Although pulse combustion devices exhibit a high thermal efficiency and low
pollutant emission when used in a drying process, a broad application of t
hese dryers has been limited because of a lack of understanding of the fund
amental controlling heat and mass transfer. This paper reports the results
of an experimental investigation of heat transfer between unsteady airflow
and a brass sphere under various oscillating frequencies. In order to gener
ate an unsteady flow, we constructed a gas-fired, water-cooled pulse burner
. The burner is of a Helmholtz type and its operating frequency can be adju
sted by changing the tailpipe length. The heat transfer coefficient between
unsteady air outflow and brass was determined by the lumped capacity metho
d. The effect of airflow oscillating frequency on heat transfer coefficient
was investigated and their correlation was established. Refractory clay pa
rticles in the oscillating airflow were dried and the effect of the frequen
cy on the drying process was predicted using the heat transfer coefficients
obtained.