A Simulation Study on Convection and Microwave Drying of Different Food Products

It is now well recognized that matching the external drying condition with the drying kinetics of a material can lead to substantial savings of energy and in the case of heat-sensitive products, even to higher quality product. In this work, the effect of convection and microwave heat input and other product parameters on the batch drying characteristics of model materials, potato and carrot slabs, whose thermo-physical data are readily available in the literature, was modeled using a one dimensional liquid diffusion model. The influence of various thermo-physical properties of the product in drying of heat-sensitive materials was quantitatively assessed. Heat of wetting, temperature and moisture dependent effective diffusivity and thermal conductivity are considered in this model. The effect of moisture diffusivity on drying using convection and a microwave field is simulated in view of the interest in predicting the drying performance by simplified method. Conditions under which the drying rate is controlled by the external drying conditions and the internal thermo-physical properties of the product are computed and discussed.     

Simulation of Liquid Diffusion-Controlled Drying of Shrinking Thin Slabs Subjected to Multiple Heat Sources

Abstract

Although a detailed mathematical model incorporating all physical mechanisms of moisture and heat transfer in the material would yield valuable design information, it is not feasible to do this on a routine basis for the design of dryers. A simple liquid diffusion model was developed in the present study to quantitatively assess the influence of various operating parameters of engineering interest in drying of heat-sensitive materials. Heat of wetting, temperature, and moisture dependent effective diffusivity and thermal conductivity, changes in product density and drying-induced ideal shrinkage of the product are considered in this model. The effects of combining convection with conduction, radiation, and volumetric heating using a microwave field are simulated in view of the increasing interest in multimode heat input drying processes. Numerical results are reported on drying of potato slices to demonstrate how the moisture and temperature profiles as well as drying performance are affected by multi-mode heat input. Effects of key parameters e.g., drying air velocity, temperature, relative humidity, and product thickness are computed and discussed.     

Simulation of Liquid Diffusion-Controlled Drying of Shrinking Thin Slabs Subjected to Multiple Heat Sources

Although a detailed mathematical model incorporating all physical mechanisms of moisture and heat transfer in the material would yield valuable design information, it is not feasible to do this on a routine basis for the design of dryers. A simple liquid diffusion model was developed in the present study to quantitatively assess the influence of various operating parameters of engineering interest in drying of heat-sensitive materials. Heat of wetting, temperature, and moisture dependent effective diffusivity and thermal conductivity, changes in product density and drying-induced ideal shrinkage of the product are considered in this model. The effects of combining convection with conduction, radiation, and volumetric heating using a microwave field are simulated in view of the increasing interest in multimode heat input drying processes. Numerical results are reported on drying of potato slices to demonstrate how the moisture and temperature profiles as well as drying performance are affected by multi-mode heat input. Effects of key parameters e.g., drying air velocity, temperature, relative humidity, and product thickness are computed and discussed.     

Experimental benchmarking of diffusion and reduced models for convective drying of single rice grains

Abstract

In this work, the drying behavior of single rice grains at moderate and elevated air temperatures (i.e. 60?°C, 120?°C, and 140?°C) is experimentally investigated by using a magnetic suspension balance system. To describe the experimental drying behavior, a diffusion model is developed. The reference moisture diffusivity of the rice grains is determined by using an inverse method, whereas other thermo-physical properties are measured. Next, the diffusion model is reduced to a semi-empirical model within the frame of reaction engineering approach (REA). Both models are successfully benchmarked against the experimental observations. The results indicate that the moisture diffusivity of rice grains can be represented as a linear function of the moisture content and the drying process at high temperatures is controlled by both intra- and extra-particle mass transfer resistances. In addition to these results, this study favors a practical application of the REA in drying calculations to derive a simple, robust, and extrapolative semi-empirical model since the parameter of this model seems to be insensitive to variations of drying conditions.     

