Parametric Study of High-Intensity Ultrasound in the Atmospheric Freeze Drying of Peas

Atmospheric freeze drying (AFD) is a dehydration process that can be used to produce high-end products for the food, pharmaceutical, and biological industries. Evaporation or sublimation at the drying temperatures used for these processes is generally low. Airborne ultrasound can be used to increase drying rates. This parametric study investigates the influence of the drying temperature, drying time, and ultrasonic power for atmospheric freeze drying in the presence of an airborne ultrasonic field. Accelerated effective diffusion of up to 14.8% was obtained for atmospheric freeze drying with a fluid bed. The faster drying in ultrasonic-assisted atmospheric freeze drying is assumed to be due to a higher mass transfer rate at the solid-gas interface, caused by a reduced boundary layer due to a higher turbulent interface. Thus high intensity, airborne ultrasound used with modern drying systems has great potential to accelerate drying, reduce investment and production costs, and improve product quality.     

Drying of Apple Slices in Atmospheric and Vacuum Freeze Dryer

Atmospheric freeze drying (AFD) and vacuum freeze drying (VFD) of Fuji apples was investigated. A factorial design was used in each case, with particle size, freezing rate, infrared (IR) radiation, and air temperature as factors. The effect of these factors on moisture content, duration of drying, rehydration properties, color, and texture were determined. The drying curves were fitted with both the simplified constant diffusivity model (SCDM) and the modified Page model, and rehydration curves were tested with the Peleg model, resulting in R² higher than 0.96. Antioxidant capacity, polyphenols, and ascorbic acid content in the final product were determined and compared with those obtained in a tunnel dryer. A sensory evaluation was performed.

The drying times obtained for VFD were shorter than the drying times obtained for AFD. The particle size and IR application were found to be the significant parameters that affect duration of drying for both AFD and VFD (duration of drying was proportional to particle size and inversely proportional to IR application). Air temperature affected drying time only during the secondary drying stage. Estimated D_eff values were on the order of 10^?10 (m²/s). In AFD, R² higher than 0.81 was obtained for the SCDM, and R² higher than 0.96 was obtained for the Page model. In VFD, a better fit was obtained (R² > 0.97) for both models. AFD produced nutritional alterations similar to convective drying. Sensory quality was not altered by AFD or VFD.     

常压吸附流化冷冻干燥技术的研究与探索

阐述了常压吸咐流化冷冻干燥与真空冷冻干燥的原理，特点，研究概况和能耗分析，提出常压吸附流化冷冻干燥可能成为一种新型冷冻干燥技术而具有较高的研究开发价值。     

Trends in Microwave-Assisted Freeze Drying of Foods

Microwave-assisted freeze drying (MFD) can be accomplished in two distinct ways: freeze drying assisted concurrently with microwave application (MFD-1) and freeze drying and assisted microwave/vacuum microwave drying in two consecutive separate drying stages (MFD-2). MFD is a rapid dehydration technique that can be applied to certain foods, particularly to seafoods, solid soup, and fruits and vegetables. MFD involves much less drying time and energy consumption than conventional freeze-drying methods. Currently, this technology has been successfully used to dry many food materials and has potential in the food industry. Increasing concerns over product quality, energy savings, and production costs have motivated researchers and the industry to adopt MFD technologies. The advantages of MFD include shorter drying time, energy savings, improved product quality, and flexibility in producing a wide variety of dried products. However, current applications are limited to small categories of foods due to high startup costs and relatively complex technology compared to conventional freeze drying. This article presents a concise review of recent progress in MFD R&D and makes recommendations for future research to bridge the gap between laboratory research and industrial applications.     

Microwave Freeze Drying of Apple Slices Based on the Dielectric Properties

Freeze drying (FD) yields the best quality of dried apple slices but requires a long drying time and is not cost-effective. To mitigate these problems, a microwave freeze drying (MFD) technique was developed to dry apple slices. The relationship between corona discharge and microwave power at various pressures and initial moisture content conditions was studied to avoid the possibility of corona discharge during MFD. It was found that with change of moisture content and temperature of samples during MFD, the dielectric property also changed, which resulted in dynamic microwave dissipation. Based on the dielectric property of samples, a changed microwave loading scheme can lead to perfect product quality and greatly reduce the drying time; thus, MFD can be used to replace the traditional FD technique.     

Microwave Freeze Drying of Sea Cucumber Coated with Nanoscale Silver

To develop an improved dehydration method for sea cucumber, microwave freeze drying was tested as a potential method. According to our experimental results, microwave freeze drying can reduce drying time to about half of the traditional vacuum freeze-drying process. To ensure a high degree of sterilization, a novel nanoscale silver coating technique was combined with microwave freeze drying. Microwave freeze drying combined with nanoscale silver coating treatment leads to a much lower microorganism number with no significant effect on drying efficiency and sensory quality.     

