STUDY OF LONGAN FLESH DRYING

The objectives of this research were to study the characteristics and quality of longan flesh drying and to develop the models for drying simulations. Finite difference method was applied to solve the drying kinetic equations. Three alternative diffusion models were developed by modifying the Arrhenius factor and/or the energy of activation as a function of moisture content. The results using effective diffusion coefficients obtained from each model were compared. Desorption isotherms were also developed by fitting experimental results to various well-known models. The development and simulation of mathematical drying model of a cabinet dryer were also studied. The effects of drying air temperature and specific air flow rate on specific energy consumption were described. Additionally, the effect of drying air temperature on product quality was investigated by experiment.