaporization of moisture.
➢ Heat is conducted to solid through metal of shelves and trays (through conduction).
2. Agitated Pan Drier:
➢ Agitated pan driers, which can be used for dry pastes or slurries in small batches, are
shallow, circular pans, 1 to 2 m in diameter and 0.3 to 0.6 m deep, with flat bottom and
vertical sides.
➢ Pans are jacketed for admission of steam or hot water for heating.

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 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying
➢ Paste or slurry, in pan is stirred and scraped by set of rotating plows, in order to expose
new material to heated surface.
➢ Moisture is evaporated into atmosphere in atmosphere pan driers, or pan may be covered
and operated under vacuum.
3. Vacuum Rotary Drier:
➢ They are steam-jacketed cylindrical shells, arranged horizontally, in which slurry or paste
can be dried in vacuum.
➢ It is inclined cylinder that contain screw conveyor so that solids will come down while,
whole system is heated so that moisture will be removed.
➢ Vaporized moisture passes through opening in top to condenser, and non-condensable gas
is removed by vacuum pump.
➢ Dried solid is discharged through door in bottom of drier.
• Freeze drying (Sublimation drying):
➢ It is used where heating is not allowed at moderate temperatures such as food,
pharmaceutical industry.
➢ Substance to be dried is customarily frozen by exposure to very cold air and placed in
vacuum chamber to remove moisture.
➢ An alternative method of freezing is by flash vaporization of part of moisture under vacuum
for rigid material.
➢ Problems is to supply heat necessary for sublimation: providing necessary heat of
sublimation as wall of solid are insulated.
➢ Heat is provided by back face (indirect heating).
❖ Rate of batch drying:
➢ Time of drying is important to decide drying schedule and size of equipment.
➢ Because of this we can find time when we have to switch off dryer.
• Drying tests:
➢ Rate of drying can be determined for sample of substance by suspending it in cabinet and
hot air is passed off.
➢ Weight of drying sample can then be measured as function of time.
➢ By measuring weight, we can find amount of moisture removed.
➢ For corelating with large scale operation:
i. Sample should be similarly supported in tray or frame
ii. It should have same ratio of drying to nondrying surface (sample should have same pore
size as in lab scale)
iii. It should be subjected to similar conditions of radiant heat transfer
iv. Air should have same temperature, humidity and velocity (both speed and direction with
respect to sample)
➢ Exposure of sample to air of constant temperature, humidity and velocity constitutes drying
under constant drying conditions.
Prepared By: Mr. Mohammedadil Shaikh Page
 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying
• Rate of drying curve:

Fig 6: Batch drying, constant drying conditions

➢ From data obtained during such test, curve of moisture content as function of time (fig 6)
can be plotted.
➢ This will be useful directly in determining time required for drying larger batches under
same drying conditions.
➢ Much information can be obtained if data are converted into rates (or fluxes) of drying,
expressed as N mass / (area*time) and plotted against moisture content as fig 7.

Fig 7: Rate of drying curve

Prepared By: Mr. Mohammedadil Shaikh Page
 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying
➢ AB / A’B = initial adjustment (let substance to come in equilibrium with surrounding
atmosphere)
➢ BC = constant rate (unbound moisture drying)
➢ CE = falling rate (pore moisture drying)
➢ CD = unsaturated surface drying (some amount of water on surface that must be dried)
➢ DE = internal movement of moisture content (due to heating moisture inside pore will cause
movement to come out of solid, if it got way to come out then vapors will go in atmosphere,
if not then movement of moisture will be continued)
➢ By determining from curve small changes in moisture content ΔX for corresponding small
changes in time Δθ and calculating rate as N = - Ss*ΔX / A*Δθ (mass / area*time).
➢ Here, Ss is mass of dry solid, and A is wet surface over which gas blows and through which
evaporation takes place in case of cross-air circulation drying.
➢ Rate of drying curve is sometimes plotted with ordinate expressed as mass moisture
evaporated / (mass dry solid*time), which is – dX / dθ.
➢ There are usually two major parts to rate curve of fig 7, period of constant rate and one of
falling rate.
➢ While different solids and different conditions of drying often give rise to curves pf
different shape in falling rate period.
➢ For wet solid, thin film forms over which dry gas is passed which causes evaporation.
➢ For cross-circulation drying,
Nc = kY * (Ys - Y) - - - - - (1)
Ys = Humidity at surface at saturation
Y = Humidity at any time
kY = Film mass transfer coefficient
➢ When average moisture content of solid has reached Xc, critical moisture content of surface
film is reduced by evaporation that causes dry spots to appear upon surface, these spots
occupy increasingly larger proportions of exposed surface as drying proceeds.
• Time of drying:
➢ Rate of drying is defined as,
Ss∗dX
N=- - - - - - (2)
A∗dθ
➢ Rearranging and integrating over time interval while moisture content changes from its
initial value X1 to its final value X2 gives
θ Ss X1
θ = ∫0 dθ = * ∫X2 dX/N - - - - - (3)
A
i. Constant rate period: If drying takes place entirely within constant rate period, so that
X1 and X2 > Xc and N = Nc, eq (3) becomes
Ss∗(X1 − X2)
θ= - - - - - (4)
A∗Nc

