Influence of Operating Parameters on Energy Consumption of Electrohydrodynamic Drying

In order to improve the drying technique and the drying efficiency, reducing the energy consumption of Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) drying, the influence of operating parameters on the drying rate and energy consumption were investigated. Tofu contained in the petri dish was put in EHD system which was made up of a wire pole and a plate pole. By changing the voltage, electrode spacing and the distance between the two neighboring wires, the factors related to the drying rate and energy consumption were quantitatively studied. The results indicate that when the distance between the wire electrodes and the surface of the plate pole is constant, the drying rate increases linearly while the drying energy consumption increases nonlinearly with the supplied voltage. When the supplied voltage is not changed, the tofu drying rate and energy consumption are changed with the distance between the two neighboring wires. When the distance between the two neighboring wires is not changed, the tofu drying rate and energy consumption are changed with electrode spacing. When electrode spacing is 9 cm and the distance between the two neighboring wires is 9 cm, the drying rate is the highest while the energy consumption is relative least, 45 kV is the optimum value for drying voltage.