Renewable Energy 35 (2010) 13911402

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Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Finite-volume modelling of heat and mass transfer during convective drying of porous bodies Non-conjugate and conjugate formulations involving the aerodynamic effects
Chr. Lamnatou a, *, E. Papanicolaou a, V. Belessiotis a, N. Kyriakis b
a b

Solar & other Energy Systems Lab., Institute of Nuclear Technology & Radiation Protection, National Center for Scientic Research Demokritos, Aghia Paraskevi, 15310 Athens, Greece Process Equipment Design Lab., Mechanical Engineering Dept., School of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece

a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history: Received 30 May 2009 Accepted 18 September 2009 Keywords: Conjugate heat/mass transfer Drying model Finite volume method Solar dryer

a b s t r a c t
In this study, a numerical procedure is outlined and representative results for heat and mass transfer during convective drying of porous bodies are presented. The Luikov model was implemented and applied both on individual samples of construction materials and agricultural products, as well as on a drying-chamber scale, with parallel ow of a hot air stream over rectangular slabs which represent the product to be dried. In the latter case the conguration is an experimental dryer in which the heat source is a solar air collector with evacuated tubes. A general approach was developed that allows a selection between modelling of phenomena either in the drying solid only, or considering an extended simulation domain encompassing, apart from the solid body, the ow of air as well. In the second case, the solution of the ow eld is pursued along with a conjugate heat/mass transfer problem coupling the solid and uid phenomena and in both cases phase change (evaporation) was taken into account. For the numerical simulation, the nite-volume method was used. The validation of the model was based on experimental and numerical results from the literature and results from simulations that were conducted in the pursuit of the energetic optimization of an experimental solar dryer of NCSR Demokritos are presented. In the latter case, the effect of the particular ow eld features developing for a single and a double-plate conguration on the heat/mass transport and drying rates is demonstrated. Such a methodology could be used to analyze the transport phenomena in any type of convective dryer, including those utilizing solar energy as the heat source. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Drying is a process of great interest, among others in the production of agricultural products and construction materials. It can be achieved by direct exposure of the products in the sun or by mechanical means in suitably-designed dryers with the main advantage in the latter case the biological stability of the nal product. The energy sources for the operation of a dryer can be fossil fuels or renewable, e.g. solar energy [13]. When drying is carried out by means of ow of hot air through or parallel to the mass of the product, as is typically the case in solar dryers, it is identied as convective drying and is characterized by the ow and heat/mass transport phenomena between the product and the airow. The study of these phenomena is complicated and their

* Corresponding author. E-mail address: chryslam@eng.auth.gr (Chr. Lamnatou). 0960-1481/$ see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2009.11.008

mathematical modelling and numerical simulation, by using appropriate drying models developed over the past decades, may be of great value. The analysis of the relative simulation results can lead to the energy optimization of a dryer, with parallel reduction of the cost and the time required for the conduction of experiments [46]. According to Refs. [7,8], a full modelling of the drying process should take into consideration the interaction between heat/mass transfer within the drying body and the transfer to the drying air. Convective drying is, therefore, a conjugate problem. The conjugate approach does not require the availability of convective heat/mass transfer coefcients on the surface of the drying solids; these coefcients being instead evaluated as part of the simulation. However, in non-conjugate approaches, heat/mass transfer coefcients are needed as input to the model and these may not always be easily determined considering their space and time dependence. If good estimates of these are available however, the non-conjugate procedure may be used in order to save computing time.

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Nomenclature AR B Bim Biq BR c, C Cp ds D Dm f hc hm H k Ko L Lsc Le Lu Nu Nux P, Pws Pn Rcp Rdf Re Rex S* Sc Sh S St t T plate aspect ratio, AR length/height coupling parameter, B Dc/(DW$rs) Biot number for mass transfer, Bim (hm$Lsc)/Dm Biot number for heat transfer, Biq (hc$Lsc)/ks blockage ratio, BR 2Hs/H dimensional (kgwater m3mixture) and dimensionless concentration, C (c cmin)/Dc, respectively thermal capacity (J kg1K1) plate distance moisture diffusivity (m2 s1) isothermal moisture diffusivity (m2 s1) frequency of vortex shedding (s1) convective heat transfer coefcient (W m2 K1) convective mass transfer coefcient (m s1) height (m) thermal conductivity (W m1 K1) Kossovitch number, Ko (DH$DW)/(Cps$DT) length (m) length scale (m) for the non-dimensionalization, Lsc Hs Lewis number, Le af/Df Luikov number, Lu Dm/as Nusselt number, Nu (hc$Lsc)/kf local Nusselt number, Nux (hc x)/kf total pressure of the humid air and saturation vapour pressure (Pa) Posnov number, Pn (d$DT)/DW thermal capacity ratio, Rcp (rs$Cps)/(rf$Cpf) thermal diffusivity ratio, Rdf as/af Reynolds number, Re (u$Lsc)/n local Reynolds number, Rex (u$x)/n dimensionless distance between the leading-edges of the plates Schmidt number, Sc n/Df Sherwood number, Sh (hm Lsc)/Dm Strouhal number, S (f Lsc)/ui Stanton number, St Nux/(Re Pr) dimensional time (s) dimensional temperature (K or  C, as indicated)

