Thin Layer Modelling of Recirculatory Convective Air Drying of Curd (Indian Yoghurt)

Dahi is one of the most popular fermented milk products consumed in India with excellent therapeutic properties. The initial moisture content of dahi is approximately 5.7 kg water kg dry solid⁻¹. The shelf life of dahi is limited and hence the long term storage is possible in the form of dahi powder which can further be used as a base for formulation of health drink mix. Dahi was dried in a laboratory scale recirculatory convective air dryer to a final moisture content of 0.04 kg water kg dry solid⁻¹. Drying characteristics of dahi were investigated under varying conditions of dahi thickness (0.003 m, 0.004 m and 0.005 m) and drying air temperatures (45°C, 50°C and 55°C) and velocities (1.5 m s⁻¹, 2.0 m s⁻¹ and 2.5 m s⁻¹). Different drying models were used to simulate the observed drying data. The mathematical models were compared based on R-square and reduced chi-square values. The drying characteristics were satisfactorily described by Page, modified page, logarithmic and Midilli et al. models. The Midilli et al. model followed by modified page model provided the best representation of data. Effective moisture diffusivity computed on the basis of Fick's law varied between 2.52 × 10⁻¹⁰ m² s⁻¹ and 1.3 × 10⁻⁹ m² s⁻¹ under experimental drying air temperatures and sample thicknesses at air velocity 2.5 m s⁻¹. The temperature and thickness dependence of effective moisture diffusivity was expressed by an Arrhenius type of equation. The equation showed best fit for diffusivity data at 2.5 m s⁻¹ and varying temperatures and sample thickness.     

Usage of solar-assisted spouted bed drier in drying of pea

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of solar-assisted spouted bed and open sun drying on the drying rate and quality parameters of pea. Color, shrinkage, bulk and apparent densities, internal and bulk porosities, rehydration capacity and microstructure were the quality parameters investigated in dried product.Drying rate for solar-assisted spouted bed was about 3.5 times of drying rate for open sun drying. Air temperature changed between 20 °C and 27.4 °C during open sun drying while temperature of air at the inlet of solar-assisted spouted bed dryer varied between 35.3 °C and 65.5 °C during the experiments. Effective diffusivities were found to be 0.64 × 10^?10 and 3.27 × 10^?10 m²/s for open sun and solar-assisted spouted bed drying of pea, respectively. In color analysis, it was observed that a* value increased while b* value decreased for both drying methods. Bulk density and apparent density of peas dried under open sun was higher than that in solar-assisted spouted bed drier. In both drying methods, internal and bulk porosities decreased. Shrinkage was more for open sun dried samples. Rehydration capacity for solar-assisted spouted bed dried sample was higher than the one for open sun dried.     

A new physical pretreatment of plum for drying

In this paper a new physical pretreatment of plums, consists of piercing them by a thin needle, is proposed to increase the rate of drying. The effect of physical pretreatment on drying time was compared with chemical pretreatment that consists of dipping of plums in hot NaOH solution (1%). Drying experiments were carried out in a convective laboratory dryer at 85 °C and 0.81 m/s air velocity. It was observed that pierced plums were dried faster than chemically pretreated plums. After 480 min moisture ratio of pierced sample was 0.07 while for the chemical method it was 0.25. The moisture ratio at any time was compared with seven different mathematical models and the best model was determined according to the best agreement. Accordingly, two-term exponential model for moisture ratio is found to be superior to the other proposed models. The effective diffusivity was found to be 5.471 × 10^?9 m²/s for chemically pretreated and 1.016 × 10^?8 m²/s for physically pretreated plums.     

Moisture transport in garlic cloves undergoing microwave-convective drying

A laboratory scale microwave dryer was used to dry the garlic cloves, applying microwave power in the range of 10–40 W, air temperature in the range of 40–70 °C and air velocity in the range of 1.0–2.0 m/s. Heat and mass transfer coefficient during the drying process varied in the range of 35.23–79.54 W/m²C and 4.26–6.34 × 10^?2 m/s. The temperature of the product rose rapidly in the early part of the drying and became almost stable thereafter. The Biot mass transfer number confirmed that moisture diffusion was the limiting factor in microwave drying of garlic. The effective moisture diffusivity, which ranged between 1.29–31.68 × 10^?10 m²/s increased with the increase in microwave power but decreased with increase in air velocity.     

