In this paper, simulations of the first drying period of a single iron ore pellet are compared for: i) a scanned pellet from experiments ii) an oval pellet resembling the experimental one with equivalent volume iii) a spherical pellet with equivalent volume. The comparison provides information on how simplifications of an actual geometry might affect the result. The simulations are carried out with the commercial software ANSYS CFX 12.0 and the model is validated against experimental results with good agreement. The results show that the local moisture content at the surface is influenced by both surface irregularities and overall geometry. A smooth surface will decrease the local variation of moisture while a spherical geometry will, compared to an oval, increase the difference.