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Steven B. Warner
University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, MA
PROJECT GOALS: To understand and quantify moisture transport in textile structures so that
novel/improved materials for fluid management and novel/improved drying
processes may be developed.
ABSTRACT
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other techniques are used to investigate moisture
transport in textiles. Industrially relevant through-flow drying of carpet has been simulated on a
laboratory through-flow dryer (LTFD) as well as inside a MRI scanner. A transient two-dimensional
mathematical model is developed to describe the through-flow drying process for tufted carpet. The
heat and mass transfer in a single carpet yarn and the air flowing around it are analyzed separately.
First, thermal and mass circuits are used to analyze the simultaneous heat and mass transfer within the
yarn. Then, the equations of the conservation of mass and energy are written for the airflow. The
resulting system of three non-linear differential equations is numerically solved by an implicit finite
difference method. The numerical solutions are compared with experimental drying results obtained
using MRI and LTFD.
INTRODUCTION
Innovative and improved manufacturing processes can only be developed if the interactions
between process chemicals and textile products are understood on a fundamental level. For example,
current drying processes can be made much more efficient, migration problems can be controlled, and
completely new designs for drying equipment can be proposed. In addition, new materials for fluid
management can only be developed by understanding fundamental interactions between fluids and
fibrous assemblies.
While optical imaging methods are well-suited for the analysis of surface and transparent
substrates, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) readily provides 3D water distributions within opaque
textile substrates. In this study, standard MRI techniques are being employed to measure one-, two-
and three-dimensional images of water within wet textile substrates. Because a single one-dimensional
image can be measured in a matter of milliseconds, real-time monitoring of actual drying processes is
possible. Mechanisms of drying are established by following water distributions as a function of drying
time.
Based on MRI results, a transient two-dimensional mathematical model, which considered
primary heat, moisture and momentum transfer mechanisms in the moist porous material (yarn) and
drying medium (airflow), was developed for through-flow drying of tufted carpet. The drying
model consisted of two sets of coupled differential equations with relevant initial and boundary
conditions. The model contained a number of unknown physical and transport properties. With
the number of unknown physical and transport properties, the model is not very useful for
industrial applications. Thus, a simpler model requiring fewer physical and transport properties,
but capable of accurately predicting temporal one-dimensional moisture profiles, and thus overall
moisture regain and drying time, was developed. The simplified drying model is presented here.
Figure 1. Schematic of a yarn and its immediate surrounding space inside the unit cell.
0 – 15 sec 120 – 135 sec 240 – 255 sec 360 – 375 sec
moisture regain is assumed to be zero. Thus, the region is referred to as the dry region, and bound
moisture transport within this region is neglected. The rate of change in mass of stored water vapor
is ignored in the dry region. Evaporating water at the front diffuses through the drying region to
the yarn surface. Then, the water vapor at the surface is convectively transferred into the airflow.
Dry Region
Ta ∞
ρ vs
ρ va∞
Figure 3. Thermal and mass circuits for the yarn and airflow in section A-A (see Figure 1).
Consider the heat transfer from the air stream to the yarn. The heat transfer rate from the air
stream to the yarn surface, qtot, is equal to rate of the energy stored in the dry region, qsorp, plus rate
of the energy transferred to the wet region, qwet. In the dry region, transient, one-dimensional (r
direction) heat conduction is assumed. The energy stored in the dry region is treated as though it is
all located at the mean radius, rM, which divides the dry area in half; i.e., half of the dry area is from
rf to rM, and half of the dry area is from rM to R (see Figure 3). The energy transferred to the wet
region by heat conduction evaporates water and/or increases stored energy. The temperature
distribution is assumed to be uniform in the wet region.
In this study, the thermal and mass transfer circuits, shown in Figure 3, are used to write the
energy and mass balance equations in the model. The resistance to mass transfer from the air
stream to the yarn surface is Rm1. The resistance to mass transfer from the yarn surface to the
evaporation front is Rm2. The resistance to heat transfer from the air stream to the yarn surface is
Rt1. The thermal resistance through the dry region is divided into two parts based on a mean
radius, rM, as mentioned above. The mean radius, rM , may be written as
R 2 + r f2
rM =
2
The resistance to heat transfer from the yarn surface to the mean position of the dry region is Rt2.
The resistance to heat transfer from the mean position of the dry region to the surface of the wet
region is Rt3.
