Investigation of Air Flow Distribution in Small-Scale Food Products Dryer

Abstract

Experimental and numerical investigations showed that the air flow velocity distribution between the shelves with identical inlet cross sections is nonuniform; in the gaps between the shelves located in the bottom part of the dryer the velocity is rather high and in the gaps between the shelves located in the middle and at the top of the dryer the velocity is low. A nonuniform air flow distribution causes unequal drying of the product; therefore, the position of shelves with the products must be periodically changed; that is, operation of the dryer is not optimal. It was revealed during numerical investigations that the use of variable inlet cross sections between the shelves gives more uniform air flow distribution. Numerically obtained air flow velocity distribution results between the shelves with the use of variable inlet cross sections were also justified experimentally.