Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

Sabratha University
Faculty of Engineering, Sabratha /Department of Chemical Engineering

Unit Operation 2 CH432

Experiment’s Name: Drying process

Prepared by:

Yousef Elakesh
Ziad Altaieb omar

Instructor's name:
Dr. Nader Kamal

Submitted-Date: 7/11/2024
Abstract
Drying of solid is of great importance in industrial production and in chemical engineering
application. Various kind of process for drying are use in various fields. That is why conducting
this experiment is very effective as it gave us vivid idea of the phenomena- drying of solids e.g.
sand. For this purpose, two trays were used. Sand was first poured on them and then water was
mixed. In a vacuum dryer the trays were heated and moisture content from sand was removed by
steam supplied from steam generator. After each certain time trays were drawn out and moisture
content in them was calculated by weighing their weight and comparing it to initial weight of
tray and sand. From the collected data drying rate, moisture content was measured and graphs
were drawn focusing drying characteristics of sand.

Introduction
The removal of relatively small amounts of water or other liquid to reduce the content of
remaining liquid to acceptably low amount in a solid matter is known as drying of solids. this is a
mass transfer process were liquid is removed by means of evaporation. So, we can see drying of
solids need both mass transfer and heat transfer simultaneously. A source of heat and an agent is
involved in this process. Most commonly, a gas stream such as air applies the heat by convection
and carries away the liquid in solid as vapor.
There are various methods of drying e.g. direct drying, indirect drying, dielectric drying, freeze
drying, supercritical drying and natural drying. During thermal drying two things occur at a time.
Transfer of moisture content from internal space to solid surface with subsequent evaporation
and Transfer of heat to raise the wet solid temperature and to evaporate the moisture content. The
drying rate depends on how these two processes proceed. Heat transfer process occurs due to
conduction, convection or radiation mode of heat flow or in some cases as a result of a
combination of any of these effects. In our experiment we have used indirect method of drying
where it is important to have the maximum contact between heated dryer metal surfaces and the
solid undergoing drying and maximum movement at areas of contact. Here, the drying operation
does not depend upon the effect of convection from heated air or gases. Air flow through such
dryer is only required to remove moisture as vapor from the system as it is liberated in the course
of drying.
External conditions such as temperature, humidity, water velocity relates with drying of solids.
Theoretical models often consider not only external conditions but also the mechanisms of
internal moisture movement and its consequent effect. The solids fed to dryer can be in the form
of flakes, granular, crystals and may have widely different properties. There are over 100 distinct
types of dryers. Of them tray dryer is most common. Tray dryer is one kind of batch dryer which
can handle both direct drying and indirect drying. The dryer operates under a vacuum, and heat
transfer is largely by conduction or by radiation. The trays are enclosed in a big cabinet, which is
evacuated. Water vapor produced is usually condensed, so that the vacuum pumps need only to
deal with non-condensable gases.

Objective
 Experimented Study of Dray.
 Effect of Moisture Contend On Draying rate.
 Effect of Particle Size on Drying Rate.
 Determine The Drying Rate and Moisture Content of the Sample Through Removal of
Water.

Experimental work

The following things were used in this experiment

 Sand (Fine and coarse sand).

 Distillate Water.
 Tray dryer unit.
 Digital Electronic Weighing Balance.
 Timer.
 Figure 1: Tray Drying Apparatus

This is a basic unit for studying of tray drying by hot air. The unit consists of a rectangular duct.
Air is drawn into the duct by an axial flow fan at the front end of the duct. Fan speed is
adjustable. A bank of electric heaters behind the fan raises air temperature. Behind the heater is a
drying compartment with transparent access door. A rack of trays is suspended from a balance
above the duct. Temperatures and humidity before and after the drying trays are measured.

