Experiment: Drying 2: Heated Air Dryer

Group : 10
Name: Angel Mah Xin Yee (015100)

Name of group Joshua Lau Yong Kiet

members: (015562)
Mohammed Musaib Dana
(023947)
Tan Chun Mun (015856)
Name of Tutor : Dr Chan Yi Jing
Date of 17/03/2016
experimentatio
n:
Date of 24/03/2016
handing-in:
Summary
The objective of this experiment is to study the drying characteristics and kinetics of
sample dried in a heated air dryer. The samples of this experiment are obtained from
sweet potato, where a blade is used to cut the samples into desired dimensions.
First, four samples of different size are prepared and their initial mass is measured. After
that, the samples are put into the dryer for drying purpose. The samples are weighed and
their mass is recorded at every 2 minutes intervals until it is stabilised. A graph of
moisture content of samples versus time is plotted, where a decreasing trend is observed.
Plotting drying rate against time shows that the rate of water removal is higher in sample
with higher surface area.
The drying process was repeated by using fresh samples of 1,2 and 4 at a lower
temperature of 62C. The fresh samples have similar dimensions and mass as the one
used in 65C drying process. The results obtained at both temperature are compared and
drying rate is observed to decrease with temperature.
The drying curve of the process is drawn by plotting moisture content of sample against
time.Various drying periods such as transient, constant rate, and falling period are
observed.
Procedure
1. Sweet potato is cut to prepare four samples of different sizes by using a blade.
2. Dimension of samples is measured by using a ruler.
3. The samples are weighed by using a electronic balance.
4. Initial mass of samples is recorded.
5. The power supply of dryer is switched on and the temperature set point is set at
65C
6. The samples are placed on a Petri dish and put into dryer.
7. The stopwatch is started immediately to record the duration of drying.
8. At every 2 minutes interval, the samples are taken out from the dryer, weighed
and their mass is recorded.
9. The drying process is continued until the mass of sample is stabilised.
10. The samples are borne dried and their borne dry mass is recorded.
11. Prepare fresh samples of 1,2, and 4 with similar dimensions as the previous one.
12. Repeat steps 3 to 10 by setting the set point temperature at 62C.
13. All results are tabulated.
14. Moisture content of samples can be calculated by using the formula:
W Wbd
Moistureco ntent i
Wbd

15. Drying rate can be calculated by using the formula:

MCi MCi 1
Dryingrate
t

16.
Results
Table 1: Dimensions and initial mass of samples

Sample 1 2 3 4

Dimension 1.5cm x 1.5cm x 2cm x 1cm x 1.5cm x 0.7cm x 0.7cm x 0.7cm x

(l x w x h) 0.15cm 0.15cm 0.5 cm 0.5cm
Surface Area on
4.5 4 2.1 0.98
both sides (cm2)
Initial mass 0.582 0.486 0.780 0.375
(g)

Table 2: Drying profile for Sample 1 at drying temperture of 65C

Time Weight Moisture content Drying rate

(min) (g) (g H2O/g dry (g H2O/min)
solid)

0 0.582 3.157
2 0.491 2.507 0.046
4 0.434 2.100 0.029
6 0.38 1.714 0.027
8 0.342 1.443 0.019
10 0.296 1.114 0.023
12 0.262 0.871 0.017
14 0.236 0.686 0.013
16 0.217 0.550 0.009
18 0.198 0.414 0.009
20 0.187 0.336 0.006
22 0.174 0.243 0.007
24 0.166 0.186 0.004
26 0.161 0.150 0.003
28 0.158 0.129 0.002
30 0.158 0.129 0
32 0.158 0.129 0
34 0.158 0.129 0
36 0.158 0.129 0
38 0.158 0.129 0
Bone dry mass (g) 0.140

Table 3: Drying profile for Sample 2 at drying temperture of 65C

 Time Weight Moisture content Drying rate
(min) (g) (g H2O/g dry solid) (g H2O/min)
0 0.486 3.226
2 0.410 2.565 0.038
4 0.347 2.017 0.032
6 0.307 1.670 0.020
8 0.278 1.417 0.015
10 0.244 1.122 0.017
12 0.219 0.904 0.013
14 0.196 0.704 0.012
16 0.181 0.574 0.008
18 0.163 0.417 0.009
20 0.150 0.304 0.007
22 0.138 0.200 0.006
24 0.137 0.191 0.001
26 0.134 0.165 0.002
28 0.127 0.104 0.004
30 0.125 0.087 0.001
32 0.122 0.061 0.002
34 0.122 0.061 0
36 0.122 0.061 0
38 0.122 0.061 0
Bone dry mass (g) 0.115

