Conjugated Heat and Mass Transfer in Convective Drying in Compact Wood Kilns: A System Approach

Drying is a required operation in timber manufacturing industries. Most drying processes utilise convective kilns, which involve coupling between transient heat and mass (moisture content) transfer in solids and convection in a flowing medium. In the present work, the flow field in the kiln is determined using a system approach based on a general head loss equation, whereas the coupling between transient heat and mass transfer in the timber is accomplished by a solution of a local differential model across the timber stack. The scheme is applied to study the effects of distinct geometric kiln configurations and air flow temperatures upon drying rates and moisture content.