Microwave Freeze Drying of Sea Cucumber Coated with Nanoscale Silver

To develop an improved dehydration method for sea cucumber, microwave freeze drying was tested as a potential method. According to our experimental results, microwave freeze drying can reduce drying time to about half of the traditional vacuum freeze-drying process. To ensure a high degree of sterilization, a novel nanoscale silver coating technique was combined with microwave freeze drying. Microwave freeze drying combined with nanoscale silver coating treatment leads to a much lower microorganism number with no significant effect on drying efficiency and sensory quality.     

CFD Model of Apple Atmospheric Freeze Drying at Low Temperature

An Internet-controlled atmospheric freeze dryer was designed, built, and tested in the Department of Heat and Mass Transfer, Technical University of ?ód?. A film sublimation-based CFD model was developed and verified using Fluent 6.1 commercial CFD software. The model enables the simulation of phase change and water vapor diffusion process within porous media. Transport of non-condensable species can be calculated with species transport inbuilt model of Fluent 6.1 and used to predict sublimation rate under given conditions. Results were compared with AFD experimental data of 10-mm Idared apple cubes. The viability of applying the film sublimation model to atmospheric freeze-drying process was demonstrated. Higher mass flux was found on the leading edge, relatively uniform mass flux within the porous zone illustrates that vapor diffusion dominates atmospheric freeze drying process at low temperature (below 0°C). CFD results for apple cubes show a predomination of diffusional resistance of porous tissue.     

A Two-Stage Vacuum Freeze and Convective Air Drying Method for Strawberries

Strawberries were dehydrated in a two-stage combination drying consisting of vacuum freeze drying (FD) followed by hot air drying (AD), and in a two-stage hybrid method involving FD and finish AD(FAD) to obtain dehydrated strawberries of high quality at reduced cost. Energy consumption and physicochemical properties of the FAD product were compared with single-stage AD and single-stage FD. The quality parameters of the products were also analyzed. It was found that the quality of combined FAD-dried products approximated that of single-stage FD. Hence, the proposed two-stage combination drying method is recommended for dehydration of strawberries to obtain a high-quality product at lower cost when compared with vacuum freeze drying alone.     

A Two-Stage Vacuum Freeze and Convective Air Drying Method for Strawberries

Strawberries were dehydrated in a two-stage combination drying consisting of vacuum freeze drying (FD) followed by hot air drying (AD), and in a two-stage hybrid method involving FD and finish AD(FAD) to obtain dehydrated strawberries of high quality at reduced cost. Energy consumption and physicochemical properties of the FAD product were compared with single-stage AD and single-stage FD. The quality parameters of the products were also analyzed. It was found that the quality of combined FAD-dried products approximated that of single-stage FD. Hence, the proposed two-stage combination drying method is recommended for dehydration of strawberries to obtain a high-quality product at lower cost when compared with vacuum freeze drying alone.     

Atmospheric Freeze Drying—A Review

This review article focuses on the development of atmospheric freeze drying (AFD): technological aspects, product possibilities, physical properties of products, drying kinetics, modeling, and simulation. The main motivation for developing atmospheric freeze drying as a new drying technology is the desire to reduce the energy consumption compared to vacuum freeze drying while maintaining a high product quality. One technical solution of atmospheric freeze drying is a combined atmospheric freeze drying and heat pump system with new environmentally friendly refrigerants. Temperature programs make it possible to customize products with desired qualities and properties, like retained color, instant properties, aroma, and nutritional value.     

黑加仑真空冷冻干燥工艺研究

以黑加仑为原料，对其真空冷冻干燥特性和工艺进行了试验研究。结果表明：黑加仑的共晶温度为-24℃，共融温度为-21℃；其合理的工艺参数为：升华温度为50℃，保持4．5h；解吸温度为60℃，保持2h。冻干后的黑加仑含水量为5％左右，能很好保持黑加仑的品质，Vc的保留率为82．6％，花青苷的保留率为57．5％。     

Ultrasonically Enhanced Osmotic Pretreatment of Sea Cucumber Prior to Microwave Freeze Drying

A new pretreatment method involving use of ultrasound prior to microwave freeze drying of sea cucumber was examined experimentally. It was observed that ultrasound-assisted osmotic pretreatment can reduce by about 2 h the time needed for microwave freeze drying. An optimization study using response surface analysis was carried out to determine the optimal operating parameters to minimize drying time while maximizing quality.     

Spray Freeze Drying in a Fluidized Bed at Normal and Low Pressure

The aim of this study is to develop the spray freeze drying process and its hardware and to investigate its capabilities to dry thermosensible substances such as pharma-proteins at normal and low pressures. As the result, the spray freeze fluidized–bed dryer was constructed. During the study, the drying kinetic comparison between classical and spray freeze–drying technologies was done. Spray freeze drying has shown short process times and allows advanced control, product particle shape and size uniformity, and high solubility. This shows that the fluidized-bed freeze-drying process could be an alternative for classical freeze-drying processes. Identified problems are the low yield of the primary drying phase and the strong electrostatic effects during the secondary drying step. However, the innovative process has shown an excellent capability to dry and stabilize the thermosensitive substances, such as pharma-proteins.     