U, V u, v W, w* x, y X, Y

dimensionless velocity components in the x and y directions respectively, U vJ/vY, V vJ/vX dimensional velocity components in the x and y directions respectively (m s1) dimensional (kgwater kg1 solid) on a dry basis (db) and dry dimensionless moisture content, w* (W Wmin)/DW dimensional horizontal and vertical coordinate respectively (m) dimensionless coordinates, X x/Lsc, Y y/Lsc

Greek symbols a thermal diffusivity (m2 s1) d thermal gradient coefcient (K1) Dc cmax cmin, where cmax the saturation value of concentration at ambient temperature and cmin the concentration at wet bulb temperature DH latent heat of evaporation (J kg1) DT Tmax Tmin, where Tmax, Tmin the incoming air dry and wet bulb temperature, respectively DW Wmax Wmin, where Wmax the initial, and Wmin the nal solid moisture content, respectively 3 phase conversion coefcient q dimensionless temperature, q (T Tmin)/DT m dynamic viscosity (Pa s) n kinematic viscosity (m2 s1) r density (kg m3) s dimensionless time, s t/(Lsc/ui) f relative humidity J stream function U vorticity, U vU/vY vV/vX Subscripts a air F nal f uid i inlet o initial s solid (rectangular cylinder) sc scale N ambient

Several studies on numerical modelling of drying are available in the literature. The majority of these studies have considered a non-conjugate approach [6,911], while a relatively small number of such studies have been reported considering a conjugate approach. Among the latter, those of Oliveira et al. [8] for biological materials and Oliveira and Haghighi [4], Murugesan et al. [5] and Suresh et al. [12] for construction materials may be cited. In real practical applications, the solid to be dried is usually placed in a drying chamber, the geometric characteristics of which inuence the ow eld, which in turn may affect the heat/mass transport phenomena in a favourable or unfavourable manner. The motivation for the present work was to develop methodologies which the design optimization of a dryer such as the experimental one shown in Fig. 1 could be based on. The particular dryer which has been developed at the Solar & other Energy Systems Laboratory of NCSR Demokritos uses solar energy as the heat source, provided by an evacuated tube collector utilizing air as the working medium [13]. The physical conguration for modelling purposes may be considered as comprising a rectangular porous solid to be dehydrated, with the air owing around and parallel to it within a channel.

From the uid mechanics point of view, such a problem may be identied in the literature as ow over rectangular cylinders, indeed in a conned domain. In the literature, ows over rectangular cylinders have been studied extensively, albeit not so much in conjunction with heat transfer, let alone mass transfer. Some of the most representative studies are those by Okajima [14] and Nakamura et al. [15] who studied unconned ow around rectangular cylinders of various aspect ratios (AR), at low Reynold numbers (Re). The results show the existence of a critical range of Re, depending on the AR of the cylinder, where the Strouhal number (S) shows stepwise changes, each accompanied with a variation in the ow eld. In one of the few relevant studies considering heat transfer, Sharma and Eswaran [16] studied the ow and heat transfer characteristics of a square cylinder for unconned and conned ow, for various blockage ratios (BR), at Re 50, 100 and 150. It was found that the enhancement of the Nusselt number (Nu) along the cylinder due to the connement by the channel walls increases with increasing BR. On the other hand, there are several studies in literature on blunt plates, a special type of rectangular cylinders characterized by a high AR. Among the most representative works is the one by Ota

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Fig. 1. Experimetal Solar Dryer of Solar and other Energy Systems laboratory of NCSR Demokritos.

