Computational Study of Impingement Jet Drying of Seeds Using Superheated Steam Based on Kinetic Theory of Granular Flow

Abstract

A Eulerian model including the kinetic theory of granular flow (KTGF) and mass transfer in the period of saturated wet surface has been developed to simulate continuous drying of particulate solids using superheated steam in a radial impingement jet system. When applying this type of drying processes, the preliminary results obtained show good predictive ability of the Eulerian modeling based on KTGF. It is concluded that the present study and other works of modeling can be used to study the dynamics and control of this drying process and thus would facilitate the equipment design and scaling.

Keywords:

• Eulerian model
• Impingement jet drying
• Kinetic theory of granular flow
• Superheated steam

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful for financial support from CONICYT through the Higher Education MECE Program and Scholarship AT-23070073 and to Fondecyt research grant No. 1060919. The authors are also indebted to MFIX developers and the MFIX user group for their important comments received during model implementation.