Difusão em sólidos esferoidais prolatos: uma solução analítica.

Abstract

The analytical solution of the diffusion equation to predict the mass transfer inside the prolate spheroids considering constant diffusion coefficient and convective boundary condition is presented. The diffusion equation in the prolate spheroidal coordinate systems was obtained by the method of separation of variables. The formal solution was applied to predict the average moisture content and moisture content distribution of prolate spheroidal solids (ellipsoids of revolution) during drying process. The effects of the Fourier and Biot numbers and the aspect ratio on the drying rate, average moisture content and moisture content distribution during the process are presented and analyzed. To investigate the effect of the aspect ratio different results of the average moisture content are shows. The results are physically consistent and the model presented can be utilized to solve diffusion problem such as: drying, wetting, heating and cooling of the solids with. Geometries that changes from sphere to infinite cylinder including prolate spheroid.