Table 4: Drying profile for Sample 3 at drying temperture of 65C

Time Weight Moisture content Drying rate (g

(min) (g) (g H2O /g dry solid) H2O /min)
0 0.78 3.216
2 0.653 2.530 0.064
4 0.572 2.092 0.041
6 0.512 1.768 0.030
8 0.457 1.470 0.028
10 0.410 1.216 0.024
12 0.368 0.989 0.021
14 0.334 0.805 0.017
16 0.303 0.638 0.016
18 0.277 0.497 0.013
20 0.258 0.395 0.010
22 0.244 0.319 0.007
24 0.23 0.243 0.007
26 0.22 0.189 0.005
28 0.215 0.162 0.003
30 0.210 0.135 0.003
 32 0.205 0.108 0.003
34 0.203 0.097 0.001
36 0.199 0.076 0.002
38 0.199 0.076 0

Bone dry mass (g) 0.185

Table 4: Drying profile for Sample 4 at drying temperture of 65C

Time Weight Moisture content Drying rate (g

/minutes (g) (g H2O/g dry solid) H2O/min)

0 0.375 2.261
2 0.334 1.904 0.021
4 0.303 1.635 0.016
6 0.275 1.391 0.014
8 0.258 1.243 0.009
10 0.238 1.070 0.010
12 0.221 0.922 0.008
14 0.206 0.791 0.008
16 0.192 0.670 0.007
18 0.185 0.609 0.004
20 0.175 0.522 0.005
22 0.170 0.478 0.002
24 0.158 0.374 0.006
26 0.152 0.322 0.003
28 0.144 0.252 0.004
30 0.140 0.217 0.002
32 0.130 0.130 0.005
34 0.129 0.122 0.001
36 0.128 0.113 0.001
38 0.126 0.096 0.001

Bone dry mass (g) 0.115

 Mass of sample vs Time (T= 65C)

Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4

Figure 1: Graph of sample mass against time at 65C

Drying rate vs time

Sample 1 Sample 2
Figure 2: Comparison of drying rates between sample 1 and 2

Drying rate vs Time

Sample 3 Sample 4

Figure 3: Comparison of drying rates between sample 3 and 4

 TMC vs time
Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4

Figure 4: Graph of total moisture content against time

C
 Drying rate vs TMC
Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4

Figure 5: Graph of drying rate against toteal moisture content of sample

Table 5: Drying profile of Sample 1 at drying temperature of 62C

Time /minutes Weight (g) Moisture Drying rate (g

content H2O/min)
(g H2O/g dry
solid)
0 0.575 2.710
2 0.488 2.148 0.0435
4 0.443 1.858 0.0225
6 0.404 1.606 0.0195
8 0.370 1.387 0.017
10 0.343 1.213 0.0135
12 0.318 1.052 0.0125
14 0.289 0.865 0.0145
16 0.269 0.735 0.01
18 0.247 0.594 0.011
20 0.230 0.484 0.0085
Bone dry mass
0.155
(g)
 Mass of sample vs Time

Sample 1 @62C Sample 1 @65C

Figure 6: Effect of temperature on mass of sample 1

Drying rate vs Time

Sample 1 @65C Sample 1 @62C
Figure 7: Comparison of drying performances for sample 1 at different temperatures

Discussion
Heated air dryer used in this experiment can be catogorized as a direct heat dryer, which
contact the samples with a hot gas. The hot gas not only provides energy to heat the
material and evaporate the moisture, but also sweeps away the moisture. Theoretically,
the top and bottom faces are mainly exposed to heated air, heat transfer occurs because of
the temperature difference between hot air and water on solid surface, while mass transfer
occurs due to the difference in humidity (Seader and Henley, 1998).