et al. [17] who conducted a visualization study for the reattachment length for ow over blunt at plates, at Re 402000. It was found that the reattachment length increases with an increase of the Re, reaches a maximum value and then decreases as the ow enters into a regime of unsteadiness. Among the few studies that considered ow over a blunt plate in combination with mass transfer is the one by Srensen [18]. According to that study, mass transfer coefcients depend on air velocity and distance from the leading-edge as well as on the thickness of the slab. Furthermore, Kottke et al. [19,20] studied mass transfer phenomena for turbulent ow over a thick blunt plate in comparison with thin plate results. It was found that for a thick plate the presence of separation zones inuences signicantly the mass transport coefcients. Some studies have also considered multiple plates, such as the one by Hourigan et al. [21]. The laminar ow around long blunt plates was analysed and it was found that the presence of ow separation from the leading and trailing edges of the elongated bodies leads to vortex interactions that are not observed in shorter bodies. A stepwise behaviour in S was also observed with increasing plate AR, due to the leading-edge separation of different, discrete modes associated with each range of AR. Djilali [22] has studied the laminar forced convection in an array of stacked plates and analysed the effect of blockage on heat transfer. In most of the above mentioned works, problems of ow over, single or multiple, bluff bodies or blunt plates have been solved by focusing only on heat transfer. A literature survey revealed that such ow problems have not been studied previously in combination with a drying model. Thus, the objective of the present work is to develop a nite-volume methodology to analyze the unsteady, conjugate heat/mass transfer phenomena during convective drying of a porous solid and to analyze the effect of slab thickness on heat/

mass transfer. The drying model that is developed, allows selecting between modelling of phenomena only within the solid, with the effect of air to be considered through appropriate transfer coefcients at the boundary conditions or considering as the domain of the simulation apart from the solid body the air ow as well. In the latter case, the solution for the ow eld is obtained along with that for a conjugate heat/mass transfer problem and in both cases phase change (evaporation) is taken into account. The methodology developed here is applied to the analysis of drying of construction materials as well as agricultural products for validation purposes and then to the actual problem of the ow within the experimental drying chamber of Fig. 1 in two alternative congurations. This methodology is certainly of interest to researchers involved in the design of solar dryers, since the present treatment of the heat/mass transport phenomena is particularly suited to these types of dryers which are generally convective dryers. 2. Drying model/numerical methods 2.1. General characteristics of the model assumptions For the numerical simulation, the nite-volume method is used [23]. The two-dimensional (2-D), transient NavierStokes equations, in the stream function/vorticity (J/U) formulation, along with the equations of continuity, temperature q and concentration C, in dimensionless form, are solved for the ow eld and are coupled with the equations of temperature q and moisture content w* for the solid [24]. The assumptions that are made are: (1) ow is 2-D/incompressible, (2) uniform velocity prole at the entrance, (3)
Table 2 Coefcients that appear in the equationsa. Without solution of EF K1 K2 K3
a

Table 1 Coefcients of the terms for each variable that follows equation (2).

With solution of EF Rdf 1 LuKoPnD* T RePr Rdf LuKoD* M RePr Rdf Lu RePr

Without solution of EF K4 K5 K6 LuPn

With solution of EF Rdf LuPn RePr 1 1 B$ $ Le RePr 1 1 $ Rcp RePr

F U q (uid)
C

Gf
1/Re 1/(Re$Pr) 1/(Re$Pr$Le) 1 Rdf/(Re Pr) K3 K3

Sf 0 0 0 V2 K1 Gf q V2 K2 w* V2 K1 Gf q V2 K2 w* V2 K4 q V2 K4 q

1 LuKoPnD* T LuKoD* M Lu

q (solid, no EF computation) q (solid, with EF computation)

w* (no EF computation) w* (with EF computation)

The ratios of the diffusion coefcients in the solid D* DTv =DT ; D* Dmv =Dm T M (gas phase/total value) are replaced by a coefcient of phase change 3 [24], when their values are not available.

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uniform sample, (4) the gravity in the solid is ignored (capillary forces are considered stronger compared with gravity), as well as pressure gradients, (5) solid shrinkage/deformation during drying are ignored, (6) any generation of heat inside the body is ignored except the one which is due to phase change, (7) natural convection is ignored. 2.2. The mathematical model The equation for the stream function J is of the Poisson type:

active-type dryers) or entirely (in the case of passive dryers) affected by the natural convection in the chamber. As is well known, in such a situation the air ow cannot be decoupled from the heat/mass transfer in any mathematical/numerical modelling procedure, since ow and temperature elds should be allowed to develop simultaneously. Even though natural convection was neglected, the conjugate approach allows, by default, for such a coupled treatment, and it is therefore the most suitable one for dryers where natural convection is important. 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Problems without computation of the external ow 3.1.1. Drying of a brick slab The data for this problem are from the study of Kallel et al. [27] for a slab of 10 cm thickness and for the case of symmetry in the ambient conditions, with hc 15 W/m2K, hm 0.015 m/s, 4N 50% and TN 20  C, variable thermal capacity and the remaining solid thermophysical properties taken as constant. The problem, even though essentially one-dimensional, is solved here as

