Heat and mass transfer in combined convective and far-infrared drying of fruit leather

Combined convective and far-infrared drying is a challenging assignment due to complex relationship between heat and mass transfer. In this paper, heat and mass transfer of fruit leather drying with combination of hot air and far-infrared has been carried out. The heat and the mass transfer coefficients were analyzed by heat–mass analogy. It could be found that the ratio between heat and mass transfer coefficients for the combination technique could not be obtained from the heat–mass analogy classical model and a modification is needed. The modified correlations for predicting ratio of heat and mass transfer coefficients and the heat transfer coefficient in term of heat transfer Nusselt number are developed. The model could fit the experimental data quite well within ±10% deviation.     

Continuous production of biodiesel with supercritical methanol: Optimization of a scale-up plug flow reactor by response surface methodology

A scale-up plug flow reactor was evaluated for the continuous production of biodiesel from refined palm kernel oil (PKO) with supercritical methanol and optimized by response surface methodology. The effects of the operating temperature (270–350 °C), pressure (15.0–20.0 MPa) and methanol:PKO molar ratio (20:1–42:1) were evaluated at a constant residence time of 20 ± 2 min by using a central composite design. Analysis of variance demonstrated that a modified quadratic regression model gave the best coefficient of determination (R² = 0.9615) and adjusted coefficient of determination (Adj. R² = 0.9273). The interaction terms in the regression model illustrated small synergistic effects of both temperature–pressure and temperature–methanol:PKO molar ratio. The optimal conditions were 325 ± 5 °C, 18.0 ± 0.5 MPa and a methanol:PKO molar ratio of 42 ± 2:1, attaining a maximum production rate of 18.0 ± 1.5 g biodiesel/min with a fatty acid methyl ester content of 93.7 ± 2.1%. The product obtained from the optimal conditions had high cetane number, and could be considered as a fuel additive for cetane number enhancement.     

DESORPTION ISOTHERMS AND DRYING CHARACTERISTICS OF SHRIMP IN SUPERHEATED STEAM AND HOT AIR

Desorption isotherms for shrimp were determined at the temperatures of 50, 60, 70 and 80°C. Amongst the moisture equilibrium predictions between the BET and GAB models, the latter has a better predictable capability. The GAB parameters are correlated with the temperatures by the Arrhenius expression. Drying characteristics of shrimp in drying media at the temperature range of 120-180°C for superheated steam and of 70-140°C for hot air have been examined. Drying rate and effective diffusion coefficient are used to quantify quantitatively the difference between the superheated steam and the hot air dryings. The temperature is more important effect on drying rate and effective diffusion coefficient in the superheated steam than in the hot air. Inversion temperature exists between 140 and 150°C. Comparing to the hot air, the shrimp dried by the superheated steam shows a lower degree of shrimp shrinkage. In addition, product colours are slightly different to those from the commercial sources.     

Heating process of soybean using hot-air and superheated-steam fluidized-bed dryers

The present work investigated drying characteristics and inactivation of urease in soybean dried by superheated-steam and hot-air fluidized beds. The value of effective diffusion coefficient, which was determined by a method of slopes, was increased with increased drying temperature and increased moisture content. Furthermore, it depended on the type of heating medium, with higher moisture diffusion for soybean dried by hot air. Inactivation of the urease enzyme in both media showed difference in rate, in which the enzymatic inactivation was faster for soybean dried in superheated steam than in hot air. For the individual heating medium, the modified first-order reaction was adequately fitted to experimental data. The rate of inactivation was found to increase as the temperature and moisture content were increased. The urease enzyme was inactivated, along with maintaining protein solubility and lysine content being in standard range, as soybean was treated at a temperature between 135 and 150 °C for the hot air and the treatment temperature could be reduced to be lower than 135 °C by using superheated steam.     

Density functional theory evidence for an electron hopping process in single-walled carbon nanotube-mediated redox reactions

The electron hopping mechanism in the single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT)-mediated redox reaction between anthraquinonyl (AQH₂) and 4-arylhydroxyl amine (4AHA) groups is studied by density functional theory calculations. The (8, 0) SWCNT is used to mimic the real system of interest. It is found that electrons from the oxidized AQH₂ group can be transferred to the oxidizing 4AHA group, at the other end of the nanotube, by a hopping process through the mediating SWCNT. Disparity of electron densities ascribable to non-localized electrons confirms this finding. The disparity, partial electron density difference, and Hirshfeld partial charges analyses show that the SWCNT can hold 87% of the extra electron density of the hypothetical negative intermediate produced from the oxidation of the AQH₂ process. Chemical attachments of these two redox reagents to the SWCNT also cause new impurity states within the band gap, thereby giving more metallic characteristics to the system. These findings provide a detailed understanding of the electron hopping process and agree well with a previous experimental study.     

