Energy xxx (2013) 1e8

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy

A model for the thermodynamic analysis in a batch type uidized bed

dryer
Emrah zahi a, *, Hacmurat Demir b,1
a
University of Gaziantep, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 27310 Gaziantep, Turkey
b
Aksaray University, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 68100 Aksaray, Turkey

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: An original model for thermodynamic analysis of a batch type uidized bed dryer is proposed herein
Received 9 March 2013 considering two separate systems comprised of drying air medium as a control volume and particles to
Received in revised form be dried as a control mass. By means of the proposed model, energetic and exergetic analyses of a drying
30 June 2013
column of a batch type uidized bed dryer are carried out as an original contribution to literature since
Accepted 1 July 2013
Available online xxx
there is no such like model in which the analyses are performed considering two separate systems. The
energetic efciencies evaluated by means of the proposed model using the data in literature are
compared with those in literature and a good conformity is satised with an acceptable error margin of
Keywords:
Fluidized bed dryer

9%. A new correlation is also developed with a mean deviation of
10% in order to evaluate the en-
Thermodynamic analysis ergetic efciency for not only corn drying process but also drying processes of other particles at inlet air
Energetic efciency temperature of 50  C. Effects of air mass ow rate, mass of particle and ambient temperature on ener-
Exergetic efciency getic and exergetic efciencies are analyzed and some concluding remarks are highlighted for further
Drying air studies.
Drying time 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction exceed certain drying temperatures. This is an important disad-

Drying is dened as a heat and mass transfer operation in order
to remove moisture from wet materials to satisfy a long shelf-life or
to facilitate further processing. Since drying is an energy intensive
phenomenon and there is a rapid increase in energy consumption
over last few years, it has become prime concern for optimum
conditions which lead to energy savings decreasing environment
impact such as air pollution during drying processes. Therefore
accurate determination of moisture transfer parameters for an
optimum drying operation is essential.
Easy controlling of continuous ow inside uidized bed,
providing homogenous drying, having higher efciencies of heat
and mass transfer when compared with other conventional drying
systems, having shorter drying time due to high thermal efciency
and having higher drying capacity are the most important advan-
tages of uidized bed dryers. All these advantages cause uidized
bed dryers to be more preferable dryers in industry. However,
considering ammability properties of material, it is unfavorable to
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 90 342 3601200/2517; fax: 90 342 3601104.
E-mail addresses: ozahi@gantep.edu.tr (E. zahi), hmdemir@aksaray.edu.tr
(H. Demir).
1
Tel.: 90 382 2882355; fax: 90 382 2802298.
vantage of uidized bed dryers. Using uidized bed operations
under vacuum pressures may be a way for eliminating this prob-
lem. Various types of uidized bed dryers have been studied for
industrial applications.
Conventional uidized bed dryers are classied into three main
groups as batch, semi-continuous and continuous uidized bed
dryers in terms of feeding and discharge process modes [1]. The
detailed classication of uidized bed dryers according to pro-
cessing mode, particle ow regime, operating pressure and tem-
perature, heat supply etc. can be found in the study of Mujumdar
[1]. In general, batch operation is preferred for small-scale pro-
duction and for heat sensitive materials. The process conditions are
easily selected in batch drying and the product has uniform quality
due to homogeneity of the bed at any instant. However, in
continuous operation, product from a dryer under steady-state
conditions corresponds in its properties.
Some studies have been conducted on thermodynamic analyses
of drying process [2e10]. However, the detailed literature survey
points out that there are still some gaps in terms of thermodynamic
analyses of uidized bed drying systems because of a variety of
system types, a variety of particles to be dried and of drying process
conditions.
Hajidavalloo and Hamdullahpur [2] conducted an experimental
investigation for drying of wheat verifying the validity of the

0360-5442/$ e see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2013.07.001

