Research on Internal Flow Field Simulation and Structural Optimization of Mesh Belt Dryer

Abstract

 In order to solve the problem that the internal airflow and temperature field distribution of the belt dryer are uneven, resulting in poor drying quality, this paper conducts 3D modeling and flow field simulation analysis of the drying chamber of the three-layer belt dryer based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The velocity and temperature fields of the original drying chamber were numerically simulated by using the Realizable k-ε turbulence model and the porous medium model. The results show that in the original structure, the average velocities on the three-layer mesh belts are 0.93 m/s, 1.09 m/s, and 0.88 m/s, with non-uniformity coefficients of 78.36%, 56.95%, and 47.53%, respectively; the average temperatures are 60.18°C, 58.34°C, and 57.51°C, with non-uniformity coefficients of 14.84%, 24.79%, and 15.03%. By adding an air distributor below the air inlet and comparing different perforation sizes, it was found that the optimal optimization effect is achieved when the perforation diameter is 40 mm: the average velocities on the three-layer mesh belts increase by 0.55 m/s, 0.27 m/s, and 0.27 m/s, while the non-uniformity coefficients decrease by 35.85%, 21.09%, and 27.06%; the average temperatures rise by 4.34°C, 5.49°C, and 5.64°C, and the non-uniformity coefficients drop by 9.87%, 14.92%, and 6.67%. This research provides a theoretical basis for the structural optimization of mesh belt dryers.