Optical and mechanical properties of cocona chips as affected by the drying process

The effect of the application of a pre-osmotic treatment to obtain hot air dried cocona (Solanum sessiliofurum Dunal) chips was studied. The drying kinetics and the optical and mechanical properties of cocona chips obtained by the combined method of osmotic dehydration and hot air drying (OD + HAD) and by only hot air drying (HAD) were compared. Samples were dried by hot air at 60 °C. For the combined method, they were pre-dried to a moisture content of 75 g_water/100 g, immersed in a 55 °Brix sucrose solution at 25 °C for 48 min. The pre-osmodehydration applied did not influence the subsequent hot air drying kinetics, resulting in a final product with 0.055 ± 0.005 g_water/g_cocona. The optical properties of OD + HAD chips were more favorable, exhibiting a smaller color change with respect to the fresh fruit (±15 units) than the HAD samples (±23 units). On the other hand, the OD + HAD chips presented more fracture peaks than HAD ones, this related with a structure with a higher degree of crispness, a very desirable property for a chip product.     

Effect of different drying conditions on the vitamin C (ascorbic acid) content of Hayward kiwifruits (Actinidia deliciosa Planch)

In this study, drying kinetics of kiwifruit are investigated experimentally and theoretically under varying drying conditions. Experiments are conducted using air temperatures at 35, 45, 55 and 65 °C, mean velocities at 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 m s^?1 and, relative humidity values at 40%, 55%, 70% and 85%. Initially, sorption isotherms of the dried kiwifruit slices are determined for different temperatures and equilibrium relative humidity values. The values of the moisture diffusivity, D_eff are obtained from the Fick's diffusion model. The effects of the governing drying parameters on the vitamin C content as well as on the total drying time are determined. The experimental moisture data were fitted to some models available in the literature, mainly the Henderson and Pabis model, the Lewis model and the two-term exponential model and, a good agreement was observed. In addition, it is disclosed that increasing drying air temperature causes more loss in vitamin C in the dried fruits while degradation of vitamin C is reduced with increasing relative humidity of drying air.     

Convective drying characteristics of sludge from treatment plants in tomato processing industries

The present work is mainly focused on the study of the thin layer drying behaviour of sludge from water treatment plants in tomato processing industries, using a convective dryer. The drying experiments were conducted at inlet temperatures of drying air of 30 °C, 40 °C and 50 °C and at an airflow rate of 0.9 m/s and 1.3 m/s. The drying rate was found to increase with temperature and velocity, hence reducing the total drying time. In particular, as drying temperature was raised from 30 °C up to 50 °C, the time period needed to reduce the moisture content of the sample from 173 wt% down to 7 wt% (dry basis) was observed to decrease from more than 760 min to 470 min (0.9 m/s) and from 715 min to 295 min (1.3 m/s).Using a non-linear regression (Marquart's method) together with a multiple regression analysis, a mathematical model for the thin-layer convective drying process of sludge from treatment plants in tomato processing industries was proposed. The values of the diffusivity coefficients at each temperature were obtained using Fick's second law of diffusion, and varied from 6.11 × 10^?10 m²/s to 2.54 × 10^?9 m²/s over the temperature and velocity range. The temperature dependence of the effective diffusivity coefficient was described following an Arrhenius-type relationship. The activation energy for the moisture diffusion was determined as 30.15 kJ/mol and 36.70 kJ/mol, for airflow rates of 0.9 m/s and 1.3 m/s respectively. Air temperature 40 °C and drying airflow rate 1.3 m/s were found adequate to reduce drying energy consumption as well as to optimise the dryer loading/unloading periods.     

Experimental determination of effective moisture diffusivities of whole- and cut-rosehips in convective drying

Average effective moisture diffusivities for both the whole- and cut-rosehips were obtained during convective drying. The effects of process variables such as air temperature, air velocity and air absolute humidity on effective moisture diffusivity were studied. The average effective moisture diffusivity in rosehip ranged between 1.45 × 10^?10 and 10.3 × 10^?10 m²/s for whole-rosehip and between 1.44 × 10^?9 and 5.13 × 10^?9 m²/s for cut-rosehip at the temperatures studied. Activation energies for convective drying were found to be 62 kJ/mol for whole-rosehips and 58 kJ/mol for cut-rosehips.     