Please cite this article in press as: zahi E, Demir H, A model for the thermodynamic analysis in a batch type uidized bed dryer, Energy (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2013.07.001
2 E. zahi, H. Demir / Energy xxx (2013) 1e8

mathematical model developed in their previous study. The
agreement of model prediction and experimental data showed that
the model was fully predictable for drying of other materials in the
uidized bed with no restriction in the range of operational con-
ditions such as the air temperature and the relative humidity.
Nazghelichi et al. [3] performed energy and exergy analyses of
uidized bed drying of carrot cubes. Their results showed that small
particles, deep beds and high inlet air temperatures increased en-
ergy utilization, energy utilization ratio, and exergy loss due to high
value of heat and mass transfer.
Diner [4] analyzed energetic, exergetic and environmental as-
pects of drying systems giving illustrative examples. Exergy was
found to be an appropriate technique in order to improve the goal
of more efcient energy-resource use and to be one of the most
powerful tools in addressing and solving environmental problems
for design and analysis of drying systems.
Syahrul et al. [5e8] carried out a thermodynamic analysis of
uidized bed drying process in order to optimize process condi-
tions considering inlet air temperature, uidization velocity and
initial moisture content on energy and exergy efciencies for
different materials. They found a good agreement between the
experimental data and the model predictions.
Diner and Sahin [9] presented a new model for thermody-
namics analysis of a drying process considering mass, energy and
exergy balance equations. They derived exergy efciencies as a
function of heat and mass transfer parameters. They stated that the
presented model could be useful in order to optimize design of
drying systems and their components and to identify proper ap-
plications and optimal congurations for drying systems.
Diner [10] analyzed efciencies of energy and exergy of drying
systems in terms of performance evaluation. He stated that higher
air mass ow rate resulted in less energy and exergy efciencies as
the input energy/exergy of the system increased while the outlet
energy/exergy remained constant. Furthermore, it was seen that
both energy and exergy efciencies decreased with increasing inlet
air temperature since the properties of other points were assumed
unaltered.
Recently Aghbashlo et al. [11] reviewed the studies related to
exergy analysis in drying operations and identied some prospects
for future researches. They noticed that exergy analysis had been
already applied for few number of drying systems.
As can be understood from the literature survey, there are some
proposed models for thermodynamic analyses of drying processes.
However, in this paper, a new model is proposed for energetic and
exergetic analyses of batch type uidized bed drying process
considering two separate systems as a different methodology.
2. Utilized model for thermodynamic analyses of batch type
uidized bed dryer
The most important component of a uidized bed dryer system
is known as a drying column in which hydrodynamics and ther-
modynamics interactions take place. Hence the modeling of drying
column in batch type uidized bed dryer which is represented in
Fig. 1 is the scope of this paper.
For thermodynamic analysis of a batch type uidized bed dryer,
a new model is proposed as is seen in Fig. 1. The originality of the
proposed model can be pronounced such that the process in the
drying column is handled as two separate systems consisted of a
control volume for the drying air stream and a control mass for the
particles to be dried. The mass balance and the energy-exergy an-
alyses are performed separately for both proposed systems.
Therefore heat and mass transfers between these two systems can
be well-understood analyzing them separately. Then unique ana-
lyses for both energetic and exergetic efciencies are carried out
considering the whole drying column.
2.1. Mass balance
The physical law concerning the conservation of mass says that
mass cannot be created or destroyed. This statement can be rep-
resented mathematically considering all masses ow into and out
of control volume and the net increase of mass within the control
volume [12]. The general expression for mass balance can be

Moist air
(Air + water vapor)
CV1: control volume (open system) for drying air stream

e CV2: control mass (closed system) for particles to be dried

FBD FBD
+

i State 1
1) Wet particle (particle + liquid water)
Drying air State 2
(Air + water vapor)
2) Dried particle (particle + liquid water)

(Control Volume) (Control Mass)

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the drying column model.

Please cite this article in press as: zahi E, Demir H, A model for the thermodynamic analysis in a batch type uidized bed dryer, Energy (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2013.07.001
 E. zahi, H. Demir / Energy xxx (2013) 1e8 3

written as Rate of change in  out for particles, dry air and the drying air stream to the particles and the second one is Q_ loss1 to
water vapor inside the atmospheric drying air as follows; the surrounding.
Mass balance for particles to be dried in the control mass:
Q_ loss1  Q_ dry m
_ a he  m
_ a hi (4c)
Particle : mp1 mp2 mp (1a)
The specic enthalpy of water vapor inside the air stream can be
Mass balance for drying air stream in the control volume: approximated as the specic enthalpy of saturated vapor at the
Considering steady state single inlet and single exit ow; related temperature as follows;

