Circulating Wind Tunnel Drying and Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient Determination Educational Pilot Plant

Introduction

The Circulating Wind-Tunnel Drying and Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient Determination Educational Unit Operations Pilot Plant is an integrated laboratory system designed for engineering education in higher education institutions. This unit allows students to investigate the fundamental principles of convective drying, air-water vapor systems, and heat and mass transfer phenomena. By facilitating the empirical determination of drying curves, drying rate curves, and convective heat transfer coefficients under variable processing conditions, the pilot plant provides a bridge between theoretical classroom concepts and industrial process operations.

Customization and Flexibility

Recognizing the diverse educational requirements and space constraints of global universities, this educational unit is designed with flexibility in mind. We provide comprehensive customization services covering both hardware and software components. Whether adapting the structural layout, upgrading sensor configurations, or tailoring the software control interfaces and data acquisition protocols, the system can be modified to align with specific laboratory spaces, regional engineering standards, and institutional pedagogical objectives.

Key Pedagogical Features and Advantages

• Engineering Accreditation Alignment: Designed to support outcomes-based education, enabling students to perform real-time data acquisition and analysis, plotting essential drying curves and drying rate curves to meet modern engineering curriculum standards.
• Variable Process Control: Features adjustable airflow velocity, air temperature, and relative humidity, allowing students to systematically study how external boundary conditions influence drying kinetics.
• Constant-Pressure Cyclic Operation: Supports constant-pressure cyclic drying configurations, simulating realistic industrial drying loop behaviors.
• External Wet-Bulb Temperature Measurement: Employs an external measurement design for wet-bulb temperature, reducing physical interference with the main air stream and enhancing the stability of the thermodynamic measurements.
• Industrial-Grade Instrumentation: Equipped with an industrial all-in-one touchscreen PC for control and real-time data display, exposing students to human-machine interfaces (HMI) and supervisory control systems used in the industry.
• Robust and Mobile Construction: Built on a high-grade aluminum alloy framework equipped with lockable industrial casters, ensuring physical durability and ease of relocation within the laboratory.

Detail & Parts

Technical Specifications

Experimental Modules and Learning Outcomes

Academic and Textbook Alignment

This pilot plant is engineered to support core curricula in chemical engineering, food engineering, environmental technologies, and thermal process engineering. The operations performed on this unit correspond directly with the fundamental transport phenomena and unit operations detailed in standard academic literature.

By conducting experiments on this pilot plant, students can empirically validate the theoretical frameworks found in classic textbooks such as:

• Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering: Practical application of concepts including the constant-rate drying period, falling-rate drying period, equilibrium moisture content, and the design equations for batch and continuous dryers.
• Transport Processes and Unit Operations: Direct experimental modeling of simultaneous heat and mass transfer, boundary layer resistance, wet-bulb temperature dynamics, and convective mass transfer coefficients.
• Chemical Engineering Design: Experience in gathering pilot-scale drying rate data required for the scale-up, sizing, and optimization of industrial-scale drying equipment.

To accommodate specialized academic research or unique laboratory course syllabi, both the hardware setup and the corresponding software algorithms can be customized to model specific thermodynamic cycles or complex materials as requested by the department.

About LABPARK

LABPARK is a dedicated provider of educational equipment and engineering pilot plants, serving the higher education sector for over 20 years. We focus on delivering robust, high-quality laboratory solutions across six primary academic domains: Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology, Food Engineering, Pharmaceutical Engineering, and Environmental Engineering.

Supported by a manufacturing and research base spanning 49,000 square meters, our engineering and development team holds 209 technical patents. LABPARK has collaborated with more than 289 universities and colleges worldwide, helping academic departments build practical, safe, and modern laboratory environments that prepare the next generation of engineers for industry challenges.

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