Process And Apparatus For Removing Water From Materials Using Oscillatory Flow-reversing Gaseous Media

Abstract

A process and an apparatus for removing water from a material are disclosed. The material can be selected from the group consisting of fibrous webs, textiles, plastics, non-woven webs, building materials, or any combination thereof, and may comprise an agricultural product, a food product, a pharmaceutical product, a biotechnology product, etc. The process comprises providing a material; providing an oscillatory flow-reversing impingement gaseous media having predetermined frequency; providing a gas-distributing system designed to emit the oscillatory flow-reversing impingement gas onto the material; and impinging the oscillatory flow-reversing gas onto the material, thereby removing moisture from the material.The apparatus comprises a support to receive the material and to carry said material in a machine direction; a pulse generator producing oscillatory flow-reversing air or gas; and a gas-distributing system in fluid communication with the pulse generator for delivering the oscillatory flow-reversing gas to the material, wherein the gas-distributing system terminates with at least one discharge outlet juxtaposed with the support.