Air : 0 m _ ai  m
_ ae hi hai ui hvi yhai ui hgi@T (5a)
_ ai m_ ae m _a (1b)
m i

he hae ue hve yhae ue hge@Te (5b)

dmw2 mw1
Water : ui m
_ a  ue m
_a
dt
(1c) It can be appropriate to dene the dry air as an ideal gas hence
mw1 mw2
Dt
_ a ue  ui
m the change in the specic enthalpies of the air stream at the inlet
and exit of the drying column can be written as;
where the absolute humidity, u is dened as;
Q_ loss1  Q_ dry m _ a ue hge  m
_ a hae m _ a ui hgi
_ a hai  m
  (6a)
u
mass of water vapor

mw
(2) yma cpav Te  Ti ma ue hge  ui hgi
_ _
mass of dry air ma
 
Q_ dry Qloss1  m _ a ue hge  ui hgi
_ a cpav Te  Ti  m (6b)
2.2. Energy balance
Energy balance for particles to be dried in the control mass:
In the proposed model, the energy balance for the particles to be
The rst law of thermodynamics related on the conservation of
dried inside the dryer column is written by applying the rst law of
energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed however
thermodynamics for control mass as can be seen from Eq. (7a);
it only changes its form. The energy balance for the dryer column in
the batch type uidized bed dryer can be written by applying the dEcv
rst law of thermodynamics considering the air stream in the Q_  W
_ (7a)
dt
control volume and the particles to be dried in the control mass in
terms of two separate analyses. In the energy balance, all kinetic There are two different types of heat transfer for the particles to
and potential energies can be neglected in order to simplify the be dried in the control mass. Herein one is Q_ dry which is transferred
analyses. from the drying air stream to the particles and the other is the heat
Energy balance for drying air stream in the control volume: loss to the surrounding from the particles, Q_ loss2 . The sign of Q_ dry is
The specic enthalpy and pressure of drying air are dened as now opposite to that in the energy analysis of the drying air stream.
follows;
dEcv
Q_ dry  Q_ loss2 (7b)
h ha uhv (3a) dt
However Q_ loss2 is predicted to be very small when compared
P Pa Pv (3b) with Q_ loss1 because of the higher amount of forced convection heat
transfer from the drying air stream to the surrounding as follows;
The ratio of partial pressure of water vapor, Pv to saturation
pressure of vapor, Pg at instantaneous temperature of drying air
Q_ loss2 << Q_ loss1 (7c)
stream, Tmix is given as relative humidity, f as follows;

f
Pv Q_ loss Q_ loss1 Q_ loss2 yQ_ loss1 (7d)
(3c)
Pg@Tmix
The change in the total energy for the control mass of the par-
The energy transfer through the control volume is due to the ticles in the drying column is composed of the internal energy
enthalpy of drying air stream, h at the inlet and exit of the drying change of the particles and of the liquid water inside the particles as
column, heat loss from the drying column to the surrounding, Q_ loss is given in Eq. (8a);
and heat transfer from the air stream to the particles to be dried,  
Q_ dry which also includes the evaporation heat transfer for the d mp u2  u1 mw2 ul2  mw1 ul1
Q_ dry (8a)
phase change of water inside the particles. Therefore the energy dt
balance for drying air stream is utilized in general form as;
The specic internal energies of the liquid water inside the par-
X X ticles can be approximated as those of saturated liquid water at the
dEcv
Q_  W
_ _ i hi 
m _ e he
m (4a) related temperatures. Also the change in the specic internal energy
dt
of the particles can be dened by means of the specic heat, initial
For steady state single inlet and single exit drying air stream and and nal temperatures of the solid particles. Therefore the energy
considering that there is neither any kind of external work inter- equation for the particles to be dried is given below in the nal form;
acting through the control volume nor boundary work, Eq. (4a) is  
reduced to; _ mp cav T2p  T1p mw2 ul2  mw1 ul1
Q dry (8b)
Dt
Q_ m _ i hi
_ e he  m (4b)
The magnitude of Q_ dry which has been previously derived for
The heat transfer for the control volume of the uidized bed the drying air stream in the control volume (Eq. (6b)) is also equal
dryer column occurs in two ways such that one of them is Q_ dry from to that in Eq. (8b).

