Effects of mixture parameters variation on the performance of corrugated plate dryer

Both experimental and theoretical works had been done to study the effects of mixture parameters on the performance of corrugated plate (CP) dryer. A water-air experimental branch had been established to simulate water-steam separation in a CP dryer. The effect of ambient relative humidity on the dryer experiment is analyzed. The diameter distribution of water droplets in air-water mixture at (CP) dryer entrance was measured by laser particle size analyzer. The effects of droplet diameter, moisture content and mixture flow velocity on the separation efficiency, pressure drop and the re-entrainment were studied. At the same time, a theoretical model for trajectory tracking of water particle in CP channel was established to illustrate experimental results. The conclusion shows that: 1) this effect of ambient relative humidity cannot be ignored or error could be introduced to experimental results. 2) The separation efficiency increases with the increase of inlet particle size, increases with the increase of inlet moisture content and increases first and then decreases with the increase of inlet velocity. 3) Critical airflow speed of re-entrainment decreases as the inlet moisture content increases. 4) The pressure drop is exponentially increasing with inlet airflow speed. Brief abstract: It was found that ignoring ambient humidity could introduce error to the separation efficiency in experiment, based on this understanding, the experimental study is conducted, concerning the performance variation of corrugated plate dryer when its mixture parameters change, such as droplets diameter, moisture content and flow velocity. A motion model is derived to track droplets trajectory and demonstrate the change law of separation efficiency, which is consistent with the experimental results. A droplet trajectory in a channel of corrugated plate dryer. [Display omitted] •Ignoring ambient humidity could introduce error to the experimental result.•Greater droplet diameter and moisture content improve separation efficiency.•Greater moisture content reduce critical speed.•Obtain particle size distribution of different nozzles.•A motion model to track droplets and demonstrate separation efficiency changing.