Theory

Tray Dryer Operates by Passing Hot Air Over the Surface of a Wet Solid That Is Spread Over
Trays Arranged in Racks. Tray Dryers Are the Simplest and Least-Expensive Dryer Type. This
Type Is Most Widely Used in The Food and Pharmaceutical Industries. The Advantage of Tray
Dryers, apart from Their Low Initial Cost, Is Their Versatility. With The Exception of Dusty
Solids, Materials of Almost Any Other Physical Form May Be Dried. Drying Times Are
Typically Long (Usually 12 To 48 H). Drying Process Can Be Defined as The Vaporization and
Removal of Water or Other Liquids from A Solution, Suspension, Or Other Solid-Liquid
Mixture to Form a Dry Solid. It Is a Process That Involves Heat and Mass Transfer. Drying
Occurs as A Result of the Vaporization of Liquid by Supplying Heat to Wet Feedstock,
Granules, And So On. Based On the Mechanism of Heat Transfer, Drying Is Categorized into
Direct (Convection), Indirect or Contact (Conduction), Radiant (Radiation) And Dielectric or
Microwave (Radio Frequency) Drying. Heat Transfer and Mass Transfer Are Crucial in Drying
Processes. Heat Is Supplied to The Product to Evaporate the Liquid Contained, And Mass Is
Transferred as A Vapor into The Surrounding Gas. The Drying Rate Is Determined by The Set of
Factors That Affect Heat and Mass Transfer. Solids Drying Is Generally Understood to Follow
Two Distinct Drying Zones, Known as The Constant-Rate Period and The Falling-Rate Period.
The Two Zones Are Demarcated by A Break Point Called the Critical Moisture.
A wet solid is composed of a bone-dry solid and moisture. The moisture content in a wet solid is
present as free-moisture content and equilibrium-moisture content. Free moisture content refers
to the maximum possible amount of moisture in a wet solid that can be removed by drying. It is
not possible to completely remove all of the moisture content in wet solid by drying, because
there will be always a small amount of liquid that coexist in equilibrium with the solid. This
liquid is called the equilibrium moisture content. Thus in a drying, this phase equilibrium is the
limit to the extent of the removal of liquid.
When a wet solid is heated in a dryer, its moisture content will decrease with time until it
remains constant at the equilibrium-moisture content after all the free moisture has been
removed. The rate at which the moisture content decreases is called the rate of drying or drying
rate. Rate of drying depends on how many factors such as air humidity, air velocity and
temperature of drying. In drying, two types of drying rates are typically observed namely the
constant rate and the falling rate.
Drying rate (R) defined as the mass of liquid evaporated per unit time and per unit surface
area exposed to drying. It can be expressed mathematically as:

W w −W d
R=
A×∆t

The constant rate is observed when moisture content decreases linearly with time. At this
constant-rate period, an equal amount of liquid is being vaporized per unit time. The falling rate
occurs when the moisture content is observed to decrease non-linearly with time. At this falling-
rate period, the quantity of liquid was being vaporized per unit times no longer equal.
Moisture content is the ratio of the mass of water in a sample to the mass of solids in the sample,
expressed as a percentage. In equation form:

weight of fluid W w −W D
X= = ×100 %
weight of dry sand WD
Where:

R = Drying Rate (kg /m2 . s )

X = Moisture content
W D= Weight of dry sand (kg)

W w= Weight of wet sand (kg)

W d= weight after drying (kg)

A = Surface area of the tray (m2 ¿

∆t = Time difference (s)

Start-Up Procedures

 At first the weight and the surface area of the two empty trays were taken.
 The two trays are filled with 350 grams of fine sand for the first tray and beach sand for
the other tray.
 Then water was added to moisten the sand and tray, the total weight of the two trays
reached 449 grams.
 Trays were vacuum dried by putting inside the drier.
 each a certain time. the trays were taken out of the dryer to weight it.
 Repeating that Until the Sample Is Fully Dried. (until the weight of the trays goes back to
350 gram)
Data set

n Time W W
(min) (Tray 1) (Tray 2)
(gram) (gram)
0 0 449 449
1 5 442 444
2 10 440 438
3 20 429 431
4 30 420 423
5 45 408 412
6 60 396 401
7 75 385 391
8 90 375 381
9 120 359 370
10 150 350 350

“Table 1”

Calculations and results

Surface area for the tray (A) = 513 cm2 = 0.0513 m2

Weight of dry sand (W D) for both trays = 350 gram

  For Tray 1:

n Time ∆t Ww Wd W w −W D W w −W d
(min) (sec) (gram)
x= ×100 % R=
(gram) WD A×∆t

1 5 300 449 442 28.29 0.000455

2 10 300 442 440 26.29 0.000130
3 20 600 440 429 25.71 0.000357
4 30 600 429 420 22.57 0.000292
5 45 900 420 408 20 0.000260
6 60 900 408 396 16.57 0.000260
7 75 900 396 385 13.14 0.000238
8 90 900 385 375 10 0.000217
9 120 1800 375 359 7.14 0.000173
10 150 1800 359 350 2.57 0.000097

“Table 2”

