An experimental investigation on drying kinetics of calcium carbonate

Calcium carbonate is a versatile mineral with diverse industrial applications. Drying is a necessary processing step in preparation of calcium carbonate product. Deep knowledge of drying kinetics is required in order to design an appropriate dryer. The main aim of the present study was to investigate the drying kinetics of calcium carbonate, experimentally. Thirteen empirical correlations with temperature-dependent constants were used to describe the thin-layer drying behavior of calcium carbonate. The correlation fitting results revealed that all examined empirical correlations were acceptable. But, the Page correlation was in the best agreement with experimental data. The effective moisture diffusivity was calculated within 8.61 × 10-9 to 10.40 × 10-9m2s-1 in the temperature range of 60 to 90˚C. The drying activation energy was also calculated to be 6.306 kJmol-1. The fitted correlations for the drying kinetics of calcium carbonate can be used to design an industrial dryer and also to estimate drying time in various drying conditions.