Please cite this article in press as: zahi E, Demir H, A model for the thermodynamic analysis in a batch type uidized bed dryer, Energy (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2013.07.001
4 E. zahi, H. Demir / Energy xxx (2013) 1e8

2.3. Exergy balance    

T0 T
1 Q_ dry  1  0 Q_ loss m _ a cpav Ti  Te
Tp;av Tb
Exergy is known as useful work potential of energy, and thus  
m_ a ui hgi  ue hge
the total exergy of the drying column is consisted of the exergies   (11)
of all forms of energy it contains. The exergetic analysis is T P
m_ a T0 cpav ln e  Rln e
performed for both drying air stream and particles to be dried as Ti Pi
 
control volume and control mass analyses, respectively. m_ a T u sg  ue sg  T S_ gen
0 i i e 0 1
There is no exergy associated with kinetic and potential
energies because of the negligible effects of these energies in where
the system.
 
Exergy Balance for drying air stream in the control volume: Q_ Q_ dry T P
Nature of exergy is opposite to nature of energy such that exergy S_ gen1 loss _ a cpav ln e  Rln e ue sge  ui sgi
m
Tb Tp;av Ti Pi
can be destroyed and cannot be created again. Change in exergy for
control volume is difference between net exergy transfer due to (12)
mass ow, heat and work through system boundary and exergy Exergy balance for particles to be dried in the control mass:
destroyed within system boundary due to irreversibilities or en- The exergy change of the particles to be dried as control mass
tropy generation in other words. is equal to the difference between the net exergy transfer
through the system boundary and the exergy destroyed within
    the system boundary as a result of irreversibilities. Herein for the
Change in total exergy Total exergy
particles, the exergy transfer through the system boundary is
of the system entering
  only due to the Q_ dry transferred from the air stream to the par-
Total exergy ticles. There is no change in kinetic and potential energies for the

leaving control mass. Moreover, the exergy associated with work be-
 
Total exergy comes zero since there is not any kind of work through the

destroyed system.
   
dEx2  Ex1 T _  P dV2  V1  T S_ gen
dEx2  Ex1 cv S 1  0 Q_ k  W 0 0
_
Ex _ _ _ dt Tk dt 2
heat  Exwork Exmass;in  Exmass;out
dt (13a)
_
 Ex destroyed The particles to be dried in the control mass are composed of the
(9a) dry substance and the liquid water within it. Hence Eq. (13a) be-
comes to;
dEx2  Ex1 cv X   

T
1  0 Q_ k  W _  P dV2  V1 mp u2  u1 P0 v2  v1  T0 s2  s1 
0
dt Tk dt Dt 
X X
    
mi ji 
_ _ _
me je  Exdestroyed mw2 ul2  u0 P0 vl2  v0  T0 sl2  s0

(9b)
  
Dt   
mw1 ul1  u0 P0 vl1  v0  T0 sl1  s0
Due to the steady state ow and no moving boundary or no 
 
Dt
other work in the proposed system, Eq. (9b) becomes to;
T0
1 Q_ dry  T0 S_ gen2 (13b)
  X X Tp;av
T
0 S 1  0 Q_ k _ i ji 
m m _
_ e je  Ex destroyed (9c) Because of the dry part of the particle as incompressible sub-
Tk
stance, there is no change in the specic volume. On the other
    hand, the liquid water within the particle has no signicant
T T
0  1  0 Q_ loss  1  0 Q_ dry m _ a hi  he change in specic volume due to a little change in the specic
Tb Tp;av volume of the liquid water with the initial and nal states, which
T m_ a s  se  T S_ gen
0 i 0 1
(9d) can be treated as incompressible substance. Hence Eq. (13b) is
reduced to;
With the assumption of dry air as an ideal gas, the change in h  i
 T2p
enthalpy and entropy for the entering and leaving air stream mp cav T2p  T1p  T0 cav ln T1p
through the drying column can be written as follows;


Dt   
mw2 ul2  u0  T0 sl2  s0
_ a hi  he m
m _ a hai m _ a ui hgi  m _ a ue hge
_ a hae  m
m _ a hai  hae m _ a ui hgi  ue hge  (10a)

D
t
 
m _ a cpav Ti  Te m _ a ui hgi  ue hge mw1 ul1  u0  T0 sl1  s0

 
Dt
T0
_ a si  se m
m _ a sai m _ a ui sgi  m _ a ue sg e
_ a sae  m 1 Q_ dry  T0 S_ gen2 (14)
Tp;av
 
m _ a sai  sae m _ a ui sg i  ue sg e (10b)
   where
m _ a cpav ln TTe  Rln PPe m _ a ui sgi  ue sge
i i
T2p
Q_ dry mp cav ln mw2 sl2  mw1 sl1
S_ gen2 
T1p
Therefore the exergy balance for the drying air stream becomes (15)
to; Tp;av Dt

