Comparison Between 2D and 3D Simulations of a Tray Dryer System Using CFD Software

The tray dryer is the most extensively used drying system because of its simple and economic design. The drawback of this dryer is the non-uniformity in the final moisture content of the product. This research aims to predict the temperature and velocity profile in the drying chamber using computational fluid dynamics simulations. Two 3D designs of drying chambers (cases 1 and 2) were studied. Both designs have the same dimensions, except for the geometry of the inlet and outlet boundary conditions. The simulation was performed in 3D, but the analysis was carried out in a 2D plane. Another 2D simulation (case 3) was carried out to compare the results with those of the 3D simulation. The design in case 2 can be represented in a 2D simulation, whereas the design in case 1 must be represented in a 3D simulation. The 3D simulation can be simplified into a 2D simulation if the geometry and boundary conditions in the 3D simulation are the same as those in the 2D simulation at any position of the plane parallel to the 2D drawing. The 2D simulation is simple and saves time in terms of design, meshing and iteration processes for achieving convergent solutions