Editorial

A quarter century of successful existence and nearly sixfold growth in volume of published papers is a landmark accomplishment in any field. I am therefore especially delighted to present this special issue of Drying Technology to commemorate the 25th year of publication of this journal. The first two issues of this journal appeared in 1982–83 under the stewardship of our founding editor, Dr. Carl W. Hall. It is a reflection of Dr. Hall's exceptional vision that the journal was launched at a time when many senior researchers in the field were unsure whether the activity in this “new multidisciplinary field of drying” would be able to sustain the journal over the long haul. The IDS series was initiated in 1978 and had already had three highly successful runs before this journal published its first issue. This provided some degree of confidence in the initiative, but the fact that the journal grew continuously, and continues to do so even after 25 years, is a testament to the vision of the founding editor and the editorial team. I was fortunate to be associated with the journal right since its birth, for which I am grateful to Dr. Hall; he continues to mentor me and guide the journal ever since he stepped down as the editor and I took over the helm.

Thanks to IDS and the hard work of a large number of volunteers spanning all parts of the globe, we have reached a level of sustainability in drying R&D that was totally unexpected two decades ago. The manuscript flow to the journal has been rising without a break, although the distribution of authorship among various countries around the world has undergone major changes. The emerging economies have more than made up for the reduced activity in this field in the advanced nations. Countries rich in commodities have greater interests in developing and advancing drying technologies as a means of adding value and preservation of their produces. Thus, drying technologies serve a major humanitarian and social purpose around the world. Escalating energy costs will further enhance the need for advanced drying technologies, which should be more energy efficient, less polluting, safer, and able to deliver a higher quality product. I believe that use of renewable energy sources along with better drying equipment is the most desirable way to go. Thermal drying involves an intimate coupling between material science and transport phenomena, and in this important respect it differs from conventional heat and mass transport.

As with any other technological field, much of the R&D activity in the public domain is funded by governments and hence appears freely in journals such as Drying Technology and is presented at conferences such as the IDS and its sister series of conferences. For an applied multidisciplinary field like drying R&D, originality in academia is useful only if the eventual users of these new ideas for advanced technology utilize them. The objective of academic research in drying is not simply to provide a stepping-stone for further extension and another publication, but also to provide guidance in the development and operation of improved drying equipment. Often, this objective becomes distorted when the focus switches to citation by peers in yet other publications.

Transfer of technology is very important to drying R&D—indeed to all engineering and technology R&D—and all R&D personnel must engage in this activity to ensure that potential users are aware of and familiar with the new developments in drying technologies. Industry, too, needs to take on a proactive role as ultimately they are the main beneficiaries of such R&D. As I have written repeatedly in this journal and said at every opportunity at IDS and other conferences, industry–academia interaction is central to the eventual success of drying R&D. This journal and various conferences provide ready accessibility to the archival work of interest to industry and to academia involved in stretching the boundaries of what we know now. Industry can help this process by defining challenging R&D problems of interest and funding them as well demonstrating their ownership of the research performed. In such cases, technology transfer is easier and more likely to have mutual benefit.

Although much R&D is being performed around the world on various aspects of drying science, technology, and engineering, much remains to be done. More emphasis is required on developing fundamental understanding of drying at the microlevel, if not the nanolevel. Mathematical description of the complex transient coupled transport phenomena occurring during drying of a deformable material subject to a variety of boundary conditions is a daunting task. Experimental measurements and even observation of water transport at the microscale is also difficult but eminently feasible with the latest developments in microscopy. ^[1] This journal has indeed published from time to time short or extended articles identifying some important areas of drying in need of serious R&D effort. ^[2] I hope that such articles will give incentive to newcomers to the field as well as seasoned researchers seeking other fertile grounds for useful R&D to devote their attention to opportunities offered by gaps in our current knowledge.

This special issue consists of peer-reviewed papers specially invited on this occasion. I wish to thank all authors and especially our team of highly motivated (but overworked!) referees for their very significant contribution to this issue as well as the journal in general.

Publishing an archival peer-reviewed journal of this size with one issue per month on schedule and without a break is a monumental task. I could not have accomplished this without the very enthusiastic and high-caliber support of our distinguished editorial team and the efficient staff of our publisher, Taylor & Francis. The list of contributors is too numerous to list individually in the fear I may miss some important contributors. Our eminent guest editors have always contributed immensely to the success of the journal by sharing their highly specialized expertise in selected areas of our readers' interest, despite their very busy schedules. I am grateful to them for their outstanding contribution to the success and value of this journal.

In closing, I wish to thank our readership for continued support. I am sure we will continue to provide through this journal a valuable vehicle for industry and academia to disseminate and exchange peer-reviewed archival research results in the coming decade as well.