Drying equations of Thai Hom Mali paddy by using hot air,carbon dioxide and nitrogen gases as drying media

The objective of this study was to develop a drying equation for predicting the thin layer drying kinetics of dried Thai Hom Mali paddy using different drying gases. Thai Hom Mali paddy cv. Khao Dok Mali 105 with initial moisture content of 32% dry basis was dried in a heat pump dryer at 0.4 m/s fixed superficial velocity, 60% fixed evaporator bypass air ratio, and varied drying temperatures of 40, 50, 60 and 70 °C using hot air, CO₂ and N₂ gases as drying media. Drying rate was not affected by drying gases but increased with drying temperatures. Moisture ratios, at any given time during the drying process, were compared among various models, namely, Newton, Page, Modified Page I, Henderson and Pabis, two-term, approximation of diffusion, and Midilli. The effect of drying air temperatures on the coefficients of the best moisture ratio model was determined by single step regression method. The R² coefficient, root mean square error (RMSE) and chi-square (χ²) were criteria for selecting the best model. The study found that the Midilli model was the best model for describing the drying behavior of Thai Hom Mali paddy in every evaluated drying gas. It should be possible to predict the moisture content of a product with a generalized model that shows the effect of drying air temperature on the model constants and coefficients.     

Spouted bed and microwave-assisted spouted bed drying of parboiled wheat

The effect of spouted bed and microwave-assisted spouted bed drying on drying rates of parboiled wheat was investigated. In addition, the effective moisture diffusivities of parboiled wheat were calculated. The drying experiments were performed using 200 g of parboiled wheat, at three different air temperatures (50, 70, 90 °C) and at two different microwave powers (3.5 W/g (db), 7.5 W/g (db)). Microwave-assisted spouted bed drying at microwave power of 3.5 W/g and 7.5 W/g reduced drying time by at least 60% and 85%, respectively compared to spouted bed drying. The effective diffusivity values were in the range of 1.44 × 10^?10–3.32 × 10^?10 in spouted bed drying while they were between 5.06 × 10^?10 and 11.3 × 10^?10 in microwave-assisted spouted bed drying at different experimental conditions.     

Impactor designed to increase mass output rate of nanoparticles from a pneumatic nebulizer

A modular impactor was designed to remove large droplets from aerosols generated by a pneumatic nebulizer, the Six-Jet Atomizer from TSI Inc. (Shoreview, MN), with the aim of generating dry nanoparticles. Three interchangeable nozzle heads were designed to provide droplet cutoff diameters of 0.5, 1, and 2 μm at an air flow rate of 8.3×10^?4 m³ s^?1 (50 L min^?1), which corresponds to all six jets of the nebulizer operated at 25 °C and an air pressure of 241 kPa (35 psi). The collection and output characteristics of the 0.5 μm impactor were evaluated from dry particle size distributions produced by nebulizing an aqueous solution with a NaCl mass fraction of 1% both with and without the impactor present. The impactor characteristic cutoff curve was sharp (impactor geometric standard deviation, GSD_imp=1.15–1.19) with a 50% cutoff diameter d₅₀ that ranged from 0.48 μm at 3.0×10^?4 m³ s^?1 to 0.74 μm at 11.7×10^?4 m³ s^?1. The rate of dry NaCl particle generation ranged from 0.5 to 5 g s^?1 (0.04 to 0.4 g day^?1) with mass median diameters MMD_p=80–123 nm and geometric standard deviations GSD_p=1.6–1.8 (depending on flow rate). Anomalous negative impactor efficiencies were observed at flow rates >8.3×10^?4 m³ s^?1 for 100 to 400 nm droplets and at all flow rates for droplets smaller than 100 nm. This phenomenon will be investigated further as a way to increase the generation rate of nanoparticles. A step-by-step procedure is presented for the selection of an appropriate impactor design and operating flow rate for a desired maximum aerosol particle size.     

Influence of the chestnuts drying temperature on the rheological properties of their doughs

Chestnut flour doughs were prepared using chestnut air-dried at 45, 65, and 85 °C with constant load density (8.0 ± 0.6 kg/m²). Mixing curves of doughs using Mixolab^® device showed that chestnut flour doughs dried at 85 °C needed more water absorption to reach the target consistency, (1.1 ± 0.07 Nm). Thermorheological properties were evaluated by means of a controlled stress rheometer. All tested doughs showed shear-thinning behaviour in the steady-shear tests (0.001–1 s^?1). Oscillatory (1–100 rad s^?1 at 0.1% strain), temperature sweep (30–90 °C) and creep-recovery (loading 50 Pa for 60 s) tests showed that flour doughs from chestnuts dried at 85 °C provide interesting properties, particularly remarkable elasticity that is associated with starch gelatinisation. Experimental data were described using various rheological models.     

