KINETICS OF THE CLAY ROOFING TILE CONVECTION DRYING

Abstract

Kinetics of the convection drying process of flat tile has been investigated experimentally in an industrial tunnel dryer. Several velocities of wet tile movement through the dryer were tested to obtain maximum allowable drying rate curve. As there are various models to describe the kinetics of convection drying, finding a model that would fairly well approximate the kinetics of the whole drying process was part of the research. Especially the polynomial and exponential models were tested. It was found that exponential model of the type: B(t) = (a-B_e. EXP(−bt²) +B_et (−dB(t)/dt) = 2bt(B(t)−B_e significantly correlates the kinetics of the whole tile drying process. Applying the maximum allowable drying rate curve obtained for flat tile in the first period of drying, a grapho–analytic model for the optimal conducting of the process has been developed.