Drying Rate Prediction for Droplets under Combined Convection and Infrared Radiation Drying

Abstract Combined drying through convection and radiation allows for process intensification and thus for an increase in the drying rate as well as in the range of applications. Established combined drying models have mainly focused on drying thin layers of wet solids, not liquid droplets. In this work, the drying of pure solvent droplets as well as the drying of a polymer solution were studied. Experiments were performed to determine the influence of convective airflow temperature and radiative power on the mass reduction rate in the first phase of drying. A simplified model was developed for the combined drying of large solvent droplets and transferred to the polymer solution. The developed empirical model allowed for drying rate predictions with an accuracy similar to established convective drying models.