It is a great pleasure for me to participate in this 25th anniversary issue of Drying Technology, which is a unique premier journal for the world drying community. On the occasion of this jubilee I would like to outline the historical background of the drying discipline and the climate under which the journal was founded.
Many drying operations have their origin in antiquity, when materials of basic human needs were exposed to the sun and wind to bring them to a proper state. At the beginning of the last century, drying was included as one of the unit operations of chemical engineering, a newly created branch of science. Further development of drying as a scientific discipline was very slow; it was treated rather as an art and not science. For decades the engineering of drying equipment has been one of the most neglected branches of applied sciences.
Nevertheless, the omnipresence of the drying process in various industrial sectors and many other applications gradually led to industrial as well as academic interest, especially as the energy costs began to rise. With rapid development of the global economies, the demand for energy for drying had been increasing rapidly and now accounts for 15 to 20% of the national energy consumption in industrialized countries. A continuous effort in this area has also been driven by needs related to increased productivity, enhanced product quality and its control, new technologies, new products, as well as environmental and safety issues.
The publication of numerous monographs, emergence of several international conference series devoted to drying, and publication of a large number of papers related to drying attest to the growing interest in this field. It is also necessary to obtain deeper understanding of the fundamentals and theoretical approaches to drying. Until the early 1980s, the papers and other sources of information on drying were scattered widely in many journals, books, industries, disciplines, languages, and countries around the world. Keeping abreast with this scattered information in such a broad area as drying became understandably difficult for the growing world drying community.
Prior to the founding of Drying Technology in 1982 there were no peer-reviewed journals focusing on the broad spectrum of aspects of drying and dewatering. Also, prior to 1978 there was no world forum for the exchange of information, experiences, and ideas in the drying R&D area. The time had arrived when the drying discipline faced the necessity of solving these problems.
Two key international events were initiated and both have contributed remarkably to the future integration, unification, and progress of drying R&D on a global scale. These were the biennial International Drying Symposia series, which was initiated in 1978, and Drying Technology, which was launched in 1982. I mentioned IDS because one can hardly separate IDS from Drying Technology, bearing in mind their strong influence on the future development of drying R&D on the global scale and their mutual synergetic relationship.
The success of IDS is a tribute to Professor A.S. Mujumdar, then an ambitious young member of staff of the Chemical Engineering Department of McGill University, Canada, while Dr. C.W. Hall deserves the credit for founding the journal and performing the duty of the Editor-in-Chief for the first seven volumes. This function was then taken over by Professor Mujumdar and he has continued in this role through today. His contribution to the success of the journal can hardly be overestimated. He has been strongly engaged, dedicating his time and mind to the science and technology of drying; he also possesses remarkable scientific output in this field. But especially important and well known is his outstanding activity in promoting drying on a truly international scale.
This is, I think, a good occasion to pass to Professor Mujumdar the words of high appreciation and thanks for his continuous involvement in drying events all over the world.
After 25 years of its activity, Drying Technology deserves great recognition for bringing together an essential part of knowledge in this diverse and complex interdisciplinary field in a form that is easily accessible and within the reach of all who are interested in drying science, technology, and engineering. It is worth stressing that the journal receives papers from most engineering disciplines and a majority of industrial sectors from all continents. This is evidence that drying research and development has the character of a truly interdisciplinary global activity.
The rising interest in drying has led to evolution of other drying conferences around the world. Drying Technology has devoted special issues to such conferences to keep its international readership from industry and academia well informed about R&D activities worldwide. This journal promotes special theme issues, supporting in this way the propositions of internationally reputed experts who have agreed to share their ideas and expertise in various areas of contemporary interest to academia and industry.
During the past 25 years, Drying Technology has met with enthusiastic support of the drying community and has expanded significantly in scope and the number of pages published per volume. From just two issues in the first two years it now publishes 12 issues per year, each with more papers than those when it began. All positive aspects of Drying Technology in the world of drying can hardly be enumerated. It is important to note that the journal is one of the high-impact technology journals in the archived literature today.
For me, as one who has been involved in drying for so many years and who was an active witness of the initiation and growth of the International Drying Symposia and Drying Technology, it is particularly gratifying to see such a positive impact of both on the development in drying R&D globally.
On the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of Drying Technology, I pass sincere thanks to the Editor-in-Chief, associate editors, assistant editor, members of the international advisory board, publishers, and all persons involved in editing the journal. Also, I wish further enhancement of reputation and value of the journal and continuing strong support of its readers.
I fervently hope that the journal will continue to provide an effective forum not only for dissemination of knowledge on drying but also to help our discipline keep pace in the turbulent development of other branches of science and engineering taking place in the contemporary world.