Thin-Layer Drying Modeling in the Hot Oil-Heated Stenter

Abstract

Although the drying processes have an important place in the textile industry in terms of drying or various textile finishing applications, they are considered as an expensive process in terms of energy and time consumed. Therefore, it is of great importance to simulate with mathematical models the drying behavior of a stenter (ram machine), one of the most preferred convection dryers in the textile industry. For this purpose, in this study, modeling was attempted of the drying behavior of 67 % Cotton + 33 % Polyester containing Thessaloniki knit fabrics, using experimental data obtained from drying processes performed in 9 different drying operations in a 10-chamber hot oil-heated stenter and 12 different empirical and semi-empirical thin-layer models that are frequently used in the literature. R² values from regression analysis were evaluated as the primary factor in the model fit selection. According to the results obtained, it was understood that the Diffusion Approach model with R² values ranging from 0.9991 to 0.9999, Two Term Model with R² values ranging from 0.9995 to 0.9999, and the Modified Henderson and Pabis model with R² values ranging from 0.9995 to 0.9999 gave the most appropriate results upon simulating drying behavior. In this regard, this study, which contains explanatory information on the drying behavior in a stenter, is thought to be useful to researchers.