Quality evaluation of pineapple fruit during drying process

Pineapple (Anana comosus) slices were dried by hot-air convective drying technique at fixed temperature (45, 60 and 75 °C) and constant air velocity of 1.5 m/s. The effect of drying conditions (drying time and air temperature) on the pineapple quality was evaluated. The quality of dehydrated pineapple was analyzed by color and texture changes, l-ascorbic acid loss and the ability of water uptake during rehydration procedure. Water uptake during rehydration was described by Page model. Statistical analysis of data revealed not significant difference (p > 0.05) among color and mechanical characteristics of pineapple samples dried at different drying temperatures to preset moisture content. Pineapple samples dried at 45 °C had better rehydration ability and more l-ascorbic acid retention than those obtained by air drying 75 °C. Hence, 45 °C drying temperature was best condition for pineapple quality preservation.     

Two-dimensional mesoporous carbon sheet-like framework material for high-rate supercapacitors

Two-dimensional mesoporous carbon sheet-like framework (MCSF) material has been prepared using mesoporous SiO₂ nanosheet as template and coal tar pitch as carbon precursor. MCSF sheets consisting of numerous mesopores have a specific surface area of 582.7 m² g⁻¹. As a result, the MCSF electrode possesses a maximum specific capacitance of 264 F g⁻¹ at 5 mV s⁻¹, excellent rate capability (74% retention ratio at 1000 mV s⁻¹), and impressive cycling stability with 91% initial capacitance retained after 5000 cycles at 200 mV s⁻¹ in 6 mol L⁻¹ KOH. MCSF symmetric supercapacitor exhibits a maximum energy density of 9.6 Wh kg⁻¹ at 5 mV s⁻¹ and a maximum power density of 119.4 kW kg⁻¹ based on the total mass of the two electrodes in 1 mol L⁻¹ Na₂SO₄ electrolyte.     

Development of thermal conductive consolidated activated carbon for adsorption refrigeration

A new type consolidated composite activated carbon (AC) was developed with a host matrix of expanded natural graphite treated with sulfuric acid (ENG-TSA). Samples with different density, different grain size of AC, and different proportion of AC were produced and thermo-physical properties were evaluated. Results show that the highest effective thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of consolidated composite AC were 34.2 W m^?1 K^?1 and 3.89 × 10^?5 m² s^?1, which were 150 times and 72 times higher, respectively, than ordinary granular AC. The permeability of adsorbents ranged between 1.24 × 10^?14 and 7.81 × 10^?10 m² while the density ranged between 215 and 448 kg m^?3. The adsorption performance for composite AC and granular AC were evaluated by fitting experimental data with the equilibrium Dubinin–Astakhov (D–A) equations. Results show that the addition of ENG-TSA can improve the performance of adsorption refrigeration machines by increasing the concentration swing.     

Electrochemical degradation of textile dyeing industry effluent in batch and flow reactor systems

Electrochemical oxidation of organic pollutants present in the dye-bath and wash water effluents from the textile industry was carried out in batch, batch recirculation and recycle reactor configurations under different conditions of current density, treatment duration, effluent flow rate and electrode specific surface. COD reduction of 52.63% to 82.61% could be obtained when the Procion blue dye-bath effluent was treated in the batch reactor for 8 h. In batch recirculation reactor, the reduction was 94.3% for dye-bath effluent and 91.4 for wash water effluent after 6 h of operation at a current density of 5.0 A dm^?2 and flow rate of 100 L h^?1. The specific energy consumption was found to be 4.32 kWh (kg COD)^?1 for dye-bath effluent and 83.8 kWh (kg COD)^?1 for wash water effluent. The results for wash water effluent under continuous operation of recycle reactor conditions showed 52.86% of COD removal at recycle flow rate of 100 L h^?1 with discharge flow rate of 3 L h^?1. The specific energy consumption was found to be 11.9 kWh (kg COD)^?1.     

