Dryer Control

In order to control any process, we

need a good understanding of the
process itself
What is the drying process?
Dryer classifications and types
Process analysis Macro vs. Nano, Micro
Dryers – A common yet costly
unit operation
Dryers used in chemical processing,
food processing and pharma
Batch or continuous
Energy intensive
Frequently over dried at added costs,
dusting, product loss
Drying accounts for ~12% manuf. costs
 What is the Drying Process …

Removal of small amount of liquid, usually water – Large amounts

of water normally removed by press or centrifuges. Thermal
methods employed. Heat and Mass transfer
Wet Material

Hot dry air Humid air

Dry Material
Solid drying process is very complex
with micro and nano mechanisms
Liquid movement due to capillary forces
Diffusion due to concentration gradients
Liquid vapor flow due to pressure differences
Vapor diffusion due to vapor pressure differences,
concentration differences
Osmotic pressure created by colloidal bodies has
soluble and insoluble fractions
Vapor Effusion – A relationship of vapor flow to pore
diameter
Thermodiffusion
Vaporization-condensation mechanism
Macro Drying Process
This program will not study these nano
and micro relationships; we will develop
our controls based on the macro
mechanisms
What is the Drying Process …
Drying - water liquid vaporization; not as
efficient as centrifuge, 1050 BTU/lb of water
removed.
Final moisture varies “dried” table salt
contains 0.5 % water, dried coal 4%.
Solids can have many different forms, flakes,
granules, crystals, powders, etc. The liquid
can be on the surface, within the surface in
cellular structures, such as wood. Consider
the method of handling, dusting, rough or
gentle treatment.
 Equilibrium Moisture
The solid’s moisture content is a
function of the humidity of the drying air.
The moisture cannot be lower than the
equilibrium moisture content
corresponding the humidity of the
incoming air.
50% RH air equilibrium moisture
Wool 12.5 % Newspaper 5.5%
The Drying Process can be described in several
ways…

Batch or Continuous; how the material

is processed.
A single charge – Batch
Continuous input and output.
The Drying equipment can be described as “dryer
types”

Dryer Types; the classification as to the

method solids travel through the heated
zone, the heat source and transfer
method.
 The Drying Process can be classified as:

Classifications
Adiabatic Dryers are the type where the solids are dried
by direct contact with gases, usually forced air. With
these dryers, moisture is on the surface of the solid.

Non-Adiabatic Dryers When a dryer does not use

heated air or other gasses to provide the energy
required the drying process is considered a non-
adiabatic.
In the case of Adiabatic Dryers

The process can be considered to be two

related processes:
Solids Drying
Air Humidification
We will view dryer control from the air
humidification process
Adiabatic dryers, solids are exposed to the
heated gasses in various methods:
Blown across the surface cross circulation
Blown through a bed of solids, through-
circulation; solids stationary; wood, corn etc
Dropped slowly through a slow moving gas
stream, rotary dryer
Blown through a bed of solids that fluidize the
particles; solids moving; frequently called
fluidized bed dryer
Solids enter a high velocity hot gas stream
and conveyed pneumatically to a collector
Flash Dryer
What can the Psychometric Properties tell us
about the drying process?

In many ( or most ) cases, the nano

and macro drying mechanisms are not
know.
However, we do know air properties
Lets make use of the air properties to
control our dryer
Psychometric chart - displays phase conditions
of water vapour in air
29. 225 inHg 1
650 ft
Btu /lbm 75
0.0 5
70
0.0 45
65

60 0.0 4
55
0.0 35
Tw Wet Bulb Temperature Lines 50
0.0 3
45

Relative Humidity Lines 40 0.0 25

35
0.0 2
30
25 0.0 15
20
0.0 1
15
10
0.0 05
lbm /lbm
ft^ 3/lb m 13 .2 13. 8 14. 4
F 4 5 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110
 The Psychometric chart computer
program

Akton Associates Inc.