Please cite this article in press as: zahi E, Demir H, A model for the thermodynamic analysis in a batch type uidized bed dryer, Energy (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2013.07.001
 E. zahi, H. Demir / Energy xxx (2013) 1e8 5

100 energetic efciency of the drying column can be derived as the ratio
Experimental data in [7], Ti=50 C of the rate of the energy transferred to the particles to the rate of
90 the energy supplied by the drying air, which is given as the
Experimental data in [2], Ti= 50 C
following expression;
80 Present model using data in [2, 7]

70 The rate of energy transferred to the particles

he
The rate of energy supplied by the drying air
60  
mp cav T2p  T1p mw2 ul2  mw1 ul1

  (17)
50 Eq. (19) m_ a cpav Te  Ti ue hge  ui hgi Dt
40
30
2.5. Exergetic efciency
20
Energy analysis involves no information about irreversibility
10
aspects of thermodynamics process through a system. Therefore
0 energetic efciency analysis is solely useless without any consid-
0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1 eration of exergy aspect. Exergetic analysis gives an insight to
irreversibility concept and provides opportunity for minimizing
MC (t )/MC i exergy losses in designed systems. In the presented model analysis,
the exergetic efciency for the drying column is described as the
Fig. 2. Comparison of the evaluated energetic efciency obtained from the proposed
ratio of the exergy rate of the particles to be dried to the exergy rate
model with the data in Refs. [2,7] in terms of normalized moisture content.
of the drying air stream such as;

The exergy rate of particles 1  TT0b Q_ dry
Substituting Eq. (11) into Eq. (14), the exergy balance for the
The exergy rate of drying air _ a he  hi  T0 se  si 
m
whole drying column is found as follows eliminating the exergy
(18a)
associated with Q_ dry in the equation;


  
1  TT0b mp cav T2p  T1p mw2 ul2  mw1 ul1
h     i (18b)
Dt m _ a ue hge  ui hgi  m
_ a cpav Te  Ti m _ a T0 cpav ln TTe  Rln PPe  m
i i
_ a T0 ue sge  ui sgi

h   i
T2p
mp cav T2p  T1p  T0 cav ln T1p 3. Results and discussion

 Dt   
mw2 ul2  u0  T0 sl2  s0 In this paper, the proposed model is veried using some


 Dt  
experimental data available in the literature [2,7]. The energetic
mw1 ul1  u0  T0 sl1  s0 efciency, he with respect to the normalized moisture content,
 MC(t)/MCi and the exergetic efciency, with respect to the
  Dt ambient temperature, T0 and air mass ow rate, m _ a are analyzed
T0 _  
 1 Q loss m_ a cpav Ti  Te m_ a ui hgi  ue hge using the proposed model and the data available in the literature.
Tb
  Fig. 2 shows the comparison of the energetic efciency, he evalu-
T P  
m_ a T0 cpav ln e  R ln e  m _ a T0 ui sgi  ue sge ated by means of the proposed model and the data in Refs. [2,7]
Ti Pi
0 1 using Eq. (17) with the experimental data available in the litera-
ture [2,7] for the corn drying at T 50  C. Also, the experimental
B C
 T0 @ S_ gen1 S_ gen2 A data in Refs. [2,7] and the evaluated ones in terms of energetic ef-
|{z} ciency were plotted with respect to MC(t)/MCi. As can be noticed,
S_ gen;tot there is a good agreement between the data evaluated using the
(16) proposed model and the experimental data in Refs. [2,7] with a
common relationship. The variations of the energetic efciencies
are analyzed in terms of the normalized moisture content, MC(t)/
MCi which is the ratio of instantaneous to initial moisture contents.
2.4. Energetic efciency There is a good conformity between the evaluated data in Eq. (17)
and the experimental data in Refs. [2,7] with a mean deviation of
The performance of a uidized bed dryer is strongly dependent
9%. This conformity veries the accuracy and usefulness of the
on efcient use of energy which results in efciency analyses. En- proposed model. It can be seen from the gure that energetic ef-
ergetic efciency is based on the rst law of thermodynamics. The ciency of a uidized bed dryer decreases dramatically during

