King Saud University

College of Engineering
Chemical Engineering Dept.

Chemical Engineering Laboratory

ChE 403

Drying
EXP # 3

Meshal Al-Saeed 423105653

Alawi Al-Awami 423101724
Meshal Al-Juhani 424105851

Group # 3

Dr.: Malik Al-Ahmad

Date of Due: 13 / 5 / 2008

Table of Contents

Summary 3

Introduction 4

Theory 5

Experimental Procedure 5

Results 6

Calculations 7

Discussions 9

Conclusions 9

References 10

1. Summary

2
 The objective of this experiment is to produce drying and
drying rate curves for a wet solid being dried with air of fixed
temperature and humidity.

Drying in general mean usually means removal of relatively

small amounts of water from material. In drying the water is
usually removed as a vapor by air.

Amount of water was put in the pan upon the dry sample and
the weight and the weight of water was recorded every five
minutes until there was no more water in the sample
(Reaching the equilibrium).

By plotting the drying rate and moisture constant in Figure 3,

the trend shows the following behaviors:

From point (B) to point (C) in Figure 3 the line is

straight, and hence the slope and rate are constant
during this period.
At point (C) the drying rate starts decreasing in the
falling rate period until it reaches point (D).
At point (D) the rate of drying falls even more rapidly,
until it reaches point (E).
The most important region in the diagram is (B A)
because the change in X is very simple.

The moisture is decreasing with the time and by the

time it become totally dry.
The falling rate period can take a far longer time than
the constant rate period even though the moisture
removal may be less.

2. Introduction

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 Drying in general mean usually means removal of
relatively small amounts of water from material. In drying the
water is usually removed as a vapor by air.

In some cases water maybe removed by mechanically from

solid materials by presses, centrifuging and other methods.
This is cheaper than drying by thermal means for removal of
water. The moisture content of the final dried product varies
depending upon the type of product.

Drying is usually the final processing step before packing

and makes many materials, such as soap powders and
dyestuffs, more suitable for handling.

Drying processes can be classified as batch, where the

material is inserted to the drying equipment and drying
proceeds for a given period of time, or as continuous, where
the material is continuously added to the dryer and dried
material continuously removed.

There are different types of drying equipments like:

Tray dryer.
Vacuum-shelf indirect dryers.
Continuous tunnel dryers.
Rotary dryers.
Drum dryers.
Spray dryers.

Heat is added by different ways, such as, by direct contact

with heated air at atmospheric pressure and the water vapor
formed I removed by air. The other way is to add the heat
indirectly by contact with a metal wall or by radiation.

3. Theory

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 Moisture content (Xt) is one of drying terms.
As time , Xt X*
Where X* is Equilibrium Moisture Content.

R = - (LS / A) (dX / dt) (1)

Xt = W / LS (2)

Where:
R: Rate of drying [kg water/m2 hr].
LS: Weight of dry solid [kg dry solid].
W: Weight of water [kg water].
A: Surface area [m2].
Xt: Moisture content at time t [kg water/kg dry solid].

4. Experimental Procedure
A dry sample was put in the drying pan and the weight was
recorded, then the balance made to read zero.
Amount of water was put in the pan upon the dry sample and the
weight was recorded, then the balance made to read zero.
The hot air was turned-on to pass through the sample.
The weight of water was recorded every five minutes until there
was no more water in the sample (Reaching the equilibrium).
Dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures of the hot air were recorded
three times during the experiment across the flap before the tray
and after the tray.
The hot air was turned-off.

5. Results

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 Weigh of Plate = 310 g.

Weigh of Sample (LS) = 204 g.

Weigh of Water (W) = 50 g.

Tray Area (A) = 27.5 cm 18.6 cm = 511.5 cm2 = 5.115 m2.

Table1: Data of Water Weight with Time

Time, t [min] Water Weight, W [g]

0 50
5 48
10 43
15 36
20 30
25 21
30 15
35 11
40 6
45 2
47 0

6. Calculations

Sample calculation:

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At t = 0 min:
From equation (2):

Xt = W / LS = 50 / 204 = 0.245 kg water/kg dry solid.

X* = Xt (t = ) = Xt (t = 47 min) = W (t = 47 min) / LS = 0 / 204
= 0 kg water/kg dry solid.

X = Xt X* = 0.245 0 = 0.245 kg water/kg dry solid.

dX/dt = [ X (t = 0 min) X (t = 5 min)] / [(t = 0 min) (t = 5 min) ]

= (0.245 0.235) / (0 5) = - 0.002.

From equation (1):

R = - (LS / A) * (dX / dt) = - (204 / 5.115) * (-0.002)

= 0.0798 kg water/m2 hr.

Table 2: The rest of calculation

Moisture Content Rate of Drying, R

X dX / dt
[kg water/kg dry solid] [kg water/m2 hr]
0.245 0.245 -0.0020 0.0782
0.235 0.235 -0.0049 0.1955
0.211 0.211 -0.0069 0.2737
0.176 0.176 -0.0059 0.2346
0.147 0.147 -0.0088 0.3519
0.103 0.103 -0.0059 0.2346
0.074 0.074 -0.0039 0.1564
0.054 0.054 -0.0049 0.1955
0.029 0.029 -0.0039 0.1564
0.010 0.010 -0.0049 0.1955
0.000 0.000 0.0000 0.0000
Drying charts:

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 Figure 1: Diagram for moisture content with time.

Figure 2: Diagram for drying rate & moisture content.

7. Discussions

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From Figure 3:

Figure 3: Drying rate and Moisture content.

From point (B) to point (C) in Figure 3 the line is straight, and
hence the slop and rate are constant during this period.
At point (C) the drying rate starts decrease in the falling rate period
until it reaches point (D).
At point (D) the rate drying falls even more rapidly, until it is reach
point (E).
The most important line in the diagram it is (B A) because the
change in X is very simple.

8. Conclusions
The moisture is decreasing with the time and by the time it
become totally dry.
The falling rate period can take a far longer time than the
constant rate period even though the moisture removal may be
less.

9. References

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1. Chirstie J. Geankoplis, "Transfer Process and Unit Operation",
3rd edition.

2. Department of Chemical Engineering "Chemical Engineering

Laboratory II Manual".

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