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 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying
ii. Falling rate period: If X1 and X2 are both less than Xc, so that drying occurs under
conditions of changing N, we proceed as follows,
a) General case: For any shape of falling rate curve, eq (3) can be integrated graphically
by determining area under curve of 1/N as ordinate, X as abscissa, data which can be
obtained from rate of drying curve.
b) Special case: N is linear in X, as in region BC of fig 7. In this case,
N = mX + b - - - - - (5)
where m is slope of linear portion of curve and b is constant. Substitution in eq (3)
provides
Ss X1 dX Ss mX1+b
θ= * ∫X2 == ln - - - - - (6)
A mX+b mA mX2+b
but since N1 = mX1 + b, N2 = mX2 + b, and m = (N1 – N2) / (X1 – X2), eq (6) becomes
Ss∗(X1 − X2) N1 Ss∗(X1 − X2)
θ= * ln = - - - - - (7)
A∗(N1 − N2) N2 A∗Nm
where Nm is logarithmic average of rate N1, at moisture content X1, and N2 at X2.
➢ Falling rate is considered as straight line between points C and E in fig 7 because of lack
of data. So,
Nc∗(X − X∗)
N = m*(X – X*) = - - - - - (8)
(Xc − X∗)
And eq (7) becomes
Ss∗(Xc − X∗) X1 − X∗
θ= ln - - - - - (9)
A∗Nc X2 − X∗
❖ Mechanisms of Batch Drying:
• Cross-Circulation Drying:
➢ Constant rate period is surface evaporation of unbound moisture occurs, it has been shown
that rate of drying is established by balance of heat requirements for evaporation and rate
at which heat reaches surface.
➢ Consider section of material drying in stream of gas as shown in fig 8.
➢ Solid of thickness zS is placed on tray of thickness zM.

Fig 8: Constant rate drying

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 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying
➢ Whole is immersed in stream of drying gas at temperature TG and humidity Y mass
moisture / mass dry gas, flowing at mass velocity G mass / (area*time).
➢ Evaporation of moisture takes place from upper surface, area A, which is at temperature
Ts.
➢ Drying surface receives heat from,
1. qc by convection from gas stream
2. qk by conduction through solid
3. qR by direct radiation from hot surface at temperature TR
(all expressed as flux, energy / (area of solid for heat transfer*time))
➢ Heat arriving at surface by these methods is removed by evaporating moisture, so that
surface temperature remains constant at Ts.
➢ Rate of evaporation and surface temperature can then be obtained by heat surface.
➢ If q represents total heat arriving at surface, then
q = qc + qR + qk - - - - - (10)
➢ Heat required to superheat evaporated moisture to gas temperature and consider only latent
heat of vaporization λs, flux of evaporation Nc and flux of heat flow are related
q = Nc* λs - - - - - (11)
➢ Heat of convection is given by
qc = hc*(TG – Ts) - - - - - (12)
hc = convective heat transfer coefficient
➢ Radiant heat is given by
qR = ϵ*(5.729 * 10-8)*(TR4 – Ts4) = hR*(TR – Ts) - - - - - (13)
hR = ϵ*(5.729 * 10-8)*(TR4 – Ts4) / (TR – Ts) - - - - - (14)
➢ Conduction heat is given by
qk = Uk*(TG - Ts) - - - - - (15)
1
Uk = 1 𝐴 𝑧𝑀 𝐴 𝑧𝑠 𝐴 - - - - - (16)
( )( )+( )( )+( )( )
ℎ𝑐 𝐴𝑢 𝑘𝑀 𝐴𝑢 𝑘𝑠 𝐴𝑚
Where, kM, ks = thermal conductivities of tray material and drying solid, respectively
Au, Am = nondrying surface and average area of drying solid, respectively
➢ Combining eq (1), (10) and (15) gives rate of drying,
q (hc + Uk)(TG − Ts) + hR(TR − Ts)
Nc = = = kY*(Ys - Y) - - - - - (17)
λs λs
➢ Above equation can be used in psychrometric chart to find out values of remaining terms
in question.
➢ Only Ts and adiabatic saturation % should be known.
❖ Through Circulation Drying:
➢ When gas passes through bed of wet, granular solids, both constant-rate and falling rate
period of drying may result and rate of drying curve may appear very much like shown in
fig 7.

