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Optimal control of convective drying of saturated porous materials
Author(s) -
Kowalski S. J.,
Rybicki A.,
Rajewska K.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.14225
Subject(s) - convection , capillary action , porosity , porous medium , stress (linguistics) , process (computing) , von mises yield criterion , materials science , evaporation , mechanics , composite material , thermodynamics , engineering , structural engineering , finite element method , computer science , physics , linguistics , philosophy , operating system
Numerical simulations of optimal control applied to saturated capillary‐porous materials subjected to convective drying are presented. The optimization process is concerned with such drying parameters as drying rate, energy consumption, and product quality. The thermo‐hydro‐mechanical model of drying is developed to describe the kinetics of drying and to determine the drying‐induced stresses which are responsible for damage of dried products. The effective and the admissible stresses are defined and used to formulate the Huber‐von Mises–Hencky strength criterion enabling assessment of possible material damage. The method of genetic algorithm is used for operation with drying conditions in such a way as to ensure minimum energy consumption and to get the effective stress less than the strength of dried material, and thus, to preserve a good quality of dried products at possibly high drying rate. Numerically simulated optimal drying processes are illustrated on the examples of finite dimensions of kaolin‐clay cylinders subjected to convective drying. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 59: 4846–4857, 2013