Effective Moisture Diffusivity Estimation from Drying Data. A Comparison Between Various Methods of Analysis

ABSTRACT

Moisture diffusivity is the most crucial property in drying calculations. Literature data are scarce due to the variation of both experimental measurement techniques and methods of analysis. The effect of using different methods of analysis on the same experimental drying data is examined in this work. Detailed and simplified mathematical models, incorporating moisture diffusivity as model parameter, are applied. It is proved, that significant differences in the calculated values of moisture diffusivity result when different models are used, and probably these differences explain the variation in literature data. Thus, the adoption of a standardised methodology will be of great importance in moisture diffusivity evaluation.

The above findings resulted from the application of four alternative models on the drying data of three common food materials, potato, carrot and apple. A typical pilot plant scale dryer with controlled drying air conditions was used for the experiments. The moisture content dependence of the diffusion coefficient was proved significant at the last drying stage, while the temperature dependence followed the well known Arrhenius relation. The effects of considering external mass transfer and volume shrinkage during drying, were also investigated.     

Kinetic and Quality Study of Mushroom Drying under Microwave and Vacuum

Abstract

The aim of this work is to model the drying kinetics of mushrooms under several operational conditions, to evaluate the effective diffusivity coefficient of moisture removing by a drying model and inverse calculus method in finite differences and to study the effect on the final quality of dehydrated mushrooms. Different ways of microwave vacuum drying were compared to freeze-drying. Results show that a decrement of the applied pressure produces a certain increase in the drying rate together with a lower moisture in the dehydrated product at the end. Temperature control inside the sample helps to ensure a better quality in the dehydrated product, than when controlled at the surface. Diffusivity coefficients show a correspondence with product temperature during drying. The microwave dried samples obtained with moderate power and temperature control of product shown an important degree of quality similar to that obtained by freeze-drying.     

Mechanical Means of Enhancing Drying Rates: Effect on Drying Kinetics and Quality

ABSTRACT

The effect of various pretreatments on drying kinetics as well as quality parameters of selected vegetables and fruits was studied experimentally in a convective dryer. The pretreatments tested include application of pinholes and drilled holes of different diameters and densities, blanching and freezing. Potato, cassava, dragon fruit and red chilli were used as the sample drying materials. As expected, increase of the diameter and density of the holes under fixed drying conditions increased the drying rate. Samples with drilled holes showed better drying performance than those with pinholes. The improvement of the drying rate was found to be dependent on the physical properties and the initial moisture content of the material. Results show that the drying performance of the products that possess a skin of low moisture diffusivity, such as chilli, can be improved significantly by blanching and making perforations in the skin. Overall changes of color and volume shrinkage during drying of the samples with and without holes were similar. The effect of different modes of heat input, such as convection, conduction and radiation, on the drying performance of the treated samples was also experimentally investigated. On-off type controllers were used to regulate the power of the heaters and maintain the product temperature within a range of pre-set values. Convection combined with radiation displayed the highest drying rate.     

Three-stage hybrid osmotic–intermittent microwave–convective drying of apple at low temperature and short time

ABSTRACT

In recent years, intermittent microwave coupled with hot air-drying has been used increasingly, thanks to considerable improvements observed in drying properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of process of drying apple pretreated osmotically with sucrose solution at five concentrations of 0 (control), 10, 30, 50, and 70% (w/w), using intermittent microwave at four power levels of 0 (control), 360, 600, and 900?W, four pulse ratios of 1, 2, 3, and 4, and convective hot air (40°C) on drying kinetics, effective moisture diffusion coefficient, shrinkage, bulk density, rehydration ratio, and energy consumption. Results showed that the three-stage hybrid osmotic–intermittent microwave–convective drying of apple at low temperature yielded higher drying rates (with 41.5% decrease in drying time) and improved quality of final product. The effective moisture diffusion coefficient increased with an increase in power, pulse ratio, and the concentration of osmotic solution. Furthermore, shrinkage, bulk density, and energy consumption of the samples decreased with an increase in power, pulse ratio, and the concentration of osmotic solution. In summary, the use of intermittent microwave coupled with forced convection of hot air (at low temperature) in drying of apple pretreated by sucrose osmotic solution led to products with improved properties in terms of both quality and quantity.     

