Analysis and structure optimization of the flow and temperature fields of the large-scale hot air drying room

• Published in: Drying technology Vol. 42; no. 15; pp. 2195 - 2211
• Main Authors: Liu, Rui, Dong, Jixian, Dong, Pengpeng, Wang, Yi, Wen, Jiahao, Wang, Dong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Taylor & Francis 15.11.2024; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: air; Air drying; CFD simulation; computer software; Design optimization; Drying; Drying room; heat; High temperature air; Internal flow; Porous media; structural optimization; temperature; temperature and flow fields; Temperature distribution; Three dimensional flow
• ISSN: 0737-3937; 1532-2300; 1532-2300
• DOI: 10.1080/07373937.2024.2414387

Large-scale hot air drying rooms play a crucial role as efficient drying equipment across various industries. The uniform distribution of hot air is a crucial factor influencing the drying quality of large-scale hot air drying rooms. This study focuses on camellia seeds as the drying subject. Building on a porous media model and the drying kinetics of camellia seeds, a CFD model of the drying room was established. Three-dimensional simulations of the internal flow and temperature fields were performed using CFD software, and the simulated results aligned well with experimental data. To improve the uniformity, this study introduced an optimized design featuring a combination of a Type E3 air guide hood with five guiding plates and a fan, selected based on optimized angles (θ 1 = 5°, θ 2 = 10°). Under the condition of improving the structure without introducing a new heat source, the optimization ensured a significant improvement in flow field uniformity while making the temperature field closer to the desired ideal temperature. This offers a reference for the design and research of hot air drying equipment and hot air drying rooms.