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 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying
➢ Consider case where beds of solids have appreciable thickness with respect to size of
particles, as shown in fig 9.

Fig 9: Through-circulation drying of thick beds of solids

➢ Evaporation of unbound moisture into gas occurs in relatively narrow zone which moves
slowly through bed, and unless bed is internally heated, gas leaving zone is for all practical
purposes saturated at adiabatic-saturation temperature of entering gas.
➢ Rate of drying gas is constant as long as zone is entirely within bed.
➢ When zone first reaches end of bed, rate of drying begins to fall because gas no longer
leaves in saturated conditions.
➢ Point of view of interest is moisture content of solid rather than concentration changes
occurring in exit gas.
➢ In case of shallow beds composed of large particles, gas leaves bed unsaturated from
beginning, but as long as each particle surface remains fully wet, there will be constant rate
period.
➢ Falling rate then begins when surface moisture is depleted.
• Rate of drying of unbound moisture:
➢ Maximum rate of drying Nmax will occur if gas leaving bed is saturated at adiabatic
saturation temperature with humidity Yas,
Nmax = Gs*(Yas – Y1) - - - - - (18)
Where, Gs = kg dry gas / (cross section area of bed*time)
N = kg moisture evaporated / (cross section area of bed*time)
➢ In general, gas will leave bed at humidity Y2 and instantaneous rate of drying is
N = Gs*(Y2 – Y1) - - - - - (19)
➢ For different section of bed, where gas undergoes change in humidity dY and leaves at
humidity Y, rate of drying is
dN = Gs*dY = kY*dS*(Yas - Y) - - - - - (20)
where S is the interfacial surface per unit area of bed cross section.
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 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying
➢ Let ‘a’ represent the interfacial surface per unit volume of bed whose thickness is z S, so
dS = a*dzS - - - - - (21)
➢ And eq (20) becomes
Y2 dY z kY∗a∗dzS
∫Y1 = ∫0 S - - - - - (22)
Yas − Y Gs
Yas − Y1 k ∗a∗z
ln = NtG = Y S - - - - - (23)
Yas − Y2 Gs
where NtG is the number of gas transfer units in the bed.
➢ Mean driving force for evaporation is then logarithmic mean of Yas – Y1 and Yas – Y2,
and combining eq (18), (19) and (23)
N Y2−Y1 Yas−Y2
= =1- = 1 - e−NtG - - - - - (24)
Nmax Yas−Y1 Yas−Y1
➢ Equation (24) provides the rate of drying N if values of kY*a or NtG can be determined.
❖ Continuous Drying:
➢ Continuous drying offers many advantages like usually equipment requirement is small
relative to the quantity of product, the operation can be carried out for continuous chemical
manufacture without intermediate storage, the product will have more uniform moisture
content, and the cost of drying per unit of product is relatively small.
➢ In batch drying, the nature of the equipment used is greatly dependent upon the type of
material to be dried.
➢ In many of the direct driers, the solid is moved through a drier while in contact with a
moving gas stream.
➢ The gas and solid may flow in parallel or in countercurrent, or the gas may flow across the
path of the solid.
➢ In countercurrent adiabatic operation, the hottest gas is in contact with the driest solid, and
the discharged solid is therefore heated to a temperature which may approach that of the
entering gas.
➢ This provides the most rapid drying, since especially in the case of bound moisture where
traces of moisture are the most difficult to remove, and this is done more rapidly at high
temperatures.
❖ Tunnel Drier:
➢ These direct driers are essentially adaptations of the truck driers to continuous operation.
➢ They consist of relatively long tunnels through which trucks, loaded with trays filled with
the drying solid, are moved in contact with a current of gas to evaporate the moisture.
➢ The trucks may be pulled continuously through the drier by a moving chain, to which they
are attached.
➢ The time of residence in the drier must be long enough to reduce the moisture content of
the solid to the desired value.