Please cite this article in press as: zahi E, Demir H, A model for the thermodynamic analysis in a batch type uidized bed dryer, Energy (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2013.07.001
6 E. zahi, H. Demir / Energy xxx (2013) 1e8

process when the instantaneous moisture content of particles to be 70

dried is decreased. It is a natural phenomenon that efciency is [4], (Corn, mp=0.7 kg)
directly proportional to moisture content of particles. Instanta- Present model, (Corn, mp=1.399 kg)
60
neous nal mass of water inside particle, mw2 which decreases
Present model, (Corn, mp=2.098 kg)
during any drying process results in a decrease of energetic ef-
ciency as can be understood from Eq. (17). 50 Present model, (Corn, mp=2.448 kg)

Besides this, by using the same approach in Refs. [2,7], a new

expression is proposed for evaluation of energetic efciency in 40
terms of normalized moisture content for corn drying at the inlet
air temperature of Ti 50  C with a mean deviation of
10% as 30
follows;
20
he 0:0037 exp10:46MCt=MCi (19)
This expression may provide a practical use for estimation of
10
energetic efciency of a batch type uidized bed dryer using
normalized moisture content of corn particles to be dried at the 0
inlet air temperature of Ti 50  C. For any other particles, the same 260 270 280 290 300 310 320
correlation study may be performed and different expressions,
however in the same trend, may be found in order to estimate T o (K)
energetic efciency using experimentally evaluated normalized
Fig. 3. Variation of exergetic efciency with respect to the ambient temperatures at
moisture content. different particle masses.
In addition to energetic analysis, exergetic analysis plays an
important role in a uidized bed drying to estimate optimum
operating conditions and effects of irreversibility aspects. Hence
the exergetic efciency analysis is performed using the proposed
model. The exergetic efciencies are evaluated at the different 20
ambient temperatures by means of the experimental data in Ref. [2] Present model using the data in [2, 7] at
used in Eq. (18b) as is seen in Table 1. It is observed that the
18 To=-9 C
To=15 C
magnitude of the exergetic efciency for the corn drying process in 16 To=22 C
Ref. [2] changes signicantly at the different ambient conditions. To=25 C
The exergetic efciency is seen to be decreased when the ambient To=36 C
14 To=40 C
temperature is increased. This behavior also seems to be the same
for all other particles to be dried such that exergetic efciency is 12
decreased when ambient temperature, T0 is increased indepen-
10
dently of particle type as can be understood from Eq. (18b).
The exergetic efciency is also analyzed for the different mass of 8
particles at the different ambient temperatures using the proposed
model and the data in Ref. [2] as is seen in Fig. 3. The increase in the 6
amount of the mass of particles results in an increase in the exer-
getic efciency at all ambient temperatures as can be observed 4
from the gure. Hence amount of mass of particle plays a favorable
2
role in exergetic efciency. It is also seen once more that the
exergetic efciency tends to decrease with an increase of the 0
ambient temperature for all amounts of mass of particles.
0 0,01 0,02 0,03 0,04 0,05 0,06 0,07
On the other hand, the effect of air mass ow rate is also found
to be signicant on the exergetic efciency as well as the effect of
the mass of particles. The variation of the exergetic efciency with Fig. 4. Variation of exergetic efciency with respect to air mass ow rates at different
respect to air mass ow rate is investigated at the different ambient ambient temperatures.
temperatures using the proposed model and the data in Ref. [2] as is

Table 1
The variations of evaluated exergetic efciency at different ambient temperatures using the proposed model and the experimental data in [2,7].

T0 ( C) T0 (K) mp (kg) mw1 (kg) mw2 (kg) _ a (kg/s)

m Ti (K) Te (K) ui (kg H2O/kg dry air) ue (kg H2O/kg dry air) Dt (s) (%)

9 264 0.7 0.3 0.18 0.00278 333 328 0.015 0.027 3600 18.63
5 268 16.39
3 270 15.28
0 273 13.69
5 278 11.17
10 283 8.83
15 288 6.71
22 295 4.12
25 298 3.16
28 301 2.31
36 309 0.59
40 313 0.08

