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The influence of feedstock stacking shape on the drying performance of conveyor belt dryer

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Heat and Mass Transfer Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Conveyor belt dryers have been applied extensively in the drying process even though the problem of uneven drying along the dryer length exist. The general solution is to install an auxiliary device in the chamber to adjust the arrangement of air passages. A series of problems, however, are observed, such as occupying internal space and increasing flow resistance. A novel flow field improvement technology has been developed and conducted by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with a modified heat and moisture transfer model and validated by physical verification. The results show that specific stacking of feedstock characterized as vertical serration stacking with 30° angle and 43.0 mm interval can help to improve drying performance. Three indices (Integrate area, Mavg, and Mu) for the evaluation of velocity distribution confirms that most uniform moisture of products is obtained with the specific characteristics. This work presents an unconventional method to solve the problem of uneven air-distribution and thus improving drying efficiency.

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Code availability

User define function code.

#include ‘‘udf.h’’.

#define AEC21.69.

#define BEC 18.077.

#define CEC 112.35.

#define PATM 101,325.

#define RHOB 154.2

DEFINE_SOURCE(mass_source, c, t, dS, eqn).

{Real Tabs, T, W, w, pe, re, We, Source_w, drying_constant, psat;

Tabs = C_T(c,t);

T = Tabs-273.15;

psat = 6.0e25/pow(Tabs,5)*exp(-6800/Tabs);

W = C_UDMI(c, t, 0);

w = C_UDSI(c, t, 0);

pe = We*PATM/(0.622 + we);

re = pe/psat;

We = -1*BEC*log(-(T + CEC)/AEC*log(re));

drying_constant = 8928.138* exp(-6095.901/Tabs).

C_UDMI(c, t, 3) = re;

C_UDMI(c, t, 2) = We;

C_UDMI(c, t, 1) = -RHOB*drying_constant*(W-We);

Source_w = C_UDMI(c, t, 1);

dS[eqn] = 0.0;

return Source_w;}

DEFINE_SOURCE(hydro_source, c, t, dS, eqn).

{Real Tabs, T, we, psat, pe, re, We, dpsatdt, drdt, hsbyhv, hs, Source_t;

Tabs = C_T(c,t);

T = Tabs-273.15;

we = C_UDSI(c, t, 0);

psat = 0.61078*exp(17.27 T/Tabs);

pe = we*PATM/(0.622 + we);

re = pe/psat;

We = -1*BEC*log(-(T + CEC)/AEC*log(re));

dpsatdt = psat/Tabs*(-5 + 6800/Tabs);

drdt = AEC*re/pow((T + CEC),2)*exp(-BEC*We);

hsbyhv = 1 + psat/re + 1/dpsatdt*drdt;

hs = hsbyhv*(2501.33–2.363*T)*1.0 exp3;

C_UDMI(c,t,4) = hs;

Source_t = C_UDMI(c,t,1)* hs;

dS[eqn] = 0.0;

return Source_t;}

Abbreviations

Re:

Reynolds Number

Nu:

Nusselt Number

f:

Friction coefficient

T:

Temperature K

l:

Length m

C2:

Inertia resistance

Cb:

Heat capacity kJ/(kg∙K)

keff:

Effective thermal conductivity W/(m∙K)

Deff:

Moisture diffusion m2/s

I:

Turbulence intensity

D:

Hydraulic diameter m

g:

Gravitational acceleration m/s2

t:

Time s

v:

Air velocity m/s

p:

Pressure Pa

Su:

Source items N/m3∙s

Sw:

Source items kg/m3∙s

Sh:

Source items J/m3∙s

W:

Moisture content % d.b.

Hw:

Heat transfers of betel nut kJ

k:

Drying constant

hs:

Latent heat of vaporization of water kJ/kg

hv:

Latent heat of vaporization of free water kJ/kg

MRD:

Mean Relative Deviation

AEP:

Average Error of Prediction

PEC:

Performance evaluation criteria

DPEC:

Drying performance evaluation criteria

Mu:

Moisture uniformity

ρa:

Air density kg∙m-3

ρb:

Betel nut density kg∙m-3

ε:

Porosity

1/α:

Viscous resistance

τ:

Fluid viscous stress

µ:

Air dynamic viscosity

Φ:

Moisture content or air velocity

0:

Feedstock in initial state

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Funding

This work was supported by the [2019 Key Projects of Social Science and Technology Development of Dongguan] under grant [2019507140211]; [Scientific Research Youth Team of Dongguan University of Technology] under grant [TDQN2019006]; [Guangdong Innovation Research Team for Higher Education] under grant [2017KCXTD030]; [Engineering Research Center of None-food Biomass Efficient Pyrolysis and Utilization Technology of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes] under grant [2016GCZX009]; [High-level Talents Project of Dongguan University of Technology] under grant [KCYKYQD2017017]; [Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Distributed Energy Systems] under grant [2020B1212060075].

Author information

Author notes

  1. Hang Zhang and Bo Pang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering Research Center of None-Food Biomass Efficient Pyrolysis and Utilization Technology of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Distributed Energy Systems, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan, 523808, Guangdong, China

    Hang Zhang, Shimin Kang, Jietai Li & Zhilin Li

  2. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, Guangdong, China

    Hang Zhang & Jie Chang

  3. College of Aerospace Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, 410073, Hunan, China

    Bo Pang

  4. Hawaii Nature Energy Institute, University of Hawaii At Manoa, Honolulu, 96822, USA

    Jinxia Fu

  5. Suzhou Newberry Technology Co., Ltd, Jiangsu, 215122, Suzhou, China

    Peifeng Tang

  6. School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Shengxiang Deng

Authors
  1. Hang Zhang
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  2. Bo Pang
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  3. Shimin Kang
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  4. Jinxia Fu
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  5. Peifeng Tang
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  7. Jietai Li
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  8. Zhilin Li
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Hang Zhang; Methodology: Hang Zhang, Bo Pang; Formal analysis and investigation: Hang Zhang, Bo Pang; Writing—original draft preparation: Hang Zhang; Writing—review and editing: Shimin Kang, Jinxia Fu, Peifeng Tang; Funding acquisition: Shimin Kang; Resources: Shengxiang Deng; Supervision: Shengxiang Deng, Jie Chang, Shimin Kang.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shimin Kang.

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Zhang, H., Pang, B., Kang, S. et al. The influence of feedstock stacking shape on the drying performance of conveyor belt dryer. Heat Mass Transfer 58, 157–170 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-021-03098-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-021-03098-7

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