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Abstract
Drying of spruce, beech, willow, and alder sawdust was examined in a laboratory type dryer. The effect of drying air temperature T (25, 60, and 80 °C) and airflow velocity v (0.01, 0.15, and 1.5 m/s) was investigated. The obtained results demonstrated that drying air temperature and airflow velocity have impacts on the drying of sawdust. The experimental dehydration data of sawdust obtained were fitted to theoretical, semi-theoretical, and empirical thin-layer models. The accuracies of the models were estimated using the correlation coefficient (R), root mean square error (RMSE), and reduced chi-square (χ2). All models except the theoretical model of a sphere described the drying characteristics of sawdust satisfactorily. The effect of T and v on the parameters (constants and coefficients) of the drying models were determined. The effect, by the proposed equations, was also described. This work combines aspects of mechanical engineering and modelling of the drying process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianjun Dai
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z3;
| | - Jean Saayman
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z3;
| | - John R. Grace
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z3;
| | - Naoko Ellis
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z3;
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