Spray Freeze Drying in a Fluidized Bed at Normal and Low Pressure

The aim of this study is to develop the spray freeze drying process and its hardware and to investigate its capabilities to dry thermosensible substances such as pharma-proteins at normal and low pressures. As the result, the spray freeze fluidized-bed dryer was constructed. During the study, the drying kinetic comparison between classical and spray freeze-drying technologies was done. Spray freeze drying has shown short process times and allows advanced control, product particle shape and size uniformity, and high solubility. This shows that the fluidized-bed freeze-drying process could be an alternative for classical freeze-drying processes. Identified problems are the low yield of the primary drying phase and the strong electrostatic effects during the secondary drying step. However, the innovative process has shown an excellent capability to dry and stabilize the thermosensitive substances, such as pharma-proteins.     

Microwave-Assisted Thin Layer Drying of Wheat

Drying characteristics of Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat were studied using a domestic microwave convective oven. The effects of microwave power level, grain bed thickness, and initial grain moisture on the drying kinetics were investigated. Wheat samples with initial moisture levels of 0.18 to 0.29 kg water/kg of dry matter were dried for different drying periods of 180 to 360 s. The moisture loss data were recorded at regular short intervals. Then moisture loss data were fitted to various models (Page equation, modified drying equation, and Midilli equation) to study the drying kinetics of wheat. The results showed that wheat moisture loss increased with increasing microwave power level. A mathematical model was developed by coupling mass and energy balances, resulting in a system of non-linear equations. The predicted moisture loss data from the developed model were compared by fitting to experimental microwave data that were in good agreement.     

How to Meet the Freeze Drying Standard in Combined Drying Processes: Pre and Finish Drying of Carrot Dice

Freeze-drying (FD) processes are well known to produce high-quality consumer products. Major problems are long drying times, high investment costs, and resulting maintenance and operating costs that make FD a very costly process. In this study, the potential of air drying (AD) and microwave vacuum drying (MVD) is tested to reduce freeze-drying times and make better utilization of the investment by combining FD with alternative lower cost drying processes using a pre or finish drying step while preserving the qualwity of the final product. Using carrot dice as a sample product, predrying did not lead to the desired qualities and reduction in drying time, whereas finish drying produced promising results. FD/MVD was 40% faster than pure FD and achieved freeze-drying standards regarding volume retention, shape, color, and rehydration. The good performance of microwave vacuum finish drying can directly be traced back to a time effect that is possibly linked to a characteristic collapse time of the cellular matrix. In order to use this effect, a stable skeleton must have developed at the point of process changeover, changeover has to be immediate, and finish drying has to be quick.     

瓶装物料的冷冻干燥二维模型的建立与求解

本文对瓶装物料的冻干建立了一个考虑因素较为全面的二维数学模,该模型了侧面传热、结合水解吸和水蒸气温升对冻干过程的影响。根据冻干过程和模型方程的特点,本文把二循环对称分裂格式、预测－校正格式等算法联立起来对模型进行了数值求解,这些工作比目前的“只建模,不求解”或“虽求解,但模型简单、适用范围窄”的研究进行了一步。     

冷冻干燥法制备层状多孔羟基磷灰石支架过程中的溶剂升华行为

采用水基羟基磷灰石(hydroxyapatite,HA)浆料,经冷冻干燥和烧结工艺(1 250℃烧结3 h)制备了层状多孔HA支架.研究了冷冻温度、干燥压力和干燥温度对水基HA浆料中溶剂升华行为的影响.结果表明:随着冷冻温度的降低,多孔HA支架的层间距逐渐减小,支架的升华时间增加;由于样品的干燥过程同时受到传热和传质的...     

Simulation and Validation of Microwave-Assisted Fluidized Bed Drying of Soybeans

A general mathematical model of heat and mass transfer was developed to simulate the microwave-assisted fluidized bed drying of bulk grain. The model was solved using the well-known Runge-Kutta-Gill method. The model is capable of predicting the moisture content of soybean as well as the drying air parameters (i.e., drying air temperature and moisture content) during drying. The values of mean relative deviation (MRD) were less than 8 and 10% for prediction of grain moisture content and outlet air parameters, respectively, which reflects an acceptable accuracy. In comparison with conventional fluidized bed drying of soybean, microwave-assisted fluidized bed drying led to 83.39–98.07% savings in drying time and 82.07–95.22% savings in specific energy consumption when reducing soybean moisture content from 18.32 to 12% (db).