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MORATUWA

EFFICIENCY STUDY OF A SINGLE DAY

SMOKE DRYER

This thesis was submitted to the Department of Chemical & Process Engineering at
University ofMoratuwa, Sri Lanka in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN POLYMER TECHNOLOGY

Rathnayake. W. G. I. U.

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL & PROCESS ENGINEERING,

UNIVERSITY OF MORATUW A,

SRI LANKA.

2010

University of Moratuwa

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 DECLARATION

I do hereby declare that the work reported in this project report was exclusively carried out by
me under the supervision of Dr. Susantha Siriv,ardena and Dr. Shantha Walpalage. It described
the results of my own independent research except \vhere due reference has been made in the
text. No part of this project report has been submitted earlier or concurrently for the same or
other degree.

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Signature of the candidate

(Rathnayake. W. G. I. U.)

To the best of our knowledge above particulars are correct.

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Supervisor
Co-Supervisor
Dr. Susantha Siriwardena, Dr. Shantha Walpalage.
Head.
Senior Lecture.
Rm\ Rubber Process Development & Chemical
Department of Chemical & Process Engineering.
Engineering Department, Rubber Research
Institute,
University of Moratuwa,
Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka
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 Ill

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to express my deep sense of gratitude to my supervisors Dr. Shantha Walpalagc

(Senior Lecture, Department of Chemical & Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa) and
Dr. Susantha Siriwardena (Head, Raw Rubber Process Development & Chemical Engineering
Department Rubber Research Institute) who have alvvays been approachable, helpful and
extremely patient in their guidance throughout my research project.

I consider it as a pleasant occasion to acknowledge Dr. A. G. T. Sugathapala vvho has

given kind and patient guidance, encouragement and valuable assistance throughout the research
project.

My special thanks go to Head of the Department, Chemical & Process Engineering,

University of Moratuwa, Director, Rubber Research Institute, Sri Lanka and Head of the
Department, Mechanical Engineering, University of Moratuwa. for giving me unrestricted
instrumental facilities during the execution of research project. Sincere thanks are also due to
other staff members of the University of Moratuwa and Mr. Sarath Siriwardcna, Mr. A. K. D.
Warnajith, at Rubber Research Institute who helped me in many vvays.

Also my sincere thanks go to Mrs. Maddumage and her kind employers at the "Sixteun
Acru Estatu" at Padukka who gave me a great support during this research project.

I take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to all personalities who could not
mention here name by name for helping me in various ways.

I would like to thank my beloved wife Niwanthi who has always behind me patiently
during the period of execution of the research project.

lndrajith Rathnayaku
 IV

CONTENTS

Pages

ABSTRACT.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION 2-9

1.1. Outline of the Ribbed Smoke Sheets (RSS) manufacturing process. 4

1.1.1 Latex Bulking. 5
1.1.2 Coagulation. 6
1.1.3 Milling. 6
1.1.4 Smoking in Smoke House. 7
1.1.4.1 Introduction of conventional smoke house. 8
1.1.4.2 Major defects in smoked sheets. 9

CHAPTER2

LITERATURE REVIEW 10-22

2.1. Drying Operation. 10
2.2. The Drying Curve. 10
2.2.1. The First Phase of Drying Curve. 11
2.2.2. The Second Phase of drying Curve. 11
2.2.3. The Third Phase of drying Curve. 12
2.3. Heat transferring modes of Smoke House. 12
2.3.1. Conduction. 12
2.3 .2. Convection. 13
2.3.3. Radiation 14
2.4. Introduction of Smoke House used in RSS Drying. 17
2.4.1. Furnace inside the Chamber. 19
2.4.2. Furnace outside the Chamber. 19
 v

CHAPTER3

EXPERIMENTAL (Materials and Methods) 23-29

3.1 Single day Smoke dryer (SS dryer). /"
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3.2 Conventional smoke house. 24

3.3 Manufacturing process of rubber sheets. 24
3.4 Drying process 25
3.5 Estimation of energy input from the saw dust burner used. 27
3.6 Determination of the efficiency of the dryer. 28
3.7 Determination of moisture content in rubber sheets. 28
3. 8 Evaluation ofthe Quality ofthe ribbed smoked sheets. 29

CHAPTER4

RESULTS & DISCUSSION 30-39

4.1 Energy input from the smv dust burner used. 30
4.2. Temperature Profile inside the SS dryer. ""
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4.3. Surface Temperature variations with the time. 34

4.4. Weight Changing of the sample rubber sheets with the time. 38
4.5. Raw Rubber Properties of resultant rubber sheets. 38
4.6. Social Aspects. 39

4.6.1. Operational Practices 39

4.6.2. Labour Requirement 39

4.6.3. Community Health 39

CHAPTERS.

