Drying of a wet porous material (Q1085745)

The authors present a mathematical model to describe the drying process of a wet porous material in the form of infinite bed of green pallets. Some of the assumptions made are: (i) Porous material has constant density and porosity. (ii) Drying gas is a mixture of air and steam. (iii) Drying is done under a constant pressure gradient. (iv) Only evaporation occurs and there is no recondensation of water vapour. (v) Porous material and the moisture are at the same temperature. The physical process is described by four nonlinear partial differential equations which are solved by finite difference method. A computer programme is also designed in Fortran 77 to present the results graphically. The model is illustrated by its application to drying of iron ore.