Please cite this article in press as: zahi E, Demir H, A model for the thermodynamic analysis in a batch type uidized bed dryer, Energy (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2013.07.001
 E. zahi, H. Demir / Energy xxx (2013) 1e8 7

seen in Fig. 4. There is a drastically decrease in the exergetic ef- Nomenclature

ciency when the air mass ow rate is increased. Moreover the
variation characteristics of the exergetic efciency in terms of air c particle specic heat, kJ/kg K
mass ow rate is almost the same at the ambient temperature cpav average specic heat of air, kJ/kg K
ranges between T0 9  C and T0 0  C; T0 5  C and T0 15  C; D diameter of uidized bed column and pipeline, m
T0 22  C and T0 28  C and at the conditions of T0 36  C, E total energy content, kJ
T0 40  C. Therefore the effects of air mass ow rate and mass of h specic enthalpy, kJ/kg
particles are found to be more signicant than the effect of ambient ha specic enthalpy of drying air, kJ/kg
air temperature as is also seen in Figs. 3 and 4. It can be stated that hv specic enthalpy of water vapor, kJ/kg
exergetic efciency tends to decrease when air mass ow rate is mp mass of particle, kg
increased and/or mass of particles to be dried is decreased, which mw mass of water, kg
can be veried by means of Eq. (18b). As a result of the proposed m_ mass ow rate, kg/s
model and correlation study using the experimental data in the m_a air mass ow rate, kg/s
literature, it can be declared that both energetic and exergetic ef- m_w water mass ow rate, kg/s
ciencies are strongly depend on air mass ow rate, mass and MC(t) instantaneous moisture content, kgwater/kgdry particle
moisture content of particle to be dried and also ambient temper- MCi initial moisture content, kgwater/kgdry particle
ature as well as other drying parameters such as boundary tem- P total pressure of atmospheric air, kPa
perature, pressure and particle temperature at inlet and exit of Pa partial pressure of dry air, kPa
dryer column. The effects of these drying parameters can easily be Pg saturation pressure of vapor, kPa
understood from the proposed efciency expressions. Pv partial pressure of water vapor, kPa
Q_ net heat transfer rate, kW
4. Conclusion Q_ dry heat transfer rate from the air stream for drying of
particles which also includes the evaporation heat
In this paper, a thermodynamic analysis in terms of mass, en- transfer for the phase change of water inside the
ergy and exergy balance in a batch type uidized bed dryer col- particles, kW
umn is performed. A new original model is proposed for energetic Q_ loss heat loss rate from the drying column to the
and exergetic analyses of both drying air stream and particles to surrounding, kW
be dried separately. The thermodynamic analyses of the drying Q_ loss1 heat loss rate from the air stream to the surrounding, kW
column proposing two separate systems of a control volume for Q_ loss2 heat loss rate from the particles to the surrounding, kW
drying air ow and a control mass for particles to be dried provide R gas constant, J/mol K
a novel contribution to the available literature since there is no s specic entropy, kJ/kg K
more such like study. As a result of the proposed model, new S total entropy, kJ/K
expressions for the energetic and exergetic efciencies are derived S_ gen total entropy generation rate, kW/K
as an original insight. The validity of the proposed model is veri- S_ gen1 entropy generation rate for air stream, kW/K
ed using the experimental data in Refs. [2,7] and a good con- S_ gen entropy generation rate for particle, kW/K
2
formity between the model and the experimental data in Refs. t time, s
[2,7] is found with a mean deviation of
9%. The variations of T temperature, K
the energetic efciencies are compared in terms of the normalized Tb boundary temperature, K
moisture content, MC(t)/MCi and a correlation is proposed with a Tmix temperature of drying air stream, K
mean deviation of
10% in order to estimate the energetic ef- Tp particle temperature, K
ciency for the corn drying process at the inlet air temperature of T0 ambient temperature, K
50  C. Similar expressions with Eq. (19) are also thought to be u specic internal energy, kJ/kg
useful tools for estimation of energetic efciencies for all other v specic volume, m3/kg
particles to be dried. V volume, m3
As a deduction, some concluding remarks can be outlined by W _ power, kW
means of the proposed model and methodology as follows; Ex exergy transfer, kJ
_
Ex destroyed rate of exergy destroyed within the system, kW
1) A decrease of instantaneous moisture content causes a _
Ex rate of exergy transfer by heat, kW
heat
decrease in energetic efciency of uidized bed drying. _ mass
Ex rate of exergy transfer by mass ow, kW
2) Exergetic analysis is essential in order to estimate optimum _
Ex rate of exergy transfer by work, kW
work
drying conditions considering irreversibilities besides of ener-
getic efciency. Exergetic analysis can be said to be a very
Greek letters
useful tool, which has been broadly used in the design and
performance analysis of energy-related systems especially
Dt drying time, s
exergetic efciency
drying systems.
3) Exergetic efciency is found to decrease when ambient tem-
he energetic efciency
4 relative humidity
perature is increased.
4) Exergetic efciency is increased when amount of mass of par-
j specic exergy, kJ/kg
ticle is increased at all ambient temperatures.
u absolute humidity
5) Effect of air mass ow rate has signicant role on exergetic
efciency. There is a dramatic decrease in exergetic efciency Subscripts
when air mass ow rate is increased. a air
6) It can be stated that effects of air mass ow rate and mass of av average
particle are more signicant than that of ambient air cm control mass
temperature. cv control volume

