DRYING AND HUMIDIFICATION

Amboang, Novieniel M.

Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology

MSU- Iligan Institue of Technology, Philippines

DRYING
Drying is the process wherein there is the “final removal of water”. In this procedure, the
goal is for the solvent to evaporate while being exposed to a certain temperature that is below the
solvent’s boiling point. It is important to remember also that in applying heat for the purpose of
drying, the temperature must be controlled and monitored as too high a temperature may lead to
chemical degradation. Additionally, the variables that must be paid attention, too, are the free
moisture content, the rate of drying, the kilograms (kg) of the dry solid, and the exposed area that
is available for drying. Furthermore, we also have two forms of moisture—bound moisture and
free moisture—with the former being the solvent that is retained after evaporation, and the latter
being the absorbed water and/or the moisture that coats the surface. Lastly, “based on the
mechanism of heat transfer that is employed, drying is categorized into direct (convection),
indirect or contact (conduction), radiant (radiation) and dielectric or microwave (radio
frequency) drying” (www.chemengonline.com).

Drying Equipment
A. Dryers for Solids and Pastes
1. Tray Dryer
– A rectangular chamber of metal sheet that has two supporting trucks
for racks, and each rack is able to carry a number of shallow trays that
contain the material that needs to be dried.
2. Screen Conveyor Dryers
- A travelling metal screen carries the material to be dried through a long
drying chamber, and this chamber consists of separate sections and each
having its own fan and air heater.
3. Tower Dryers
- Composed of a central rotating shaft with a series of circular trays mounted
one on top of the other, and solid feed is dropped on the topmost tray is
exposed to a stream of hot air or gas that passes across the tray.
Consequently, the solid is then scrapped off and dropped to the tray below,
and the flow of solids and gas may be either parallel or counter-current
4. Rotary Dryers
- A revolving cylindrical shell, either horizontal or slightly inclined toward
the outlet, and these are heated by means of direct contact of gas with the
solids, by hot gas passing through an external jacket, or by steam
condensing in a set of longitudinal tubes mounted on the inner surface of
the shell.
5. Screw Conveyor Dryers
- an example of an indirect-heat dryer, and is a paddle conveyor that is
enclosed in a cylindrical jacketed shell; these are mainly used for solids that
 may be too sticky or too fine for rotary dryers hence they are enclosed and
allow solvent vapor recovery with little to no air dilution.
6. Fluid Bed Dryers
- Air or gas fluidize the solid particles in a boiling-bed unit, and the mixing
and heat transfer are very rapid and the wet feed is admitted at the top of the
feed and the dry product is taken out from the bottom side of the dryer.
7. Flash Dryers
- A few seconds of hot gas steam is treated to the wet and pulverized solid,
and this particular dryer is applicable to more sensitive materials that cannot
stand direct contact to the heat.

B. Dryers for Solutions and Slurries

1. Spray Dryers
- A mist of fine droplets is produced from the dispersion of a slurry or liquid
solution into a stream of hot gas; the residuals that are left after the
evaporation of the moisture is then separated from the gas stream.
2. Thin Film Dryers
- Relatively expensive but compensates for its competitiveness with spray
dryers.
3. Drum Dryers
- A thin layer of liquid is evaporated to dryness by means of one or more
heated rolls on the outside. Once drying is completed, the dried solid is
scraped off of the rollers.

HUMIDIFICATION
Basically, humidification is the addition of water vapor, or moisture, to the air therefore
this process involves the transfer of the material between a pure liquid phase and fixed gas which
is nearly insoluble. However, the pure humidification is not possible in actual process since the
said procedure is almost, if not always, accompanied by cooling or heating of air. Furthermore,
this humidification process along with cooling or heating is used in a number of air-conditioning
applications. Moreover, “the cooling and humidification process is also used in various industries
like textile, where certain level of temperature and moisture content has to be maintained. In such
cases large quantity of water is sprayed, and large blowers are used to blow the air over the spray
of water” (Bright Hub Engineering, 2019).

Humidifying Equipment
1. Steam Humidifiers
- Or isothermal humidifiers, and this equipment add moisture to the air without the
change in dry bulb temperature. Furthermore, the steam is created through an
external means such as a gas-fired boiler or an electric boiler, and the steam is
directly injected into the air stream.
2. Evaporative Humidifiers
- Or adiabatic humidifiers, and this equipment adds moisture to air without a change
in enthalpy. Additionally, this kind of humidifier does not require external energy
unlike the steam humidifier; rather, it works by means of blowing air over water or
through water droplets.