Abstract
In order to effectively increase the drying rate and reduce the energy consumption, a dryer which reduces the air humidity at the dryer inlet using desiccant and regenerates the desiccant by recovering waste heat using a heat pipe heat exchanger was developed in this study. Both the adsorption rate and desorption rate of the dryer were measured at several ambient temperatures ranging from 15 °C to 35 °C, relative humidity levels of air ranging from 20% to 85%, and airflow rates ranging from 30 m3/h to 150 m3/h. The results showed that the adsorption rate in an environment of high relative humidity of air was 4.89 times higher than that of low relative humidity of air at 15 °C. Moreover, the difference in adsorption rate between two given relative humidity of air increased as the ambient temperature decreased. The specific energy consumption estimated with both energy consumption during desorption and the desorption rate indicated that the energy consumption was 8.27 kJ/g H2O without using recovered heat, while the energy consumption was 4.77 kJ/g H2O using recovered heat at 130 °C.
Highlights
Dryers that commonly employ hot air to promptly remove moisture content at high operating temperature are widespread and used in many industrial processes
In order to reduce the negative impact of the ambient humidity on the dryer efficiency, a novel heat pipe-based desiccant device to dehumidify the air by adsorption was proposed and tested here
The desiccant device was tested under different conditions including varying air temperature, relative humidity of air, and airflow rate, as listed in Table 1, to realize their effects on the characteristics of adsorption and desorption
Summary
Dryers that commonly employ hot air to promptly remove moisture content at high operating temperature are widespread and used in many industrial processes. The air has to be heated at the traditional dryer inlet in order to increase the temperature and reduce the relative humidity of air, so that the water contained in the substance can be more vaporized because of the large gradient of water concentration between the hot air and the substance. Desiccant devices using silica gel as an absorbent have been widely used for dehumidification in many industrial areas [2] in addition to its use in air conditioning systems coupling with a heat source [3,4,5]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
