Dependence of drying rate on interfacial thermal contact conductance in drum drying of thin materials

Abstract

Drum dryers are widely employed in various industrial fields for their remarkable capability to efficiently dry thin porous materials such as textiles and paper. The heat transfer process in drum drying involves an interaction between the drum surface and the materials being dried. However, measuring interfacial thermal contact conductance during drum drying is very challenging, and little data has been reported in the literature. It is therefore unclear how changes in interfacial thermal contact conductance quantitatively affect drum drying in terms of drying time. We created an innovative laboratory-scale experimental setup designed to measure changes in moisture content of textiles at various contact pressures during drum drying. By combining our experiments with a simple yet effective heat transfer model, we were able to quantify the impact of interfacial thermal contact resistance on drying time. Specifically, in drying tests using thin cotton textiles, the experimental results revealed that when the contact pressure was increased from 120 Pa to 480 Pa, the thermal contact conductance increased by approximately 30% and the drying time decreased by approximately 20%. The outcomes of our study significantly advance the current understanding of drum drying processes and reveal vital insights into techniques for optimizing energy consumption.