Airflow patterns in a laboratory batch-type, tray air dryer

• Κύριοι συγγραφείς: Tzempelikos, Dimitrios, Vouros, Alexandros, Bardakas, Achilleas, Filios, Andronikos, Margaris, Dionissios
• Άλλοι συγγραφείς: Τζεμπελίκος, Δημήτριος
• Μορφή: Conference (paper)
• Γλώσσα: English
• Έκδοση: 2013
• Θέματα: Batch dryer; Airflow; Computational fluid dynamics (CFD); Simulation

The batch-type dryer is one of the most popular equipment for fruit drying. However, the optimization of the air distribution inside the drying chamber remains a very important issue, due to its strong impact on efficient drying and uniformity of moisture content of products. A new scale laboratory batch-type, tray air dryer has been designed, constructed and evaluated for drying several horticultural and agricultural products. The flow field inside the dryer is studied through computational fluid dynamics (CFD). A three-dimensional model for laboratory dryer has been created and the steady state incompressible, Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations that formulate the flow problem are solved, incorporating standard and RNG k-ε turbulence models. The simulations are conducted for testing chamber average velocity of 2,9 m/s at ambient temperature. The CFD models are evaluated by comparing airflow patterns and velocity distributions to measured data. Numerical simulations and measurements convince that the new scale laboratory batch-type dryer is able to produce a sufficiently uniform air distribution throughout the testing chamber of the dryer.