V2 J U

(1)

while for the remaining dimensionless variables (vorticity U, temperature q, concentration C and moisture content w*) the equation of transport has the general form:

    vf vU f vV f v vf v vf Gf Gf Sf vX vY vX vY vs vX vY

(2)

In Table 1 the diffusion coefcients Gf and the source terms Sf for each variable f are given. The coefcients K1K4 are given in Table 2. The expressions for the boundary conditions are differentiated based on whether or not the external ow (EF) eld is to be computed. In the second case, at the soliduid interface (SFI) the following conditions must be satised: quid qsolid, Cuid C(q, w*)solid, along with the continuity equations for heat and mass uxes, written respectively as:

K1 Vq K2 Vw* K6 Vq KoK5 VC K3 Vw* K4 Vq K5 VC

(3a) (3b)

At the SFI and at the walls the non-slip condition is applied, while the thermodynamic equilibrium equation that is applied for the SFI is from Ref. [4]:

ra c

fPws 0:62198 P fPws

(4)

The coefcients K5, K6 are also given in Table 2. 2.3. Numerical methods For the numerical simulation, the Successive Over-Relaxation (SOR) method for the solution of the stream function equation (Eq. (1)) and the Alternating Direction Implicit (ADI) method for the time-dependent transport equations were used respectively [25]. For the case when the EF is not solved for (non-conjugate approach), the inuence of air is taken into consideration through suitable transfer coefcients (from the literature) at the boundaries (right term of Eqs. (3)) while when the EF is solved for instead, the heat/mass transfer equations between solid/uid are solved as coupled (conjugate problem). In the second case, the calculation of C at the SFI is made by using the equation of thermodynamic equilibrium (Eq. (4)) where the relative humidity at the SFI is calculated through the sorption isotherm of the solid once the current value of w* has been calculated. The discretized coupling equations integrated over the SFI control volumes, are based on the method of Papanicolaou and Jaluria [26]. Thus q, w*, C of the SFI are calculated as a part of the conjugate solution and the often used isotemperature and iso-concentration assumptions at the SFI for the solution in the solid are dispensed with. It should be noted that this methodology is particularly suited for solar dryers, since in this case the heat/mass transport phenomena are partly (in the case of

ii

0.87

13.83

15.08 15.12
0

0.62 0.78 0.16

0
0

0
0

0
0

(4 hrs)

(36 hrs)

(4 hrs)

(36 hrs)

Fig. 2. (i) Time evolution of temperature at the external surfaces (X 0, 1) during drying of the brick slab, compared with available numerical and experimental data [27,30], (ii) dimensionless moisture content (left) and temperature contours (right) in  C.

15.20
1

14.13

13.54

0.68

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40 35 30 Num., Present work

sample weight (g)

25 20 15 10 5 0

Exp., Chiang and Petersen

10

ii 1
0.8

t (h)
0. 5 4

15

20

25

30

0.64

1
0.16

0.05

0.85

0 .7

0.8
0.38

0 .2 7

0.6
0. 95

0.6

0.4

0.4
0 .6 0

0 .4

0.2
1 .0 0

0.2
0 .6 5

0.2

0.4

iii

0.6

0.8

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

iv 1
0.8 1.00 0.6

0.83

0.

71

1 0.64 0.8

0.4 5
0.

0. 18
82

0.6

0.4
0.96

0.4

1.

00

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Fig. 3. (i) Time evolution of apple sample weight, comparison with [31], (ii) moisture content contours at 5 and 30 h of apple drying, (iii) drying curve of banana sample, comparison with [34,35] and (iv) moisture content contours, at 0.67 and 4 h of banana drying.

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Fig. 4. The drying chamber with: (i) one cylinder (original conguration, single-plate (SP)) and (ii) two plates in Side-by-Side arrangement (double-plate (DP)).

two-dimensional, considering a large length in the second dimension and a 9 11 uniform grid. For the equilibrium conditions, the relations from the study by Perrin and Javelas [28] were considered, whereas for the property variations with moisture and temperature data from Ref. [29] were obtained. In Fig. 2(i), the time evolution of temperature along the external surfaces of the slab is shown and is compared with experimental and numerical results of other researchers [27,30]. Initially, the temperature of the slab decreases to 13.2  C (wet bulb temperature, with q 0 in non-dimensional terms) due to the evaporation associated with drying. As time proceeds, the rate of evaporation is reduced and the temperature of the surface remains constant for a certain time interval until nally the slab starts heating up due to convection from the ambient. Within this phase of reheat of the plate after the initial cooling, there are signicant differences between the predictions of Refs. [27,30]. However, the present model follows the trend in the actual variation of slab temperature closer, showing a better agreement with the experimental results of

