Drying – Vacuum Drying

Using a vacuum to assist or effect total drying is not a new concept.  A reduction of air pressure lowers the boiling point of water and other liquids and thereby speeds their rate of evaporation.  Although not practical in many applications for reasons I will discuss below, vacuum drying remains a viable alternative in some specialized applications.  …

Drying – Heat Considerations in Hot Air Drying

Hot air drying applications involve, primarily, the evaporation of water or another liquid such as a solvent from the surface being dried.  Evaporation occurs as heated air circulates over and around the surface being dried as discussed in earlier blogs.  In all cases this liquid evaporation consumes heat which results in cooling of the remaining liquid.  One …

What is Surface Tension?

The surface tension of a liquid, as we have discussed earlier, is an important consideration in the selection of cleaning chemistry for a particular application but it also has relevance in several other ways as well.  In earlier blogs, I have frequently referred to the importance of surface tension but haven’t really discussed what surface tension …