Industrial drying processes require a controlled supply of heat and air. For a wide product such as linoleum, the challenge is not only to provide sufficient drying capacity, but also to distribute the airflow and temperature as uniformly as possible across the full width of the product.
FlowMotion analysed the air and energy balance of a linoleum drying installation. CFD was used to investigate how the process air moved through the dryer and how the geometry influenced local velocity and temperature distributions.
Non-uniform airflow can produce local differences in heat and mass transfer and therefore in drying conditions. The simulations made these variations visible and showed where recirculation or preferential flow paths occurred.
The calculated flow and temperature fields were used to evaluate modifications to the air distribution and to assess their effect on the thermal performance of the installation.
This approach allowed process uniformity and energy use to be considered together when improving the dryer design.
