MODELING AND SIMULATION OF AIR-FLOW IN SPOUTED BED DRYERS

This paper presents an axisymmetric three-dimensional semi-empirical m odel that describes the airflow in both the spout and annular regions. Both the pressure and air velocity distributions can be calculated at any point inside the dryer. Thus, the effect of the fluid dynamics on the heat and mass transfer coefficients and, consequently, on the dry ing process, can be evaluated. The finite element method was used to s olve the model. Pressure distributions were measured for several condi tions in which stable spouted bed flow regime was attained. Simulated pressure distributions agreed well with experimental data.