Drying and Urease Inactivation Models of Soybean Using Two-dimensional Spouted Bed Technique

The most important factors for examining the quality of soybeans in the animal feed industry are moisture and urease inactivation. Mathematical models for soybean drying and urease inactivation using two-dimensional spouted bed are developed and validated with experimental data. The influences of initial moisture content, inlet air temperature, air recycle on the drying rate, urease inactivation, and energy consumption are also studied. The results revealed that the increase in initial moisture content slightly affected the drying rate and urease inactivation while the inlet air temperature caused a significant effect. To obtain a high drying rate and save energy consumption, the recycle air ratio should be kept in a range of 80-90%.     

Characteristics of Rice Dried in Superheated-Steam Fluidized-Bed

Characteristic properties of rice in a superheated-steam fluidized-bed dryer have been investigated using RVA, DSC, and SEM. The experimental results have shown that the reduction in moisture content from 41-42.5 to 25% d.b. using steam temperatures of 150-170°C was initially linear with drying time followed by the exponential decay when the moisture content was below 25% d.b. During the latter period, the water transport was controlled by the internal diffusion. Condensation of steam, along with the use of high temperature, enabled the development of gel layer as obvious from SEM. The formed gel layer caused the very low effective diffusivity when compared with the case of no gel formation in paddy kernel. The pasting properties and DSC measurements have shown that paddy dried at a higher temperature and a thinner bed depth provided a greater extent of gelatinization during the drying time, the first factor showing a profound effect. Kinetics of gelatinization is reasonably described by the zero-order reaction. For the paddy quality, the head rice yield was 70% higher than the reference value and color of white rice became yellow and low luminous after reducing moisture content to 18% d.b. The percentage of white belly was less than 1.5%.     

DRYING CHARACTERISTICS OF CORN IN FLUIDIZED BED DRYER

A batch fluidized bed dryer was carried out for corn drying. Drying characteristics of corn were investigated The experimental results indicated that moisture transfer inside a corn kernel was controlled by internal diffusion by the following conditions : inlet hot air temperatures of 120 - 200 °C, superficial air velocities of 2.2- 4 m/s, bed depths of 4 - 12 cm, fraction of air recycled of 0.5 -0.9 and initial moisture content of corn of 43 % dry-basis. The Wang and Sing equation could describe in accordance with the results. Inlet hot air temperature and specific air flow rate were independent variables for drying constant model in the Wang and Singh equation.     

A Comparative Study of Pork Drying Using Superheated Steam and Hot Air

Drying with superheated steam and hot air were comparatively studied for pork. Transport, physical, and chemical properties, i.e., effective diffusivity, color, microstructure, and rehydration ability, were investigated. The experimental results have shown that the decrease of pork moisture content in an early drying time was more rapid in superheated steam than in hot air and appeared to be lower in a latter time. The pork surface as examined by SEM was noticeably different for the samples dried by superheated steam and hot air. The fewer pores at the surface of superheated steam-dried pork caused a slower water penetration into the interior during rehydration, in addition to the lower drying rate. The color of the product from superheated steam was a relatively more intense brown than that obtained from hot air as presented by a lower L* value and a higher a* value.     

Integrated Framework for Quantifying and Predicting Weather-Related Highway Construction Delays

Constant exposure to the environment makes highway construction highly dependent on weather. However, highway construction contracts are often unclear about the potential influence of weather-related delays on highway construction project schedules. There is a need to discourage litigation arising from weather-related delays by including in contracts a reasonable number of nonwork days as a consequence of adverse weather and providing an equitable criteria for the course of action when the predictions in the contracts turn out to be inaccurate. To address this need, an integrated framework consisting of the following two key components is proposed: (1) identification of attributes of weather that cause construction delays and (2) generation of synthetic weather sequences using a stochastic weather generator to quantify and provide probabilistic forecasts of weather threshold values. The utility of this framework is demonstrated through its application to construction work on a project in Texas. The use of probabilistic forecast of construction delay attributes provided by a semiparametric weather generator in this research is an example of interdisciplinary study to help address this problem. The result of the research is better decision support for agencies who wish to author contracts that more equitably allow for the influence of weather during construction.