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 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying
➢ For relatively low-temperature operation the gas is usually steam-heated air, while for
higher temperatures and for products which need not be kept clean, flue gas from the
combustion of a fuel can be used.
➢ Parallel or countercurrent flow of gas and solid can be used, or in some cases fans placed
along the sides of the tunnel blow the gas through the trucks in crossflow.
❖ Through Circulation Drier:
➢ In the continuous through-circulation drier of fig (10), the solid is spread to a depth of 38
to 50 mm upon a moving endless conveyor which passes through the drier.
➢ The conveyor is made of perforated plates or woven wire screens in hinged sections in
order to avoid failure from repeated flexing of the screen.
➢ Fans blow the heated air through the solid, usually upward through the wet solid and
downward after initial drying has occurred.
➢ In this way, a more uniform moisture concentration throughout the bed is attained.
➢ For materials which permit the flow of gas through the bed in the manner shown, drying is
much more rapid than for tray-type tunnel driers.

Fig 10: Through circulation drier with roller extruder

❖ Rotary Driers:
➢ This is a most important group of driers, suitable for handling free-flowing granular
materials.
➢ Direct countercurrent hot-air drier is shown in fig (11).
➢ The solid to be dried is continuously introduced into one end of a rotating cylinder, as
shown, while heated air flows into the other.
➢ The cylinder is installed at a small angle to the horizontal, and the solid consequently moves
slowly through the device.
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 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying

Fig 11: Rotary drier

➢ Inside the drier, lifting flights extending from the cylinder wall for the full length of the
drier lift the solid and shower it down in a moving curtain through the air, thus exposing it
thoroughly to the drying action of the gas.
➢ This lifting action also assists in the forward motion of the solid.
➢ At the feed end of the drier, a few short spiral flights assist in imparting the initial forward
motion to the solid before the principal flights are reached.
➢ The solid must clearly be one which is neither sticky nor gummy, which might stick to the
sides of the drier.
➢ In such cases, use of rotary drier is not suitable.
➢ The drier may be fed with hot flue gas rather than air, and if the gas leaves the drier at a
high enough temperature, discharging it through a stack may provide adequate natural draft
to provide sufficient gas for drying.
➢ Ordinarily, however, an exhaust fan is used to pull the gas through the drier, since this
provides more complete control of the gas flow.
➢ Rotary driers are made for a variety of operations.
➢ The following classification includes the major types:
1. Direct heat, countercurrent flow.
➢ The general arrangement is that shown in fig (11).
➢ For materials which can be heated to high temperatures, such as minerals, sand,
limestone, clays, etc., hot flue gas can be used as the drying gas (the heating coils are
replaced by a furnace burning gas, oil, or coal).
➢ For substances which should not be heated excessively, such as certain crystalline
chemical products like ammonium sulfate and cane sugar, heated air can be used.
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 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying
2. Direct heat, co-current flow.
➢ The general construction is much like that of fig (11), except that the gas and solid both
enter at the same end of the drier.
➢ Solids which can be dried with flue gas without fear of contamination but which must
not be heated to high temperatures for fear of damage, such as gypsum, iron pyrites, and
organic material, should be dried in a co-current flow drier.
3. Indirect heat, Countercurrent flow.

Fig 12: Some rotary drier

➢ For solids such as white pigments, and the like, which can be heated to high
temperatures but which must remain out of contact with flue gas, the indirect drier
indicated schematically in fig (12a) can be used.
➢ As an alternative construction, the drier may be enclosed in a brick structure and
completely surrounded by the hot flue gases.
➢ The airflow in such a drier can be kept to a minimum since the heat is supplied by
conduction through the shell or central tube, and finely pulverized solids which dust
severely can then be handled.
➢ For solids which must not be heated to high temperatures and for which indirect heat is
desirable the steam-tube drier, shown in fig (12b), can be used.