MODELING OF ROUGH RICE DRYING IN THIN VERTICAL COLUMNS

ABSTRACT

The solution of classical diffusion equation based on the assumption of average moisture diffusion coefficient did not adequately represent natural convection drying of rough rice in thin vertical columns exposed on both sides to hot air. Instantaneous moisture diffusivity coefficients determined from experimental drying curves decreased continuously with an increase in exposure duration and were linearly related to moisture ratio. The proponionality constant which was called apparent moisture diffusion coefficient was distinctly related to air temperature, relative humidity, and initial moisture content of rough rice. The modified moisture diffusion model using the instantaneous moisture diffusion coefficient was found to best represent the moisture removal from bulk rough rice.     

Drying with Internal Vaporisation : Introducing the Concept of Identity Drying Card (IDC)

ABSTRACT

Different drying configurations (convective drying with moist air and superheated steam, microwave drying and vacuum drying) on different materials (isotropic and anisotropic) were experimentally studied in order to model and visualise the evolution of internal pressure and temperature. To be able to do so, in addition to measuring the average moisture, a method which can determine internal-local pressure and temperature simultanously by using specially designed sensors was developed. In combination with the experiments, the numerical code TRANSPORE has been used to simulate drying processes. A less comprehensive but more comprehensible analytical model was also provided to facilitate the better understanding of internal phenomena. Based on the results gained from measurement and numerical analysis, the dynamic distribution and development of local temperature and pressure inside seasoned medium are coupled together by a temperature-pressure graph, which is herewith called “Identity Drying Card” (IDC), a new concept initialid in the paper. By using IDC, the internal profile of temperature and pressure, the dominant transport properties (penncability and difisivity), the mechanism of transport (diffusion, convection or both) and the phase transitions during drying can be visualised. More specifically, the amount of dry air, the moisture content in the hygroscopic rcgion or the danger due to internal mechanical loads of handled materials can be figured out with the aid of IDC.     

Effective Diffusivities and Energy Consumption of Whole Fruit Chinese Jujube (Zizyphus jujuba Miller) in Microwave Drying

Microwave drying of whole fruit Chinese jujube was performed at 45, 90, and 135 W. Ten commonly used mathematical models of thin-layer drying were compared. The Midilli model was best in describing drying time dependency of product moisture ratios. The initial drying rate and drying rate constant are linearly proportional to microwave power level. An effective diffusivity model was presented and validated with the Renka-Cline algorithm. The model has very high predictive precision, suggested by the relative percentage error of 3.734% on average between the model and the Renka-Cline algorithm. The effective diffusivity was proved to be a linear function of microwave power level and a quadratic function of moisture content. Energy consumption in microwave drying of Chinese jujube decreased as microwave power increased from 45 to 135 W, but 90 W was adequate for high-quality products with less energy consumption.     

EFFECT OF DRYING METHOD ON SHRINKAGE AND POROSITY

ABSTRACT

The effect of drying method on bulk density, particle density, specific volume and porosity of banana, apple, carrot and potato at various moisture contents was investigated, using a large set of experimental measurements. Samples were dehydrated with five different drying methods: conventional, vacuum, microwave, freeze and osmotic drying. A simple mathematical model was used In order to correlate the above properties with the material moisture content. Four parameters with physical meaning were incorporated in the model: the enclosed water density p_w, the dry solid density p_s, the dry solid bulk density p_bo and the volume shrinkage coefficient β'. The effect of drying method on the examined properties was taken into account through its effect on the corresponding parameters. Only, dry solid bulk density was dependent on both material and drying method. Freeze dried materials developed the highest porosity, whereas the lowest one was obtained using conventional air drying.     