Kallel et al. [27]. In Fig. 2(ii) the moisture content and the temperature contours at 4 and 36 h of drying are shown. From Fig. 2(ii) the symmetrical spatial distribution of slab moisture content and temperature may be observed, along with the reheat phenomenon that was depicted in Fig. 2(i). Initially, the reduction of the temperature is more intense at the surfaces of the plate because evaporation takes place mainly there, while temperature in the slab interior remains at the initial value. As time proceeds, the drying, and thus also the evaporation rate at the surfaces is reduced and the convection from the uid to the solid surfaces prevails, with the surfaces appearing warmer than the interior of the slab. 3.1.2. Drying of agricultural products samples (apple, banana) The computations conducted were based on data from: (1) Refs. [6,11,31,32] for drying of an apple sample (Malus domestica, Rosaceae, cultivar Jonagold) 0.02 0.02 m, with hc 15 W/m2K, hm 0.001 m/s, variable thermal capacity and thermal conductivity

Fig. 5. The non-uniform grids: (i) 183 61 (details near the cylinder) for the original, single-plate conguration and (ii) 183 63 for the double-plate arrangement (overall view and details near the plates).

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for the solid [33], variable Lu, Ko and Biq, (2) Refs. [34,35] for drying of a banana sample (Musa sp., Musaceae, cultivar Cavendish) 0.03 0.03 m, with hc 90 W/m2K, hm 0.028 m/s and constant thermophysical properties. Due to the symmetry in the boundary conditions, the 2-D computational domain for both cases is taken as the of the sample and uniform grids 11 13 and 11 11 were used. In Fig. 3(i), the variation of the overall weight loss of the apple sample with time is illustrated and is compared with results of Ref. [31] whereby a good agreement is observed, while the moisture content contours for the of the sample after 5 and 30 h of drying, are shown in Fig. 3(ii). In Fig. 3(iii) the drying curve for the banana sample is illustrated and is compared with experimental and numerical results of other studies [34,35] whereby a fairly good agreement may also be observed. Besides, the moisture content contours for the of the sample are shown in Fig. 3(iv), for 0.67 and 4 h of drying. In both cases, the moisture content contours are symmetrical and this is attributed to the presence of symmetrical conditions at both drying problems. 3.2. Problems with computation of the external ow Initially, problems based on the studies of Oliveira and Haghighi [4] and Murugesan et al. [5] were solved, for wood and brick drying, in order to validate the code developed in the present study. A good agreement was found when quantities such as stream function J, temperature and moisture potential contours were compared with results of Refs. [4,5] and in terms of the drying curve presented in Ref. [4]. Subsequently, in the course of the energy optimization of the experimental dryer of Fig. 1, two original drying problems were studied. The difference between these problems was in the placement of the same amount of product in the drying chamber (dimensions: 1.20 0.15 m): (1) as a rectangular cylinder of

thickness 2Hs (Fig. 4(i), original conguration, from now on being referred to as the single-plate (SP) case), (2) as two blunt plates of thickness Hs (Fig. 4(ii)), in a Side-by-Side arrangement (doubleplate (DP) case), so that the combined volume of the two plates is the same as that of the original conguration. The computations were carried out for apple drying [6,11,31,32] for up to 4 h, at Re 463 and 926. The sorption isotherm for apple was taken from Ref. [36]. Even though agricultural products have special geometric shapes which, in addition, change during drying due to shrinkage, it should be also taken into account that the present mathematical/numerical model is quite complex and studies following such a conjugate approach in the literature are rare. Therefore, there is still a lot insight to be gained in the heat and mass transport phenomena during drying of these products, even by considering the geometric simplications of a slab-shaped, constant-volume product to be dried as a rst step. Recently, such an approach has been followed in the nite-element simulation for a protruding rectangular solid representing a vegetable substrate solid [37]. Non-uniform grids 183 61 and 183 63 for the SP and the DP case were used, respectively, more details of which are illustrated in Fig. 5. For the original conguration, 2Hs 0.05 m and Ls 0.25 m are considered for the cylinder dimensions (AR 5), whereas for the DP case the thickness of each plate is Hs 0.025 m (AR 10) and the distance between the plates is ds 0.033 m and BR 0.33. Furthermore, the initial conditions for the uid are the inlet values: Uo 1, qo 1, C 0.0078 (for f 9% and temperature  50 C), whereas for the solid these are respectively: qo 0, w* 1. 3.2.1. Flow eld results Flows over bluff bodies such as rectangular cylinders or blunt plates which are involved here are inherently unsteady due to the vortex shedding and/or other ow phenomena and therefore the

Fig. 6. Instantaneous streamlines J within one period of the vortex shedding induced oscillations for the SP conguration, at Re 463.

