Mathematical modeling of a convective textile drying process

Abstract

This study aims to develop a model that accurately represents the convective drying process of textile materials. The mathematical modeling was developed from energy and mass balances and, for the solution of the mathematical model, the technique of finite differences, in Cartesian coordinates, was used. It transforms the system of partial differential equations into a system of ordinary equations, with the unknowns, the temperature and humidity of both the air and the textile material. The simulation results were compared with experimental data obtained from the literature. In the statistical analysis the Shapiro-Wilk test was used to validate the model and, in all cases simulated, the results were p-values greater than 5 %, indicating normality of the data. The R-squared values were above 0.997 and the ratios Fcalculated/Fsimulated, at the 95 % confidence level, higher than five, indicating that the modeling was predictive in all simulations.