Climate control in vacuum dryers for convective heat transfer

Abstract

The European Drying Group (EDG) proposal on a wood drying quality standard defines demands on final moisture content variation of the dried wood. The final moisture content variation will depend on material parameters as well as the production process and the wood will always show a “natural” moisture content variation after drying. Thus the drying process has to be defined well enough to allow for the natural moisture content variation in order to fulfil the demands of the drying standards. As the average equilibrium moisture content of the wood in a vacuum drying kiln with pure steam atmosphere is determined by the pressure and the temperature, the demands on the climate control system to fulfil the demands of the drying standard can be calculated with regard to the natural moisture content variation of the wood. In the first part of this contribution the demands on climate control in vacuum dryers are calculated based on the EDG-standard and the natural moisture content variation. In the second part of the contribution the demands on climate control are compared with climate and moisture content measurements from industrial production in vacuum kilns. Critical factors in kiln design and climate control system design necessary to maintain a controlled drying climate are listed.