CALCULATIONS 40-50
5.1 Energy input from the saw dust burner used. 40
5.2 Total energy requirement to dry sheet rubber in SS dryer. 41
5.3 Drying efficiency Of SS dryer. 42
 VI

5.4 Dry rubber wood consumption for drying of sheet rubber in the

Conventional Smoke House.

43

5.5 Dry rubber \Vood consumption for drying of sheet rubber in the SS dryer. 44

5.6 Comparison of firewood cost for drying of rubber.

44

CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORKS

51
6. I. Conclusions.
51
6.2. Future Works.
51

CHAPTER 7

REFERANCES
52-54

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 VII

List of Tables

Tables No: Name of the Table Page Number

Table 1: Production of raw rubber by different types between year 2000 and 2007 3
Table 2: Time taken for several steps of RSS production 8

Table 3: A brief comparison of the cost involved in different size conventional

smoke houses 17

Table 4: Specifications ofthe SS dryer 23

Table 5: Details ofthe conventional smoke house 24

Table 6: ISO numbers and description of raw rubber properties 29

Table 7: Temperature of water container vvith heating period 30

Table 8: Weight readings of the vvater container 30

Table 9: Weight of saw dust and dried rubber sheets of SS Dryer 30

Table 10: Weight of wood and dried rubber sheets of Conventional Smoke House 31

Table 11: Weight of saw dust burner 31

Table 12: Average Moisture percentage of different materials used in the study 31

Table 13: Raw rubber properties of RSS sheets dried in the SS dryer 38

Table 14: Data to be used to calculate the energy input rate from the saw dust burner 40

Table 15: Data to be used to calculate the Total energy requirement to dry sheet
rubber in SS dryer. 42

Calculation Table 1:

Calculation ofm,c,8 (for Dry rubber content), m\\c\\8 (for water content), )d11Vp (Energy
needed for evaporation of Water) and Total energy 46

Calculation Table2: Total Moisture Content of RSS in the Dryer 48

 VIII

List of Figures

Figure No: Name of the Figure page number

Fig 1: Process flow chart of RSS manufacturing 4

Fig 2: Coagulation in pans 5

Fig 3: Tank used for the coagulation 6

Fig 4: Sheets are kept under sunlight for dripping of water 7

Fig 5: Conventional type Smoke House 7

Fig 6: Typical drying curve of a product 11

Fig 7: Heat transferring through a plan wall 13

Fig 8: Graphical representation of Heat transferring mode of the SS dryer 16

Fig 9: Full view ofthe SS dryer 25

Fig 10: Rack system ofthe SS dryer 25

Fig 11: External view ofthe drying chamber 26

Fig 12: Trolley system for hanging sheets of the dryer 27

Fig 13: Moisture Balance 28

Fig 14: Temperature variation at different locations in the SS dryer "I

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Fig 15: Changing of Surface Temperature vvith Time 35

Fig 16: Air Flow rate of exit duct vs Time 36

Fig 17: Weight Changing with Time of Samples at three different locations
ofthe smoke house. 37

Fig 18: Energy consumption and total energy vs time 47

Fig 19: Drying Curve (Changing of Moisture Content with Time) 59

 ABSTRACT

The energy utilization and the time required to dry RSS using conventional type smoke
house are significantly high. Also the conventional type smoking-room used for producing
RSS gives large differences oftemperature and velocity; these result in non-uniform drying
of the rubber sheets. In a conventional smokehouse, the energy losses due to loading and
unloading of the sheets as well as time required for complete dryness is very much high.

A Compact. well insulated drying unit with multipurpose gravel layer was designed and
fabricated new operational practices for efficient energy utilization of Ribbed Smoke Sheet
(RSS) Drying were also introduced. The overall drying performance was evaluated in term
of drying efficiency and firewood consumption. Quality of the end product was also
evaluated. A comparison also made against the performance of conventional smoke house.
Social issues also compared with conventional system. The nevv system reduces the drying
period from 5 days to one day. while space requirement also reduce by the same
percentage when comparing with the conventional smoke house.

No Significant difference of the quality of sheets dried using SS drying system against
sheets dried in conventional smoke house was observed. However, dirt content in the
sheets dried in the new system is lower tan that dried in a conventional system. The
Single day Smoke dryer (SS dryer) has the efficiency of 51.7%. it is a very good value
compared with a conventional smoke dryer which has the efficiency of 31%. The most
interested feature of the SS dryer is the low space utilization compared with the
conventional type smoke house and also the time requirement for t~1brication of the SS
dryer is very short. In addition to the above advantages. the dryer can be operated by one
person and the health issues arc very limited to compare with the conventional smoke

house.

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