Simulation of Heat and Mass Transfer During Drying Processes

Drying is one of the core areas of both chemical engineering and food technology that involves both heat and mass transfer processes widely employed in various industries and households. Heat transfer, including temperature, air velocity, and drying time, in the drying process enables the diffusion of moisture from inside a material to its outer part by evaporation. The objective of this study is the simulation of the heat and mass transfer processes to examine moisture diffusion and heat conduction within solids. In the current research, the theoretical basis was employed as the methodology of the study based on Fourier’s law of heat conduction and Fick’s second law of mass diffusion. MATLAB simulations have been constructed to evaluate the moisture content of the material under specified drying time conditions. Based on the outcomes, there can be seen the exponential decrease of moisture content throughout the drying process up until reaching the equilibrium moisture content (EMC).