From Figure 1, it is clearly seen that mass of samples decreases with time. This is due to
the loss of water from samples during the drying process. Heated air provides energy for
the evaporation of water by heat transfer down the temperature gradient. As shown as
Figure 4, the moisture content of samples will eventually decrease to a constant, which is
known as equilibrium moisture content, where dynamic equilibrium is achieved.

a) Effect of sample size on drying

Based on the results, sample with higher surface area for drying has higher drying rate.
From Figure 2, the rate of water removal for sample 1 (drying area = 4.5cm 2) is slightly
higher than that of sample 2 (drying area = 4 cm 2). From Figure 3, the rate of water
removal for sample 3 (drying area = 2 cm2) is much higher than sample 4 (drying area =
0.98 cm2) as the difference in surface area is greater.
As the surface area increases, the area for heat and mass transfer increases. More heat
energy is transferred to solid to evaporate the water on surface. Thus, more water is lost
from the solid.

b) Effect of drying temperature on drying

From Figure 6, the mass of sample decreases more rapidly at 65C as compare to 62C.
Larger temperature gradient between hot gas and surface water provides greater driving
force for heat transfer, hence more water can be evaporated.
The relationship between temperature and drying rate is more clearly shown in Figure 7.
For the first 13 minutes, the rate of water removal at 65C is higher than that at 62C due
to the larger temperature gradient. After that, the drying rate at 65C becomes lower than
62C, which might be due to the reduction in mass transfer gradient as more water has
been evaporated from the surface.

c) The occurence of the various drying period

The drying periods can be shown by two type of graphs: i) Moisture content as a function
of time as shown in Figure 4, and ii) Rate of drying as a function of moisture content, as
shown in Figure 5 (Seader and Henley, 1998). From Figure 4, various periods of drying
curve can be roughly defined. A decreasing trend is observed while the results for sample
4 serve as anomalies. This can be due to the difference in moisture content of samples by
sampling at different parts of sweet potato.
The drying curve can be divided into 3 region. A to B (0-4 min) is defined as transient
region where the solids temperature equilibrates with air. The wet solids are being
preheated so that the temperature of its exposed surface equal to the wet bulb gas
temperature, while moisture evaporated at increasing rate (Seader and Henley, 1998).

From B to C (4-14 min), drying rate becomes constant where free moisture is removed
from the exposed surface. At this point, the removal of water is assumed to be taken place
at a fully wetted surface. The moisture is said to evaporate as if solid is not present. This
region prevails as long as there is free moisture covering the exposed surface and
terminated at point C, the critical moisture content. The slope of this region is supposed
to be linear, disperancy of results might be caused by experimental errors.
From point C onwards (>14 min), falling rate drying takes place. The water must be first
transferred to the surface before evaporation can occur. For porous/granular solids,water
is brought to surface by capillary action, while liquid diffusion for non porous solids. In
either case, mass transfer of water to solid surface is insufficient to keep it totally wetted,
therefore the drying rate decreases. The mass transfer of moisture from within the solid to
the surface has now became the rate-determining step (Seader and Henley, 1998).

When the moisture content reaches a contant value, dynamic equilibrium is achieved
between heated air and the samples, where equilibrium moisture content is reached.

d) Confidence on results obtained

The confidence on the results obtained is only moderate. Generally, the results show
expected trends,i.e. rate of water removal increases with exposed surface area, drying rate
increases with temperature. However, the drying periods are not well defined especially
for the constant rate period. The reliability of results is low as no replicate is taken.

e) Errors present in experiment & Recommendations

First, as samples are taken out for weighing purpose, their temperatures are likely to
decrease once they are in contact with surrounding air. Heat might be transferred from the
hotter samples to the cooler surrounding air, causing the temperature of samples to
decrease. The samples are no longer at wet bulb temperature of heated air and time is
consumed to preheat the solids again. In addition, the moisture content in samples might
increase as the temperature decreases. To minimise this error, the duration of taking the
samples out should be as short as possible.

Besides, the dimensions of the samples prepared are subjected to uncertainties. The
cutting of sweet potatoes using blade is hard to be precise and exact. The measurement of
dimensions using ruler is also inprecise as it can only measure up to 0.1cm while parallax
error can occur. In this case, vernier calipers can be used for more precise measurement.
However, the preparation of samples with exactly same size and mass is difficult.

