Study of the Drying Kinetics in Thin Layer: Fixed and Moving Bed

Drying kinetics of soybean seeds were investigated in the fixed bed (which is normally used) and in the moving bed with cross flow, both being run under thin-layer conditions. The analysis of the available data followed the diffusive model approach with re-parameterization. Special attention has been given to the nonlinearity inherent in the database in order to evaluate the statistical properties of the least squares estimator. The results showed that the effective diffusivity of the moving bed is 24 to 44% higher than that of the fixed bed.