DRYING RELATED PROPERTIES OF APPLE

ABSTRACT

Drying related properties of apple are evaluated for various different drying methods (namely, convective, vacuum, microwave, osmotic and freeze drying), and their corresponding process conditions. The examined properties are drying kinetics, equilibrium material moisture content, density, porosity, color and viscoelastic characteristics. The effect of various process factors on these properties is described through particular mathematical models. The model parameters are estimated by fitting the corresponding model equations on a wide range of experimental data. Drying kinetics is greatly affected by the characteristic particle size and drying air temperature for convective drying, while for the case of microwave drying they are affected by the vacuum pressure and the emitted radiation power. Equilibrium material moisture content is affected by the temperature and the humidity of the surrounding air, while the osmotic pretreatment shifts the sorption isotherms to higher water activity levels. The quality properties examined, are significantly affected by the drying method. More specifically, osmotic dehydration decreases the porosity of the final product, while it prevents color deterioration and enchances the viscous nature of dehydrated apple. Freeze-dried apples develop the highest porosity, have the most elastic structure and the lowest rate of color deterioration.     

Drying of Lentil Including Shrinkage: A Numerical Simulation

Abstract

This article presents a theoretical study about drying of lentil including shrinkage. The two-dimensional unsteady-state diffusion modeling written in the oblate spheroidal coordinates system considers the volume variation effect, convective boundary condition at the surface of the solid, and variable thermo-physical properties. The governing equation was discretized using the finite-volume method and the linear equations system was solved by Gauss-Siedel iterative method. To validate the model, numerical results of the average moisture content were compared with experimental data from eight experiments and a good agreement was obtained. The diffusion coefficients for all drying experiments are determined using the least square error technique.     

Microwave Heat Treatment of Spinach: Drying Kinetics and Effective Moisture Diffusivity

The effect of microwave drying technique on moisture content, moisture ratio, drying rate, drying time, effective moisture diffusivity, and porosity of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) were investigated. By increasing the microwave output powers (180–900 W) and the sample amounts (25–100 g), the drying time decreased from 18 to 3.5 min and increased from 7.7 to 25 min, respectively. To determine the kinetic parameters, the drying data were fitted to various models based on the ratios of the differences between the initial and final moisture contents and equilibrium moisture content versus drying time. Among of the models proposed, Page's model gave a better fit for all drying conditions applied. The activation energy was calculated using an exponential expression based on Arrhenius equation. The relationship between the drying rate constant and effective moisture diffusivity was also estimated and gave a linear relationship.     

COMBINED MICROWAVE AND SPOUTED BED DRYING OF DICED APPLES: EFFECT OF DRYING CONDITIONS ON DRYING KINETICS AND PRODUCT TEMPERATURE

ABSTRACT

The influence of microwave power (0 to 8.0 W/g, dry basis) and hot air temperature (25°C to 95 °C) on drying rate and product temperature of diced apples (from 31 % to 5% moisture content, dry basis) in a laboratory microwave and spouted-bed combined dryer was investigated. Product temperature initially increased sharply to a plateau about 12 to 15°C above the spouted bed air temperature at a microwave input power 6.4 W/g. This temperature remained almost constant thereafter. Uniform microwave heating was achieved as evidenced by uniform product color and product temperature. Drying rates increased with increasing spouted-bed air temperature or microwave power level, But higher microwave power caused more darkening of the product. Drying of the diced apples in the microwave and spouted bed drying system exhibited two falling rates periods. The influence of air temperature on effective moisture diffusivity followed an Arrhenius type equation. The activation energies were 23.7 kJ/mol and 26.7 kJ/mol for the first and second falling rate periods, respectively.     