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results are presented as instantaneous streamlines J within one period of the oscillations for the SP and the DP conguration, at Re 463, in Figs. 6 and 7, respectively. It is evident that the ow exhibits complicated patterns, especially behind the cylinders, for both cases. Vortex shedding occurs downstream, causing the periodic oscillation of ow and heat/mass transfer quantities in that region. Vortex shedding is more intense in the original, one-plate conguration. This is also veried in Fig. 8 where time evolution of velocity V, at selected wake points, is illustrated. Wake points for the original conguration (Fig. 8(i)) have greater oscillation amplitudes compared with wake points of the DP case (Fig. 8(ii)) located at the same downstream distance from the plates. The interaction between the two plates in the latter case leads to a mutual damping of the vortex shedding intensity from each plate. More details on the Strouhal numbers S and oscillation amplitudes at the selected monitor points (MPs) are given in Table 3(a). All the MPs exhibit a periodic oscillation pattern except for MP 2 in the DP case, and at Re 926, which, lying midway and between the plates, shows a steady (non-oscillatory) behaviour instead. The Strouhal numbers for the SP conguration are very close to each other for both Reynolds numbers (S 0.360 and 0.368 respectively). There are no data available for conned ow at this aspect ratio (AR 5) in the literature, however the effect of blockage ratio BR for a square cylinder (AR 1) (Mukhopadhyay et al. [38]) and of the aspect ratio for unconned ow (Nakamura et al. [15]) have been investigated independently. Both these effects have a drastic inuence on the Strouhal number, thus large increases in S are obtained with a small increase in BR and AR, whereas the Reynolds number has a relatively small inuence. Based on the overall plate thickness which both Refs. [15] and [38] consider, S 0.720.74 in

the present results, a value which, as expected, is much higher than S z 0.3 for a square cylinder [38] at the same blockage and S z 0.5 for AR 5 in unconned ow [15]. Another distinct feature of the ow elds in the present congurations are the separation bubbles that are seen to develop along the horizontal surfaces of the plates in Figs. 6 and 7 and in more detail in Fig. 9. Separation zones cover a greater length of the plates in the SP conguration compared to the DP arrangement, in which also each surface behaves differently, as may be seen in Table 3(b), where more quantitative details for both congurations with respect to bubble lengths are given. For plates of large aspect ratio, relevant data for leading-edge separation bubbles may be found in the literature. According to Lane and Loehrke [39], Ota et al. [17] and Marty et al. [40], the separation-bubble length on a single blunt plate of an aspect ratio similar to those of the plates in the DP conguration (AR 10) with no blockage effect is approximately 5 at Re 463 and somewhat less, around 4.7 for Re 926, which lies in the asymptotic range [39]. However, according to Djilali [22], blockage reduces the size of the separation zones an effect which is also conrmed by the present results as may be observed in Table 3(b) where the bubble lengths are signicantly smaller. Besides, in Figs. 7 and 9 and Table 3(b) it may also be observed that in the ow passage formed between the two plates in the DP conguration, and despite the fact that the overall ow rate is split into three equal parts by the plates, the separation bubbles are much smaller than those on the opposite sites of the plates. This is due to the presence of two leading-edge separations in that passage, which cause a more rapid reattachment on those surfaces than on the opposite sides of the plates.

Fig. 7. Instantaneous streamlines J within one period of the vortex shedding induced oscillations for the DP conguration, at Re 463.

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0.3 0.2

SP, Re=463 SP, Re=926

1.5
0.1 0 -0.1

Y
0 10 20 30
DP, Re=463, top pl. DP, Re=463, bot. pl.

-1.5
-0.2 -0.3

40

50

-3 17 19 21 23 25

ii 0.05

ii

0.025

1.5

Y
0 10 20 30 40 50

-0.025

-1.5

-0.05

-3 17 19 21 23 25

Fig. 8. Time evolution of velocity V: (i) for the SP and (ii) for the DP conguration, for Re 463 and 926, at wake points located at distance 13.7 from the trailing edge of the plates and at Y 0 for the original conguration and at Y 1.17 (bottom plate) and 1.17 (top plate) for the DP arrangement.

X
Fig. 9. Flow eld details near the leading-edge of the plates in terms of streamlines for (i) the SP and (ii) the DP conguration, at Re 463.

