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GB
#w
G?
G?
#(w
MB
!w
M?
)
M
)
#C
N?
(a
G
!a
M
)(
M
!
G?
), (9)
where C
N
, is speci"c heat, kJ/kg.
Within the bed the enthalpy changes will be due to the
temperature change of the bed, mass change in the bed
and evaporation:
dH
dt
"
d(C
NK
M
@
#C
NU
=
@
)
@
dt
#
d(C
N?
A
?
#C
NU
=
?
)
?
dt
#M
@
JH
T
"(C
NK
M
@
#C
NU
=
@
)
d
dt
#
@
C
NK
dM
@
dt
#C
NU
d=
@
dt
#M
@
JH
T
, (10)
where H
T
is the latent heat of evaporation of water,
kJ/kg.
If the system is adiabatic, then Eqs. (9) and (10) may be
combined. Translating into temperature terms, and as-
suming
?M
"
@
"
M
where is temperature, 3C, then
(C
NK
M
@
#C
NU
=
@
)
d
M
dt
"C
NK
(m
G
G
!m
M
M
)
#C
NU
(w
GB
GB
#w
G?
G?
!
M
(w
MB
#w
M?
))
#C
N?
a
G
(
G
!
M
)
!
M
C
NK
dM
@
dt
#C
NU
d=
@
dt
!M
@
JH
T
. (11)
3.3.3. Bed load
If bed depth , m, is equal to weir height
F
and
evaporation is less than the dhool feed rate:
m
GB
#w
GB
#w
G?
*w
M?
, (12)
then bed loading will be constant and determined by weir
height. Therefore, under these conditions the combined
mass of dry matter and water in the bed will be constant:
dM
@
dt
#
d=
@
dt
"0 (13)
and, combining Eqs. (3)}(5) give
m
GB
#w
GB
#w
L?
!m
MB
!w
MB
!w
M?
"0. (14)
Then using the bed density the total load can be deter-
mined:
M
@
#=
B@
#A
@
#=
?@
"
z
@
;
F
K@
, (15)
where z is area, m and
K
is mean density, kg/m.
As the mass of air, and moisture in the air, are very
small compared to the mass of dhool, then
M
@
#=
B@
"
z
@
;
F
@
. (16)
170 S. J. Temple et al. / Control Engineering Practice 8 (2000) 165}173
Fig. 7. Batch dryer experimental validation of model.
If bed depth is less than weir height, (
F
or evapor-
ation is greater than dhool feed rate:
m
GB
#w
GB
#w
G?
'w
M?
, (17)
then there will be no discharge, and the bed depth may be
determined from the mass #ows and considering the bed
as a whole, the bed depth will be
"
M
@
#=
B@
z
@
;
@
. (18)
3.3.4. Evaporation rate
Subject to the constraints below, the drying rate of the
dhool will be
J"k(X!X
C
), (19)
where k is given by Eq. (1).
It should be noted that the exhaust air qualities are
di!erent to the inlet, and a more sophisticated model
would take into consideration the temperature and air
moisture content gradient across the bed.
The evaporation rate cannot be more than the evapor-
ative capacity of the air. The energy available to supply
the latent heat required is that remaining after raising the
dhool to the exhaust temperature of the air.
3.3.5. Simulation model
Using the data from the studies of drying and #uidiz-
ation, a MATLAB model simulates the dryer as a whole.
Integrators are used for the calculation of the state vari-
ables of water, dry matter and product temperature from
the mass and energy balances. Two models were built,
one for the simulation of a batch dryer or a well-mixed
continuous dryer, and a second for a near-plug-#ow
continuous #uid-bed dryer. Various inlet temperatures
were realized in the continuous dryer model simulation
by using three main sections in the model, each with
a distinct inlet air temperature. Each of the main sections
were composed of three subsections, each of which was
considered to be well mixed.
During steady-state operating conditions, the horizon-
tal gradient of temperature and moisture content cannot
be directly derived from the equations given, due to the
many interactions involved. Numerical simulation is
then essential in order to describe the action of the dryer.
Particular care had to be taken in the startup phase of
operation, which is of practical importance. As the "rst
dhool enters the dryer the product layer is built-up until
the dryer is "lled to weir height. In this phase there is an
excess of drying capacity, due to the air velocity required
for #uidization, and as a consequence it takes some time
before a stable moisture pro"le and stable discharge is
achieved.
In addition to validating the results on the thin-layer
drying apparatus, tests were carried out on a small-scale
batch #uidized-bed dryer (maximuminitial charge 0.6 kg)
developed from the #uidization test rig (Fig. 3), with
temperature and air#ow controlled by a Slogger unit.