Mass transfer from the evaporation front to the air steam can be modeled as a series circuit
as shown in Figure 3. Thus, the evaporation rate, m& , can be written as
[ ρ (r = r , z, t ) − ρ ] va∞
m& =
vs f
Rm tot
where ρvs and ρva∞ are the densities of the saturated water vapor at the evaporation front and the
water vapor in the airflow, respectively, and the total mass resistance, Rm,tot, is
1 ln R r f ( )
Rmtot = Rm1 + Rm 2 = +
hm 2π Rdz 2π Deff dz
where Deff is the effective diffusivity and hm is the convective mass transfer coefficient.
The total energy transferred to the yarn, qtot, is
r f2 ∂T r f2 ∂T
q tot = m&h fg + 2 ms c ps + mw c pw wet + 1 − 2 ms c ps M
R ∂t R ∂t
where hfg is the latent heat of vaporization of water, cps is the specific heat of the fiber, ms is the
mass of fibers, mw is the mass of liquid water, and rf is the position of the evaporation front. The
mean temperature of the dry region, TM, is
ln rM r f ( )
TM = Twet + q
2π k eff dz wet
Ta ∞ − TM
q tot =
Rt 1 + Rt 2
where Rt1 and Rt2 are defined as
1 ln (R rM )
Rt1 = ; Rt 2 =
2π RhT dz 2π k eff dz
After mathematical substitution, the equation of energy conservation may be expressed as
Pvs YPatm
− h fg
Ta ∞ − TM R Twet ( 0.622 + Y ) R Ta ∞
=
Rt 1 + Rt 2 Rm tot (1)
r f2 ∂T r f2 ∂T
+ 2 ms c ps + m w c pw wet
+ 1 − 2 ms c ps M
R ∂t R ∂t
∂Y ∂Y
ρa ∞ + ja∞ dz = m& (2)
∂t ∂z
(c pa
)
+ Yc pv ρa ∞
∂ Ta ∞
∂t
+ j a∞
∂ Ta ∞
∂z
dz = q tot (3)
where j a∞ is mass flux in the airflow, and cpa and cpv are the specific heat capacity of air and water
vapor, respectively.
Initial and boundary conditions for each dependent variable (Y and Ta ∞ ) are required to
solve the set of the governing equations. Initial and boundary conditions for humidity ratio and air
temperature are assumed to be constant and are
Y ( z, t = 0) = Y0 ; Ta ∞ ( z , t = 0) = Ta ∞ ,room
Y ( z = 0, t ) = Y0 ; Ta ∞ ( z = 0, t ) = Ta ∞ 0
(a) (b)
140 80
Initial Moisture Profile at t = 0 t = 29.5 sec
t = 55.5 sec
70 t = 63.2 sec
Local Moisture Regain (%)
20 10
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Distance in the Pile Yarn Direction (mm) Distance in the Pile Yarn Direction (mm)
Figure 4. Comparison of MRI experimental and predicted moisture distribution versus time for
(a) carpet sample A with an areal density of 2204 kg/m2, a tufting density of 10.7 stitch/cm2, and a
carpet thickness of 19.0 mm, and (b) carpet sample B with an areal density of 1492 kg/m2, a
tufting density of 11.1 stitch/cm2, and a carpet thickness of 16.6 mm, at an airflow rate of 20
m/min and an air temperature of 80°C. Numerical fits to the data are shown as lines.
50 o
LTAD exp. (A; 20 m/min; 116 C)
Overall Moisture Regain (%)
o
LTAD exp. (A; 30 m/min; 116 C)
o
40 LTAD exp. (B; 20 m/min; 116 C)
o
LTAD exp. (B; 30 m/min; 116 C)
Predicted Data
30
20
10
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time (sec)
Figure 5. Comparison of LTFD experimental and predicted variations of overall moisture regain with
time for carpet samples A and B at airflow rates of 20 and 30 m/min, and an air temperature of 116°C.
Several drying tests were conducted at different airflow rates, air temperatures, airflow
directions and initial moisture profiles and compared with the numerical predictions. Close agreements
with the experimental MRI and LTFD results were obtained. Thus, the simplified mathematical model
can accurately predict drying rate and drying time for through-flow drying of tufted carpet.
CONCLUSIONS
A transient two-dimensional mathematical model has been developed to simulate the
through-air drying process for tufted textile materials. Even after simplifying the model to facilitate
its usability, it provides predictions that closely agree with experimental results. Predicted
variations of one-dimensional moisture distributions within carpet agree well with profiles obtained
using MRI. Predicted temporal variations of overall moisture regain closely fit experimental results
obtained with both MRI and the LTFD.
