Effects of suction pressure on heat and mass transfer during steam heating of wet paper

Steam heating characteristics of wet paper are studied experimentally and numerically. Experimental results show that suction pressure enhances energy absorption in the wet paper and decreases temperature difference in the paper thickness direction, and effects of suction pressure strongly appear in the high-permeability paper. Experiments also indicate that the absorbed energy rate is decreased with increasing in the heating time. Temperature, moisture, and pressure distributions in the paper thickness direction are calculated from the numerical simulation model. From the numerical simulation it is found that increasing of the moisture content and thickness of the condensation region reduce the absorbed energy rate.