Near infrared moisture monitoring was employed during
this pilot plant experiment.
The results of one of the validation runs are shown in
Fig. 7; the thermal inertia in the experimental apparatus
is not considered in the model. In all validation runs, the
experimental and predicted curves coincide after drying
to less than 15% moisture. The largest discrepancies
between the experiment and model were found in the
middle of the drying range; this is due to uneven drying
and the limited moisture measurement accuracy in this
range.
Fig. 7 shows that the enthalpy content of the air is used
to heat the product during the "rst few seconds. In the
following phase up to about 105 s, the product transfers
so much water to the air that the exhaust air is close to
saturation. In this phase, the moisture content of the
product falls with an almost constant rate. From 105 s
onwards, the water transfer to air falls along with the
moisture content of the product. The exhaust air temper-
ature starts to increase, until at the end of drying it
approaches the inlet air temperature of 903C.
Validation has also been carried out on both a pilot-
scale and an industrial scale continuous #uidized-bed
dryer. Results from the industrial dryer are shown in Fig. 8
and are comparable to that of the batch dryer. Here the
position along the dryer corresponds to the drying time
in the batch dryer. Again the experimental and model
results are very close. Modelling the plug-#ow bed with
some back mixing as nine separate well-mixed compart-
ments (three main sections each composed of three sub-
sections) appears to be a reasonable assumption.
3.4. Model application
The model allows various control strategies to be
studied before being implemented in practice. The design
of the model allows almost any con"guration of #uid-bed
S. J. Temple et al. / Control Engineering Practice 8 (2000) 165}173 171
Fig. 8. Comparison of measured and predicted values of bed moisture
and temperature at equally spaced intervals along the dryer, Lauder-
dale Tea Factory.
Fig. 9. E!ect of weir height on discharge moisture content and resi-
dence time at two feed-rates, predicted from model.
dryer to be modelled, as the weir heights (maximum bed
load per section), temperatures and air #ows for each
section can be speci"ed separately.
3.4.1. Operational conditions and design variables
The model has already yielded some useful outputs
from a sensitivity analysis that produced Fig. 9 amongst
other results. The "gure gives an insight into a tea dryer
design problem where a compromise must be found
between a limited residence time (values too high will
result in product quality degradation), the desired moist-
ure content and the feed-rate (as high as possible). This
illuminates some of the complex interactions within the
dryer, which cannot be understood quantitatively with-
out a model. Moreover, a very important result gained
from the simulations is that the system is far more sensi-
tive to changes in feed-rate at constant moisture than
to changes in moisture content at constant feed-rate.
This fact has been used to instruct operators to pay
special attention to controlling the feed-rate and less
attention to the exactness of the moisture content from
previous processing steps. It also encourages the installa-
tion of equipment to control the feed-rate to the whole
process.
3.4.2. Control strategy
As moisture content after drying is the most important
variable to be controlled, feed back of its value is the
most logical option. However, equipment to measure the
moisture content of the dryer discharge is expensive and
not fully developed as yet. Therefore, alternative solu-
tions had to be found.
From observations on tea dryers it was found that
maintaining constant exhaust air temperatures by simple
feedback control could reduce the standard deviation of
the moisture content of the product. This result was used
to explore the e!ectiveness of temperature feedback
control by simulation.
The results demonstrated that the temperatures near
the middle of the dryer increases rapidly from near satu-
ration to near inlet temperature. Indeed, feedback con-
trol of these temperatures reduced the variations in
moisture-content signi"cantly, but some o!set and "nal
deviations remained. These were cancelled out by the
introduction of an inferential control scheme. Another
limitation to the quality of control was caused by heater
delay, but the consequences of this delay were minimized
by introducing a Smith predictor.
4. Conclusion
Slogger, a custom built electronic data logging, display
and control system with serial communication has be-
come an important part of the management system in
African tea factories. It has been installed in the majority
of factories in Malawi. Because of its simplicity, mainten-
ance is easy and unhindered by long delivery lines from
suppliers.
The combination of experimental "ndings with model-
ling and simulation has produced a sound basis for the
design and development of control systems for #uidized-
bed drying of tea. Sensitivity analysis revealed the most
important process disturbances and provides informa-
tion for manual control. Moreover, simulations with the
model allowed an exploration of alternative control
methods that result in a signi"cantly lower standard
deviation of the moisture content. In these new control
methods, inferential control and delay time compen-
sators were of major importance.
172 S. J. Temple et al. / Control Engineering Practice 8 (2000) 165}173
Acknowledgements
This study was partly "nanced by European Union
Stabex funds provided to TRF(CA) for a project on
Automation of Tea Processing.
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