Furthermore, the moisture content of different parts of sweet potato can be different. For
example, the initail mositure content of sample 1,2 and 3 is around 3.2g/g dry solid, while
for sample 4 is 2.261 g/g dry solid. This causes the results obtained to be anomalous.
Samples from the same part should be taken to enable fair comparison between samples
of different size and at different temperature.

Next, temperature fluctuations inside the dryer is also a major source of errors. Despite
the set point is set at 65C, the temperature indicator shows higher temperature reading
( 67C) and fluctuates between 66-67C over time. When the set point is decreased to
62C, no time is given for the temperature of heated air to reach the set point and samples
are put in immediately. This might affect the results obtained as the drying temperature is
not constant.

Moreover, the reliability of results can be improved by repeating the experiment for at
least 2 times to obtain average values. This is to eliminate the possible random errors
during the conducting of experiment.

f) Applications of Drying
Drying is often required at various stages of a process, for the removal of moisture or
solvents from feed stocks, intermediate products and the final products (Dedietrich.com,
2015). Besides, drying preserves food by removing moisture from them. This stops
microbial growth and prevents spoilage (Drying Food Products, 2016).
Conclusion
From this experiment, drying characteristics and kinetics of sweet potato has been
analysed and studied successfully. Based on the results, drying rate increases with the
surface area exposed to heated air, which is probably due to the increase in area for heat
and mass transfer.
Besides, as temperature of drying increases, the temperature gradient between the
samples and heated air increases. This leads to greater driving force for heat transfer from
the hot air to the moisture on sample surface, inducing higher rate of evaporation of
water, and thus higher drying rate.
From Figure 4, 3 drying periods have been observed. Transient period is when the solid
temperature equilibrates with the heated air, where moisture evaporates at an increasing
rate. Constant rate period occurs when the free moisture is removed from the exposed
surface at constant rate. After that, the drying rate starts to fall when the surface moisture
is all removed. Water has to be first brought to surface before it can be removed. The
mass transfer of moisture from within the solid to the surface has now became the rate-
determining step.
Overall, the experimental data shows expected trends but the drying curve plotted is not
satisfactory as the periods are not well defined. The accuracy and reliability of results can
be improved by reducing the experimental errors and repeating the experiment to obtain
average values. For future study, the effect of sample thickness against drying rate can be
further investigated by using samples with same exposed area but different thickness.
References
1. Dedietrich.com. (2015). Drying process - filter / dryers - De Dietrich Process
Systems. [online] Available at: http://www.dedietrich.com/en/expertise/drying-
process.html [Accessed 23 Mar. 2016].
2. Drying Food Products. (2016). 1st ed. [ebook] University of Ankarsas System.
Available at: http://afic.uark.edu/Images/Drying.pdf [Accessed 23 Mar. 2016].
3. Seader, J. and Henley, E. (1998). Separation process principles. New York: Wiley.
Appendix A: Sample Calculations
*All calculations will be made with respect to sample 1

For Sample 1 (1.5cm x 1.5cm x 0.15cm):

Exposed area for drying = 2 x (1.5cm x 1.5cm) = 4.5 cm2
Time (minutes) Sample mass (g)
1 2 3 4
0 0.582 0.486 0.780 0.375
2 0.491 0.410 0.653 0.334

38 0.158 0.122 0.199 0.126
Bone dry mass (g) 0.140 0.115 0.185 0.115

For Sample 1:
Drying rate from 0 to 2 mins
Initial mass of sampleFinal mass of sample
= Time

( 0.5820.491 ) g
= 2min

=0.0455 g

Initial moisture content

Initial mass of sampleBone dry mass of sample
= Bone dry mass of sample

( 0.5820.140 ) g water
= 0.140 g dry solid

= 3.157 g/g dry solid

Total moisture content at 2nd min

Mass of sample at nth minBone dry mass of sample
= Bone dry mass of sample
 ( 0.4910.140 ) g water
= 0.140 g dry sample = 2.507 g/g dry solid

Equilibrium moisture content

Final mass of sample (at 38 thmin)Bone dry mass of sample
= Bone dry mass of sample

( 0.1580.140 ) g water
= 0.140 g dry solid

= 0.129 g/g dry solid

Free moisture content at 2nd min
= Total moisture content at 2nd min Equilibrium moisture content
= 2.507 0.129
= 2.378 g/g dry solid
Appendix B: Example of drying curve

Figure 8: Typical drying curve