PUBLICATIONS
1. Lee HS, Carr WW, Beckham HW, and Leisen, J, "A Model of Through-Air Drying of Tufted
Textile Materials", submitted to International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, June 2000.
2. Lee HS, Carr WW, Leisen J, Beckham HW, "Through-Air Drying of Unbacked Tufted Carpet",
Textile Research Journal, accepted for publication, September 2000.
3. Lee HS, Carr WW, Beckham HW, Wepfer WJ, "Factors Influencing the Air Flow Through
Unbacked Tufted Carpet", Textile Research Journal, October 2000, in press.
4. Lee HS, Study of Industrial Through-Air Drying Process for Tufted Carpet, Ph.D. Dissertation,
Georgia Institute of Technology, May 2000.
5. Leisen J, Beckham HW, Good J, Warner S, Carr WW, "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Water
Ingress and Distribution in Fluorochemical-Finished Polyester Cut-Pile Carpet", Textile Chemist
and Colorist 1999, 31(4), 21-26.
6. Leisen J, Hou L, Beckham HW, Carr WW, "Observation of the Water Distribution during Drying
of Textiles", In Spatially Resolved Magnetic Resonance: Methods, Materials, Medicine, Biology,
Rheology, Geology, Ecology, Hardware, P. Bluemler, B. Bluemich, R. Botto, E. Fukushima, Eds.,
Viley-VCH 1998.
7. Beckham HW, Fülber C, Spiess HW, Blümich B, "Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Water
Distributions in Loop-Pile Nylon Carpet Tile", J. Text. Inst., Pt 1 1998, 89(2); 436.
8. Zhou W, Warner S, “Pore Sizes in Carpet", Textile Research Journal 1998, in press.
9. Beckham HW, Leisen J, Carr WW, "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Water Distribution in Carpet"
AATCC Book of Papers, 1997 International Conference & Exhibition.
PRESENTATIONS
10. Leisen, J, Beckham HW, "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Fluids in Nonwovens", 9th annual
TANDEC NONWOVENS Conference; Knoxville/ TN; 10-12 November 1999.
11. Leisen J, Beckham HW, Hojjatie B, Doffin D, "Quantitative Application of Magnetic Resonance
Microscopy for the Characterization of Moisture Distributions in Fibrous Substrates", 5th
International Conference on Magnetic Resonance Microscopy; Heidelberg, Germany; 5-9
September 1999.
12. Leisen J, Kinser H, Beckham HW, "Fluid Distribution and Diffusion in Engineered Fibrous
Substrates via Diffusion NMR and NMR Imaging", 218th ACS national meeting; New Orleans, LA;
21-26 August 1999.
13. Lee HS, Carr WW, Leisen, J, Beckham HW, "Observation and Simulation of Heat and Moisture
Transport during Through-Air Drying of Cut-Pile Tufted Carpet", the 12th Annual Polymer
Education & Research Review Meeting; Atlanta, GA; June 1999.
14. Lee HS, Carr WW, Leisen, J, Beckham HW, "Observation and Simulation of the Industrial
Through-Air Drying Process for Cut-Pile Tufted Carpet", the 4th Annual Conference on Recycling
of Fibrous Textile and Carpet Waste; Dalton, GA; May 1999.
15. Beckham HW, Leisen J, Carr WW, "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Moisture in Textiles",
Nonwovens Conference, Proceedings of TAPPI; Orlando, FL; 20-24 April 1999.
16. Beckham HW, "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Fluids in Textiles", Fachhochschule Niederrhein;
Krefeld, Germany; 18 June 1998.
17. Leisen J, Beckham HW, Carr WW, "Observation of Drying Processes in Textiles by Magnetic
Resonance Microscopy", 39th Experimental NMR Conference; Pacific Grove, CA; 22–27 March
1998.
18. Beckham HW, "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Water Distribution in Carpet: Drying Studies",
AATCC International Conference & Exhibition; Atlanta, GA; 29 September 1997.
19. Leisen J, Beckham HW, Carr WW, "Observation of Water Distribution and Diffusion during the
Drying Process in Textiles", 4th International Conference on Magnetic Resonance Microscopy and
Macroscopy; Albuquerque, NM; 21–25 September 1997.
20. Beckham HW, "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Fluids in Engineered Fibrous Substrates",
DuPont; Chattanooga, TN; 19 September 1997.