Experimental examination and theoretical modeling of drying behavior in the ram machine

Abstract

In this study, drying behavior of a ram machine, basically used for drying of textile products with hot air, was experimentally examined and the drying behavior was theoretically modeled by the first order kinetic model derived from Fick’s second law. The experimental study was carried out under real conditions in a 10-chamber ram machine. The experiments were carried out at three different drying air temperatures (110–130–150 °C) and three different fabrics feed rates (0.167–0.333–0.500 m/s) by using 95% cotton + 5% lycra content fabric. By utilizing the data obtained from the experiments, the evaporation amount, the non-dimensional humidity ratios, the heat and mass transfer coefficients and energy efficiency analysis occurring in each cabin were calculated. It was observed that the R² values varied from 0.9945 to 0.9994 by comparing the model and experimental data with the help of regression analysis. According to the values obtained from the experimental conditions, when the drying air temperature was increased from 110 °C to 130 °C, the heat convection coefficient increased by about 15–23% while the energy efficiency decreased by about 4%. In the same way, when the drying air temperature was increased from 130 °C to 150 °C, the heat convection coefficient increased by about 20–30% while the energy efficiency decreased by about 5%. In addition, it was concluded that the use of the first order kinetic model as a drying model in the ram machine was considerably suitable. With the presented results, both academic researchers and industrial researchers will be able to find explanatory ideas on the drying behavior of dried fabrics in the ram machines.

Keywords:

• Drying
• ram machine
• stenter machine
• theoretical modeling
• first order kinetic model