A self-healing polymer network based on reversible covalent bonding

A self-healing polymer network for potential coating applications was designed based on the concept of the reversible Diels–Alder (DA) reaction between a furan functionalized compound and a bismaleimide. The network allows local mobility in a temperature window from ca. 80 °C to 120 °C by shifting the DA equilibrium towards the initial building blocks. Changing the spacer length in the furan functionalized compound leads to tailor-made properties. Elastomeric model systems were chosen to evaluate the kinetic parameters by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. For the DA reaction a pre-exponential factor ln(A_DA in kg mol^?1 s^?1) equal to 13.1 ± 0.8 and an activation energy (E_DA) of 55.7 ± 2.3 kJ mol^?1 are found. For the retro-DA reaction, ln(A_rDA) and E_rDA are 25.8 ± 1.8 s^?1 and 94.2 ± 4.8 kJ mol^?1, respectively. The enthalpy and entropy of reaction are calculated as ?38.6 kJ mol^?1 and ?105.3 J mol^?1 K^?1. The kinetic results are validated by micro-calorimetry. Non-isothermal dynamic rheometry provides the gel-point temperature of the reversible network. The sealing capacity is evaluated by atomic force microscopy for micro-meter sized defects. Repeatability of the non-autonomous healing is checked by micro-calorimetry, ruling out side-reactions below 120 °C.     

Thin layer drying kinetics of Gundelia tournefortii L.

The literature surveyed revealed that the drying kinetics of Gundelia tournefortii has not been investigated. In this study, mathematical modeling of the thin layer drying kinetics of G. tournefortii is investigated for both the microwave and open sun drying conditions. Five different microwave power levels ranging from 90 to 800 W were used for the microwave drying. Solar radiation for the open sun drying varied from 350 to 1100 W/m². Drying took place in the falling rate period. Increasing the microwave power caused a significant decrease in drying time. The experimental moisture loss data were fitted to the 14 thin layer drying models. Among the models proposed, the Midilli model precisely represented the microwave drying behavior of G. tournefortii with the coefficient of determination higher than 0.996 and mean square of deviation (χ²), root mean square error (RMSE) and mean bias error (MBE) lower than 1.82 × 10^?4, 12 × 10^?3 and 1.4 × 10^?4, respectively for all the microwave drying conditions studied. Values of drying constant (k) were in the range of 0.0098–0.2943 min^?1 and the effective moisture diffusivities (D_eff) of G. tournefortii ranged from 5.5 × 10^?8 to 3.5 × 10^?7 m²/s. The values of k and D_eff increased with the increase of microwave power level. The logarithmic model was found to best describe the open sun drying kinetics of G. tournefortii. The effective diffusivity of G. tournefortii under the sun drying condition was determined as 2.48 × 10^?10 m²/s.     

Drying Characteristics of Barley Grain Dried in a Spouted-Bed and Combined IR-Convection Dryers

A study was performed to determine the drying characteristics and quality of barley grain dried in a laboratory scale spouted-bed dryer at 30, 35, 40, and 45°C and an inlet air velocity of 23 m/s^?1, and in an IR-convection dryer under an infrared radiation intensity of 0.048, 0.061, 0.073, and 0.107 W cm^?2 at an air velocity of 0.5 m/s^?1. The results show that the first, relatively short, phase of a sharp decrease in the drying rate was followed by the phase of a slow decrease. The time of barley drying depended on temperature of inlet air in a spouted-bed dryer and on radiation intensities in an IR-convection dryer. Barley drying at 45°C in a spouted-bed dryer was accompanied by the lowest total energy consumption. The average specific energy consumption was lower and the average efficiency of drying was higher for drying in a spouted-bed dryer. The effective diffusivities were in the range 2.20–4.52 × 10^?11 m² s^?1 and 3.04–4.79 × 10^?11 m²/s^?1 for barley dried in a spouted-bed and in an IR-convection dryer, respectively. There were no significant differences in kernel germination energy and capacity between the two drying methods tested.     

Diffusion coefficients and electrical conductivities for calcium chloride aqueous solutions at 298.15 K and 310.15 K

Experimental values for mutual diffusion coefficients (interdiffusion coefficients) for CaCl₂ aqueous solutions at 298.15 K and 310.15 K, not available in the literature, were experimentally determined between 0.005 mol dm^?3 and 0.1 mol dm^?3. The measurements were performed by using a conductimetric open-ended capillary cell. Values at infinitesimal concentration, D⁰, were also obtained. These data were analysed using the Onsager–Fuoss and Gordon models. In addition, molar conductance data were measured at 310.15 K for CaCl₂ aqueous solutions at the same concentration range and the value at infinitesimal concentration determined. Afterwards, it was split into the ionic limiting values. By replacing them into the Nernst equation, diffusion coefficients at infinitesimal concentration were derived (1.335 × 10^?9 m² s^?1 and 1.659 × 10^?9 m² s^?1) at both temperatures (298.15 K and 310.15 K, respectively). They agree well with the extrapolated experimental ones (1.312 × 10^?9 m² s^?1 and 1.613 × 10^?9 m² s^?1).