PO Box 2076
Edmond, OK 73034
(405) 513-8537

http://www.aktonassoc.com/
Properties shown on psychometric chart…

The air temperature - dry bulb temperature of the stable air

water vapour mixture; on the x axis
The dew point temperature - temperature where condensation
begins to form as the water is condensed from the wet air; not
shown on the chart
The wet bulb temperature is the temperature at which adiabatic
heat is transferred during the drying of solid or humidification of
air. For a dryer, moisture in the solid is transferred to the air. The
air will gain moisture while the solid looses moisture, therefore
or humidification of the air occurs. This process will occur at a
constant wet bulb temperature. The dry bulb air temperature
will decrease during this process and be lower exiting the dryer
or chamber. This temperature is shown as a series of curved
lines sloping downward.
Properties shown on psychometric chart…

Relative humidity is the ratio of the water vapour

pressure at the dew point to the water vapour
pressure at the dry bulb temperature. This ratio is
usually expressed as a percent. This ratio is
multiplied by 100 to obtain the percentage reading.
These lines are the curved lines sloping upward.
Vertical line on the right shows the absolute
moisture; pounds of moisture per pound of dry air.
 Relative Humidity
The relative humidity is calculated as a ratio
of partial pressures: p
RH  100 * w
o
p w

p w is the water vapor pressure at the dew point

temperature
p wo is the water vapor pressure at the dry bulb
temperature.
 Relative Humidity
The water vapor pressure can be calculated by an
exponential equation:

  7071.3 
p  2.04466 * 10 * exp 
6

 t  385.0 

p in psia and T in DegF

Drying is in one of two zones
or periods…
Constant rate and Falling rate zones
Constant Rate Zone a.k.a. first
period of drying

Layer of saturated air on solid surface

This rate is determined by the capacity
and properties of the inlet gas or vapor
Solid temperature is equal to the wet
bulb temperature during this period
Free water drying
Falling Rate Zone a.k.a. second
period of drying
inflection point at the “critical moisture”
begins when the surface or free water is
removed
solid temperature increases form wet
bulb temp to that approaching the inlet
air, gas, temperature
Batch Drying
If air is passed over a moist solid, air temperature will
be reduced as the water is evaporated. Calculated
through an enthalpy balance:

G
C(
Ti
To)F
wHv

Ti = Inlet Dry Bulb Temperature

To = Outlet Dry Bulb Temperature
G = Air Mass Flow
C = Air Heat Capacity
Fw = Mass rate of water evaporation
Hv = Heat of vaporization
Batch Drying
The outlet temperature value will be between
the inlet and the wet bulb temperature. The
rate of evaporation dFw is equal to:
d
Fwa
RdA
(TT
w)
Ti Inlet Dry Bulb Temperature
Tw Wet Bulb Temperature
a Mass transfer coefficient
R Rate coefficient
dA Surface Area
 Ti

To

Tw Constant wet bulb

temperature

G dFw
Hv
Water heat of
vaporization
dA T
a R

a = Mass transfer coefficient

R = Rate coefficient dFw  aRdA(T  Tw ) GCdT  dFw H v
C = Air Specific Heat

Evaporation Model; Air temperature decreases as the moisture is removed from the solid

lbs 1
R a
hr ft 2  F
 Batch Drying
As the air passes over the moist solid, the air
temperature will fall by dT G
Cd td Fw Hv

Assuming R = kw, a line that passes

through to origin, the above equations
can be solved for the outlet moisture:
GC  Ti  Tw  akAH v  Ti  Tw 
w ln    Kwc  ln  
akAH v  To  Tw  CG  To  Tw 
Batch Drying
The final outlet To temperature to achieve a
desired final moisture is w* is:

T  i
*
* Kw
Tw e (
o T Tw)
Eliminating the wet bulb temperature form the
above yields:
 1 e  Kw *
  1e  Kw*

T  Toc 
*   Ti 1 
  1  e  Kwc


o
 1  e  Kwc
  
Where Toc is the outlet moisture at the critical
moisture.
 Kwo
Toc  Tw  e (Ti  Tw )
Batch Dryer, extra credit problem

Use algebraic substitution, show how

to arrive at equation (7) from (6) and
(6a) in your handout.

10 points credit
Constant rate – Falling rate
 The fraction term can be defined as
K*

 1  e  Kw *
  1  e  Kw*

To  Toc 
*   Ti 1 
 


 1 e 1 e
 Kwc  Kwc
  

T
T*
cK
o
o T
i1K  * *

Batch Dryer
This method calculates the outlet
temperature required to obtain specified
moisture in a batch dryer. It uses
inferential moisture calculation based on
temperature difference.
A better approach can be taken if the
dryer constant, K, is recalculated each
time.
 Mass Transfer Equations
Rate of Evaporation
 hv (T  Ti ) A
m
li
m evaporation Rate
hv heat transfer coefficient
T inlet gas temperature
Ti interface temperature or Wet Bulb Temperature
A Area
li heat of vaporization BTU/lb
 Heat Transfer coefficient can be
estimated as

0.026G 0.6
hy  0.4
De

G mass velocity lb/ft^2 hr, note different G!

