Numerical simulation of two-dimensional heat and moisture transfer during drying of a rectangular object

The present article deals with the numerical modeling of heat and moisture transfer during the drying process of a two-dimensional (2-D) rectangular object subjected to convective boundary conditions. As is common in solids drying, it is assumed that drying takes place as a simultaneous heat and moisture transfer whereby moisture is vaporized by means of a drying fluid (e.g., air), which passes over a moist object. The governing equations representing the drying process in a 2-D rectangular object are discretized using an explicit finite-difference approach, and a computer code is developed to predict the temperature and moisture distributions inside the object. Moreover, the results obtained from the present model are compared with the experimental data available in the literature, and considerably high agreement is found.