Estimation of Effective Moisture Diffusivity of Okra for Microwave Drying

The effect of microwave output power and sample amount on effective moisture diffusivity were investigated using microwave drying technique on round okra (Hibiscus esculentus L.). The various microwave output powers ranging from 180 to 900 W were used for the determination of effective moisture diffusivity for constant sample amount of 100 g okra. To examine the effect of sample amount on effective moisture diffusivity, the samples in the range of 25–100 g were dried at constant microwave output power of 360 W. By increasing the microwave output powers and decreasing the sample amounts, the effective moisture diffusivity values ranged from 20.52 × 10^?10 to 86.17 × 10^?10 and 34.87 × 10^?10 to 11.91 × 10^?9 m²/s^?1, respectively. The modeling studies were performed to illustrate the relationship between the ratio of the microwave output power to sample amount and effective moisture diffusivity. The relationship between drying constant and effective moisture diffusivity was also estimated.     

A Combined Experimental and Theoretical Approach to Study Temperature and Moisture Dynamic Characteristics of Intermittent Paddy Rice Drying

Intermittent drying of paddy rice is fully investigated both theoretically and experimentally. A model is developed to describe simultaneous heat and mass transfer for the drying stages and mass transfer for the tempering ones. The model is considered for both cylindrical and spherical geometries. The model excels in considering non-constant paddy rice and air physical properties as well as surface vaporization and convection. The consequent equations are numerically solved with finite-difference method of line using implicit Runge–Kutta. Furthermore, a set of experiments is conducted in a laboratory-scale fluidized bed dryer to estimate the moisture diffusivity of rice and evaluate the effects of different parameters. Two correlations for moisture diffusivity are derived for each geometry based on the experimental results. It is noteworthy that the geometry choice leads to significantly different moisture diffusivities. As a result, the diffusivity values obtained for spherical presentation is 2.64 times greater than that of cylinder. Moreover, the cylindrical model fits the experimental results more precisely, especially for tempering stage (AARD_cyl = 1.03%; AARD_sph = 1.53%). Model results reveal that thermal equilibrium is quickly reached within the first 2 min. Air velocity shows no influential effect on drying upon establishment of fluidized condition. In addition, drying rate is drastically improved after applying the tempering stage. A definition for tempering stage efficiency is also proposed which shows that 3 h tempering will be 80% efficient for the studied case. Rising temperature significantly improves the drying rate, while it does not contribute much in the tempering efficiency.     

Effective Moisture Diffusivity Estimation from Drying Data. A Comparison Between Various Methods of Analysis

Moisture diffusivity is the most crucial property in drying calculations. Literature data are scarce due to the variation of both experimental measurement techniques and methods of analysis. The effect of using different methods of analysis on the same experimental drying data is examined in this work. Detailed and simplified mathematical models, incorporating moisture diffusivity as model parameter, are applied. It is proved, that significant differences in the calculated values of moisture diffusivity result when different models are used, and probably these differences explain the variation in literature data. Thus, the adoption of a standardised methodology will be of great importance in moisture diffusivity evaluation.

The above findings resulted from the application of four alternative models on the drying data of three common food materials, potato, carrot and apple. A typical pilot plant scale dryer with controlled drying air conditions was used for the experiments. The moisture content dependence of the diffusion coefficient was proved significant at the last drying stage, while the temperature dependence followed the well known Arrhenius relation. The effects of considering external mass transfer and volume shrinkage during drying, were also investigated.     

THIN-LAYER DRYING CHARACTERISTICS AND MODELING OF CELERY LEAVES UNDERGOING MICROWAVE TREATMENT

The effect of microwave drying on moisture content, moisture ratio, drying rate, drying time, and effective moisture diffusivity of celery leaves (Apium graveolens) was investigated. By increasing the microwave output power from 180 to 900 W the drying time decreased from 34 to 8 min; by increasing the sample amount from 25 to 100 g, the drying time increased from 25 to 49 min. To determine the kinetic parameters, the drying data were fitted to various models based on the ratios of the differences between the initial and final moisture contents and equilibrium moisture content versus drying time. Among the models proposed, the semi-empirical Midilli et al. model gave a better fit for all drying conditions applied. The activation energy was calculated using an exponential expression based on the Arrhenius equation. The relationship between the drying rate constant and effective moisture diffusivity was also estimated and gave a linear relationship.