De airflow channel diameter ft
 Mass Velocity
For packed beds, calculation requires
knowledge of void fractions…
Void Fractions
e for e for
Dp/Dt spheres cylinders
0.00 0.34 0.34
0.10 0.38 0.35
0.20 0.42 0.39
0.30 0.46 0.45
0.40 0.50 0.53
0.50 0.55 0.60
 Packing Factor
Leva, M., Grunmer, M.
Chem Eng Progress 43:713 (1947)
 Drying Rate Control
To control the drying rate, you control
the temperature differences.
G
C(
Ti
To)F
wHv

Ti = Inlet Dry Bulb Temperature

To = Outlet Dry Bulb Temperature
G = Air Mass Flow
C = Air Heat Capacity
Fw = Mass rate of water evaporation
Hv = Heat of vaporization
Drying Rate Control

But the outlet temperature lags the inlet

by some amount
This lag is due to the thermal time
constant of the solid
Drying Rate Control
First order lag must be applied to the
inlet temperature before the difference
is calculated.
Continuous Dryer outlet
moisture calculation…
The adiabatic drying process has two zones, falling rate
and a constant rate. When the product becomes
sufficiently dry that there are dry areas on the product
surface. Further drying results in a falling rate of
moisture removal.
Inferential measurement of product moisture is
accomplished by the measurement of temperatures
of the gas entering and exiting the dryer and
performing a calculation using these temperatures.
This technique uses mass and energy balances of
the dryer to calculate the product moisture and is
valid during the falling rate zone only.
 Air Out
to dust collector

Wet Feed Tout

Product Moisture
Calculation
Tin
w

Air Fan
Rotary Dryer Counter Current Flow

Heater

Natural Gas
Dry Product
Out
The relationship between outlet moisture
and the temperatures are:

wp = k*ln( (Ti - Tw) / (To - Tw) )

where:
wp = Outlet Moisture
Ti = Inlet Dry Bulb Temperature
Tw = Wet Bulb Temperature
To = Outlet Dry Bulb Temperature
k = Dryer Constant
Combustion air wet bulb
temperature
For water and air systems, the wet bulb
temperature is the same at the inlet as it
is in the outlet.
Natural gas combustion wet bulb
temperature degF is related by an
empirical relationship that is:
Tw = 164 - ( 16900/Ti )
Combustion air wet bulb temperature
Combustion air wet bulb temperature

Colder air cannot contain as much

absolute moisture as warmer air
Colder air requires more gas to heat,
and therefore adds more moisture to
the combustion product
Relationship good for temperatures
above 300 DegF
Inferential moisture control

PID control of this equation:

wp = k*ln( (Ti - Tw) / (To - Tw) )
difficult due to inverse response
The problem in controlling this equation is
that the dynamics of the equation result in
reverse action, i.e. if the moisture set point
is lowered, the instantaneous action would
be to increase the inlet temperature, which
causes the calculated moisture to increase
before the outlet temperature is increased
to such an extent as to lower the moisture
to its new stable set point. This is because
of the dead time and time constant
between the inlet and outlet temperatures.
Using conventional PID control on this
relationship results in unstable control.
 Inferential moisture control
If the inlet temperature signal was
transformed through a dead time and
time constant control function blocks
in the control algorithm, then applied
to the inferential calculation, the
resultant response would be closer to
the actual moisture. This is because
the present time observation of outlet
temperature is the result of a past
inlet temperature.
 Inferential Dryer Controls

uncompensated falling rate compensated falling rate moisture

 ti_ well  tw   ti_ ctrl  tw_ ctrl 

w_ calc  k * log  w_ctrl  k *log 
 tout_ well  tw   tout_ well  tw_ ctrl 

tw tw_ctrl
f f

x(1)

tiset ti_well time ti_ctrl1 ti_ctrl

lag lag
delay
x(4)
inlet_TwTc control_td control_tc

dryer simulation

x(2) x(3)
tout
tout_process1 tout_process2 time tout_well
lag lag
delay

dryer_tc outlet_TwTc dryer_td