 For Tray 2:

n Time ∆t Ww Wd W w −W D W w −W d
(min) (min) (gram)
x= ×100 % R=
(gram) WD A×∆t

1 5 300 449 444 28.3 0.000325

2 10 300 444 438 26.9 0.000390
3 20 600 438 431 25.1 0.000227
4 30 600 431 423 23.1 0.000260
5 45 900 423 412 20.9 0.000238
6 60 900 412 401 17.7 0.000238
7 75 900 401 391 14.6 0.000216
8 90 900 391 381 11.7 0.000216
9 120 1800 381 371 8.9 0.000108
10 150 1800 370 350 5.7 0.000227

“Table 3”
 x vs Time
30

25

20

15

10

0
5 10 20 30 45 60 75 90 120 150

Tray 1 Tray 2

Figure 1

x vs R for Tray 1
0.0005

0.00045

0.0004

0.00035

0.0003

0.00025

0.0002

0.00015

0.0001

0.00005

0
28.29 25.71 22.57 20 16.57 13.14 10 7.14 2.57

Figure 2
 x vs R for Tray 2
0.00035

0.0003

0.00025

0.0002

0.00015

0.0001

0.00005

0
28.3 25.1 23.1 20.9 17.7 14.6 11.7 8.9

Drying Rate

Figure 3

heat transfer coefficient:

q=h . A (T ¿ −T out )

800=h .0 .0513(49−47)

h=7797.3 W /m2 . s

Discussion:

This experiment has been conducted in order to produce drying and drying rate curves for
a wet solid being dried with air of fixed temperature and humidity. Tray Drier was being
used. It is used to dry solids by air or to remove the vapor which must be supported by
trays. After conducting the experiment and calculating the required data, two different
samples of sand (fine and coarse) were used to determine the effect of porosity on the
drying rate.
 Figure 1 shows the graph of total moisture content, X₁ against time (min). From this
figure, the pattern of the relationship was observed. It can be said that drying rate is
directly proportional to the free moisture content.
It can be seen in Figure 1 the trend of the curve for the drying process. As the time
proceeds, the moisture content of the sand decreases. This is because of the fact that the
amount of water in the sand is being removed throughout the process.

There are three major stages of drying that can be observed in the drying curve. (figure 2
and figure 3) These are the transient early stage, the constant rate period and the falling
rate period. The transient early stage occurs during the product heating The first period is
commonly short and is not included in the analysis of drying times. The constant rate
period is period in which the moisture is comparatively easy to remove, this period ends
in critical moisture content, which is the start of the falling rate period. The falling rate
period starts when the moisture becomes bound or held within the solid matrix. Another
change in drying might occur but is not always distinguishable. If this occurs, it is
referred to as the second falling-rate period. The falling rate period takes a longer time
than constant-rate period, even though the moisture content removal may be less. The
drying rate approaches zero at some equilibrium moisture content, which is the lowest
moisture content obtainable with the material under the drying conditions used

Conclusion:

In this experiment, the concept and use of tray dryer was exercised, throughout the
experiment. Also, the familiarization with the equipment was done

The raw data was treated using theoretical calculations for the drying process. Estimation
of the drying rate and l moisture content with respect to time was also done through
curve-fitting of the calculated data for moisture content. Through the graphical
representations, correlation of the theoretical concepts to the actual scenario was
performed.

Errors in the experiment also arose. One of these is the second value of drying rate in
table 2, Supposedly, should be greater than 0.000130, also the second value and the last
value in figure 3, it expected to be less, so they were ignored in the chart. However, there
are some factors affecting the result of the experiment: possible inaccuracy in the
measurement of the total weight in the tray dryer, probably some there are some errors in
the recorded data, especially in jotting down the reading of the electronic balance, since
its readings are sometimes fluctuating.
Overall, it can be said that the purpose of this experiment which is to produce drying and
drying rate curves for a wet solid being dried with air of fixed temperature and humidity
has achieved. In this experiment, there are few errors that must be avoided in future. This
kind of error normally happened while taking the measurement for the data. or During
preparation of the sand, may be the water that had been splashed onto the sand has not
been splashed properly. The water might be gathered only at the same place and this will
cause the drying process did not 100% efficient. Furthermore, may be the sand did not
divide equally throughout the tray. One part of the tray had thick layer of sand while the
other part had thin layer. Another error would have occurred was during collecting the
data for temperature. Such The reading was not taken properly, that will affect the results
of this experiment.