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 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying
➢ This drier mayor may not have lifting flights and may be built with one, two, or more
concentric rows of steam-heated tubes.
➢ The tubes revolve with the drier, necessitating a special rotary joint where the steam is
introduced and the condensate removed.
➢ This type of drier is frequently used when recovery of the evaporated liquid is necessary.
4. Direct-Indirect
➢ These driers, more economical to operate than the direct driers, can be used for solids
which can be dried at high temperatures by flue gas, especially when fuel costs are high
and when large percentages of moisture must be removed from the solid.
➢ A typical schematic arrangement is shown in fig (12c).
➢ Lignite, coal, and coke can be dried in the inert atmosphere of such a drier at relatively
high temperatures without danger of burning or dust explosion.
❖ Drum drier:

Fig 13: Drum drier

➢ Fluid and semifluid materials such as solutions, slurries, pastes, and sludges can be dried
on an indirect drier.
➢ A slowly revolving internally steam-heated metal drum continuously dips into solution
containing the substance to be dried, and a thin film of the substance is retained on the drum
surface.

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 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying
➢ The thickness of the film is regulated by a spreader knife, as shown, and as the drum
revolves, moisture is evaporated into the surrounding air by heat transferred through the
metal of the drum.
➢ The dried material is then continuously scraped from the drum surface by a knife.
➢ For such a drier, heat transfer rather than diffusion is the controlling factor.
➢ Double-drum driers, consisting of two drums placed close together and revolving in
opposite directions, can be fed from above by admitting the feed into the depression
between the drums.
➢ Cylinder driers are drum driers used for material in continuous sheet form, such as paper
and cloth.
➢ The wet solid is fed continuously over the revolving drum, or a series of such drums, each
internally heated by steam or other heating fluid.
❖ Spray Drier:

Fig 14: Spray drier

➢ Solutions, slurries, and pastes can be dried by spraying them as fine droplets into a stream
of hot gas in a spray drier.
➢ The liquid to be dried is atomized and introduced into the large drying chamber, where the
droplets are dispersed into a stream of heated air.
➢ The particles of liquid evaporate rapidly and dry before they can be carried to the sides of
the chamber, and the bulk of the dried powder which results falls to the conical bottom of
the chamber to be removed by a stream of air to the dust collector.
Prepared By: Mr. Mohammedadil Shaikh Page
 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying
➢ The principal portion of the exit gas is also led to a dust collector, as shown, before being
discharged.
➢ Many other arrangements are possible, involving both parallel and counterflow of gas and
spray.
➢ Installations may be very large, as much as 12 m in diameter and 30 m high (40 by 100 ft).
➢ Spray driers are used for a wide variety of products, including such diverse materials as
organic and inorganic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food products such as milk, eggs, and
soluble coffee, as well as soap and detergent products.
➢ In order to obtain rapid drying, atomization of the feed must provide small particles of high
surface/weight ratio, whose diameter is usually in the range 10 to 60 µm.
➢ For this purpose, spray nozzles or rapidly rotating disks can be used.
➢ Spray nozzles are of two major types: pressure nozzles, in which the liquid is pumped at
high pressure and with a rapid circular motion through a small orifice, and two fluid
nozzles, in which a gas such as air or steam at relatively low pressures is used to tear the
liquid into droplets.
➢ Spray drying offers the advantage of extremely rapid drying for heat-sensitive products, a
product particle size and density which are controllable within limits, and relatively low
operating costs, especially in large-capacity driers.
❖ Fluidized and Spouted bed:

Fig 15: Fluidized bed drier

Prepared By: Mr. Mohammedadil Shaikh Page
 MASS TRANSFER OPERATION - 2, 6TH SEM
Chapter 4: Drying
➢ Granular solids, fluidized by a drying medium such as hot air, can be dried and cooled in a
fluidized bed.
➢ The principal characteristics of such beds include cross flow of solid and drying gas, a
solids residence time controllable from seconds to hours, and suitability for any gas
temperature.
➢ It is necessary that the solids should be free-flowing and of a size range 0.1 to 36 mm.
➢ Since the mass flow rate of gas for thermal requirements is substantially less than that
required for fluidization, the bed is most economically operated at the minimum velocity
for fluidization.
➢ Coarse solids too large for ready fluidization can be handled in a spouted bed.
➢ Here the fluid is introduced into the cone-shaped bottom of the container for the solids
instead of uniformly over the cross section.
➢ It flows upward through the center of the bed in a column, causing a fountainlike spout of
solids at the top.
➢ The solids circulate downward around the fluid column.
➢ Such a beds are used in drying wheat, peas, flax etc.

Fig 16: Spouted Bed

Prepared By: Mr. Mohammedadil Shaikh Page