For the rectangular cylinder with AR 5, which is considered as a short blunt plate, few relevant data on separation zone lengths are available in literature. Lane and Loehrke [39] present data for AR 2 and 4 as representative of short plates and the picture is less concrete than in their data for long plates (AR ! 8). For the present Reynolds numbers, the length of the separation zone should be roughly 4 times the overall plate thickness for AR 2 and 4, whereby here it is found equal to 2.7 for Re 463 and slightly above 4 for Re 926 (5.4 and 8.18.7 times the halfthickness respectively, as Table 3(b) shows). Again, the blockage
Table 3 (a) Oscillation and (b) Separation-region data for the single-plate (SP) and the double-plate (DP) congurations. The former are for values of the V-velocity detected at selected monitor points (MP 1: (42.7, 0), MP 2: (24, 0)) in the channel. Plate numbers indicate: 1 bottom and 2 top plate. Re MP: Congurations 1 S Ampl. 2 S 0.578 2 Bottom 5.4 2.3 8.1 3.8 Top 2.3 3.8 Bottom 0.5 1.3 Ampl. 0.005

effect in the present conguration may justify this reduction in the computed lengths, even though for the higher Re the one-toone agreement with the unconned case must be a coincidence. The separation phenomena at this high value of Re are more complex and a detailed study of these was deemed outside the scope of this work. 3.2.2. Heat and mass transfer The effect of the peculiar ow eld patterns associated with ow over rectangular cylinders/blunt plates and discussed above on heat transfer is rst investigated using the simple boundary condition of isothermal plates without the presence of drying. In this manner, results for the particular SP and DP congurations may be compared with the well-established Blasius solution for laminar ow over a thin at plate. These results are shown in Fig. 10 in terms of the (Stx$Pr2/3) variation with the local Reynolds number Rex along each plate surface. In Fig. 10(i), this is rst illustrated for the SP conguration, at Re 463 and 926, along with the Blasius solution. It is obvious that the heat transfer is better for the thin plate over the initial length where separation zones develop on the blunt (thick) plate. Furthermore, for the thick plate, at Re 463 values are higher compared with Re 926 due to the shorter bubble lengths for the lower Re, as was previously mentioned in paragraph 3.2.1. In Fig. 10(ii) and (iii), the quantity (Stx$Pr2/3) is plotted vs. Rex for the DP arrangement, at Re 463 and 926 respectively and also compared with the thin plate results. Heat transfer shows better values at Re 463 and the phenomena that were mentioned and discussed for Fig. 10(i) are also observed in these gures. On the other hand, immediately downstream of the thick plate reattachment points an

a) Strouhal numbers and amplitudes of oscillation 463 SP 0.360 0.182 DP 0.585 0.003 926 SP 0.368 0.106 DP 0.590 0.006 Re Plate Conguration b) Separation-bubble lengths 463 SP DP 926 SP DP 1 Top 5.4 0.5 8.7 1.3

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Chr. Lamnatou et al. / Renewable Energy 35 (2010) 13911402

i
0.004

Blasius SP, top surf., Re=463 SP, top surf., Re=926

3 1.5 0 -1.5

0.003

StX Pr2/3

0.002 0.001

-3 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31

ii 3
0 1000 2000

ReX

3000

4000

5000

1.5 0 -1.5 -3 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31

ii
0.008 0.007

Blasius DP, top surf., Re=463 DP, bot. surf., Re=463

StX Pr2/3

0.006 0.005 0.004 0.003 0.002 0.001 0 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000

X
Fig. 11. Moisture content contours and velocity vectors, for (i) the SP and (ii) the DP conguration, for Re 463, at 4 h of drying (Contour range for w*: 0.041 for (i) and 00.93 for (ii)).

ReX

iii
0.008 0.007 0.006

Blasius DP, top surf., Re=926 DP, bot. surf., Re=926

0.005 0.004 0.003 0.002 0.001 0 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000

ReX

Fig. 10. Heat transfer rate (Stx Pr2/3) vs. Rex for isothermal plates (no drying), for the single-plate (SP) (i) and the double-plate (DP) conguration (top plate) ((ii) and (iii)), at (ii) Re 463 and (iii) 926, compared to the thin plate (Blasius) solution.

plates for the DP case becomes evident, while Fig. 12 illustrates the drying curves for both arrangements and Reynolds numbers, Re 463 and 926, and a spectacular difference may be observed between them. The DP case shows better drying behaviour and, for both cases, the higher the Re the better the drying that is achieved. This improved behaviour may be attributed to the combined favourable effect of many factors: (1) Slab Thickness: The reduction in the initial body thickness, apart from the better diffusion transfer achieved within the solid, leads to reduction of separation zones length as well. The enhancement of heat transfer due to the reduction in the slab thickness has also been observed by other researchers [42], (2) Blockage: The better drying behaviour of the DP arrangement can also be attributed to the blockage effect between the plates. An increase in blockage results in increased mean velocity in the three ow passages now formed in the chamber and thus augmentation of the transport coefcients between solid/drying air, and consequently drying of the product is faster and more uniform. According to Djilali [22] and Rahnema et al. [43] who conducted studies on parallel blunt plates, blockage enhances heat transfer due also to the reduction of separation