Please cite this article in press as: zahi E, Demir H, A model for the thermodynamic analysis in a batch type uidized bed dryer, Energy (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2013.07.001
8 E. zahi, H. Demir / Energy xxx (2013) 1e8

e exit [7] Syahrul S, Hamdullahpur F, Dincer I. Thermal analysis in uidized bed drying
of moist particles. Appl Therm Eng 2002;22:1763e75.
g saturated vapor state
[8] Syahrul S, Dincer I, Hamdullahpur F. Thermodynamic modelling of uidized
i inlet bed drying of moist particles. Int J Therm Sci 2003;42:691e701.
l liquid [9] Dincer I, Sahin AZ. A new model for thermodynamic analysis of a drying
p particle process. Int J Heat Mass Tran 2004;47:645e52.
[10] Dincer I. Exergy as a potential tool for sustainable drying systems. Sustainable
v vapor Cities Soc 2011;1:91e6.
w water [11] Aghbashlo M, Mobli H, Raee S, Madadlou A. A review on exergy analysis of
0 dead state drying processes and systems. Renew Sust Energy Rev 2013;22:1e22.
[12] engel YA, Boles MA. Thermodynamics: an engineering approach. 3rd ed. NJ:
1 initial state McGraw-Hill; 1998.
2 nal state
Emrah zahi was born in Gaziantep, Turkey in 1979. He graduated as a Mechanical
Engineer from University of Gaziantep in 2002. He has M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in
References Mechanical Engineering from University of Gaziantep in 2006 and 2011, respectively.
He is now working as an Assistant Professor at University of Gaziantep, Department of
[1] Mujumdar AS. Handbook of industrial drying. 3rd ed. New York: Marcel Mechanical Engineering. His main research interests are Flow Dynamics in Pipelines,
Dekker; 2006. Flow Dynamics in Packed and Fluidized Beds, Flow Measurement and Calibration,
[2] Hajidavalloo E, Hamdullahpur F. Thermal analysis of a uidized bed drying Uncertainty Analysis of Experimental Measurements, Unsteady-Pulsatile Flow Dy-
process for crops part II: experimental results and model verication. Int J namics, Flow Meters, Two-Phase Flows, Fluidized Bed Drying and Thermodynamic
Energy Res 2000;24:809e20. Analysis. He has some articles in these elds.
[3] Nazghelichi T, Kianmehr MH, Aghbashlo M. Thermodynamic analysis of
uidized bed drying of carrot cubes. Energy 2010;35:4679e84.
[4] Dincer I. On energetic, exergetic and environmental aspects of drying systems. Hacmurat Demir was born in Ig dr, Turkey in 1987. He graduated as a Mechanical
Int J Energy Res 2002;26:717e27. Engineer from University of Gaziantep in 2012. He is a M.Sc. student now in Me-
[5] Syahrul S, Hamdullahpur F, Dincer I. Energy analysis in uidized bed drying of chanical Engineering in University of Gaziantep. He is working as a Research Assistant
large wet particles. Int J Energy Res 2002;26:507e25. in Aksaray University, Department of Mechanical Engineering. His main research in-
[6] Syahrul S, Hamdullahpur F, Dincer I. Exergy analysis of uidized bed drying of terests are Flow Dynamics in Fluidized Beds, Flow Measurement and Calibration,
moist particles. Exergy Int J 2002;2:87e98. Uncertainty Analysis of Experimental Measurements and Fluidized Bed Drying.

Please cite this article in press as: zahi E, Demir H, A model for the thermodynamic analysis in a batch type uidized bed dryer, Energy (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2013.07.001