Numerical investigation of wood drying

Abstract

In this study, forced convective drying process of wood material with rectangular shape was investigated. Firstly, governing equations for the flow field were solved by using ANSYS Fluent. Then average heat transfer coefficient on the surface was calculated by using Standard k-epsilon Turbulence Model. It was found that mass transfer coefficient making use of the relationship between heat and mass transfer. Simultaneous heat and mass transfer equations were solved transiently with Comsol Multiphysics using surface boundary conditions for selected air velocity, air temperature and material thickness. In drying process the moisture and temperature distributions inside the solid were obtained transiently. The mathematical model for equations was formed using Fourier heat and Fick diffusion models. Results acquired from the present model were compared with a study results which are available in literature and it was shown a very good agreement.