augmentation of heat transfer is observed in all cases (Fig. 10(i) (iii)). Nu exhibits higher values than the Blasius solution for all congurations after the reattachment points, which may be identied as the points where the thick plate curves intersect the one corresponding to the Blasius result. Thus, for instance, this intersection is shown to occur earlier for the bottom surface of the top plate in the DP conguration (Fig. 10(ii)(iii)), where it is known that the separation bubble is shorter. This augmentation phenomenon has also been observed by other researchers [20,41] and is attributed to the local reduction of the boundary layer thickness after reattachment. Viewed from another perspective, the free-stream uid contacting the surface at the reattachment point, and previously kept apart by the separation zone has a large temperature difference with the plate solid surface thus a higher heat transfer rate arises. Proceeding now to the transport phenomena in the presence of drying, in Fig. 11 the greater penetration of the drying font in the

StX Pr2/3

Fig. 12. Drying curves for the original conguration and for the double-plate (DP) arrangement, at Re 463 and 926.

Chr. Lamnatou et al. / Renewable Energy 35 (2010) 13911402

1401

40
X X

X X

35
X X

X X X

30
X X

X X X

25

X X X

20
X

X X

15
X

X X

10
X

X X X X X X X X XX X X X X X XX X XX XX X XX X X X

5 0

Blasius top surf., Isoth., no drying bot. surf., Isoth., no drying top surf., 2 hrs drying bot. surf., 2 hrs drying

10

Fig. 13. Nux vs. X for the top plate in the DP conguration without (isothermal) and with drying for a period of 2 h (at Re 926) vs. the Blasius solution (thin plate).

exhibited a realistic physical behaviour for a range of materials upon comparisons with results available in literature. In addition, results from the simulation of ow and heat/mass transfer phenomena that was conducted in the course of the energetic optimization of a solar dryer of NCSR Demokritos, were shown, for two cases of alternative placements of the drying product in the chamber in the form of plates. It is shown that the aspect ratio of the drying plate and ow separation phenomena can inuence the ow eld as well as heat/mass transfer coefcients and thus the quality of the drying product. The same problem is then studied with the initial body divided into two plates that were placed in the drying chamber in a Side-by-Side arrangement. It is found that the reduction of the plate thickness combined with the blockage effect as well as with the increase of the contact surfaces between solid and uid, can lead to higher heat/mass transfer coefcients and thus better drying behaviour. Thus, the ndings of this work may be valuable in the effort to optimize the design of a drying chamber in order to achieve higher heat/mass transfer rates and more uniform drying through preventing the development of unfavourable aerodynamic phenomena in the channel during the operation of a dryer. The procedure developed is particularly suited for solar dryers, which are generally of the convective type, and particularly for cases where natural convection plays a signicant role in the heat and mass transfer processes. Acknowledgements This paper is part of the 03ED303 research project, implemented within the framework of the Reinforcement Programme of Human Research Manpower (PENED) and co-nanced by National and Community Funds (25% from the Greek Ministry of DevelopmentGeneral Secretariat of Research and Technology and 75% from E.U.-European Social Fund). In addition, the rst author Ms. Chryssovalantou Lamnatou would like to thank the State Scholarship Foundation of Greece, for the Honorary PhD Scholarship.

NuX

Fig. 14. Time evolution of the mean Sh, for the original conguration and for the double-plate DP arrangement, at Re 463.

References
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zones size, (3) Contact Surfaces: The increase in the number of contact surfaces between solid and uid at the DP case, also leads to faster and more uniform drying. In addition, in Fig. 13 local Nusselt number Nux along with X, for the top plate of the DP arrangement is illustrated and solutions with 2 h drying and without drying (isothermal), at Re 926, are compared with Blasius solution (thin plate). It is obvious that the thin plate shows better heat transfer at the initial plate length compared with thick plate solutions, due to the absence of separation zones. Furthermore, in general the drying problem shows different values of Nux compared with the isothermal one. This can be attributed to the additional mass ux which according to Eq. (3a), affects the local temperature gradient. Finally, in Fig. 14 time evolution of the mean Sherwood number (Sh) at the front and at the top surface of the solids is illustrated. In Fig. 14, the presence of better mass transfer coefcients for the DP case is evident and this was also veried from a similar behaviour of the mean Nu. 4. Conclusions In the present article, a numerical procedure for modelling the heat/mass transfer phenomena during convective drying of a porous body is developed, based on Luikovs model and a conjugate approach and by using the nite-volume method. The results

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