scholarly journals Optimisation of energy consumption of a solar-electric dryer during hot air drying of tomato slices

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 150-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nnaemeka R. Nwakuba

High-energy demand of convective crop dryers has prompted study on optimisation of dryer energy consumption for optimal and cost effective drying operation. This paper presents response surface optimisation of energy consumption of a solar-electric dryer during hot air drying of tomato slices. Drying experiments were conducted with 1 kg batch of tomato samples using a 33 central composite design of Design Expert 7.0 Statistical Package. Three levels of air velocity (1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 ms–1), slice thickness (10, 15 and 20 mm) and air temperature (50, 60 and 70°C) were used to investigate their effects on energy consumption. A quadratic model was obtained with a high coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.9825. The model was validated using the statistical analysis of the experimental parameters and normal probability plot of the energy consumption residuals. Results obtained indicate that the process parameters had significant quadratic effects (P<0.05) on the energy consumption. The energy consumption varied between 5.42 kWh and 99.78 kWh; whereas the specific energy consumption varied between 5.53 kWhkg–1 and 150.61 kWhkg–1. The desirability index method was applied in predicting the ideal energy consumption and drying conditions for tomato slices in a solar-electric dryer. At optimum drying conditions of 1.94 ms–1 air velocity, 10.36 mm slice thickness and 68.4°C drying air temperature, the corresponding energy consumption was 5.6 8kWh for maximum desirability index of 0.989. Thermal utilisation efficiency (TUE) of the sliced tomato samples ranged between 15 ≤TUE ≤58%. The maximum TUE value was obtained at 70°C air temperature, 1.0 ms–1 air velocity and 10 mm slice thickness treatment combination, whereas the minimum TUE was obtained at 50°C air temperature, 2.0 ms–1 air velocity and 20 mm slice thickness. Recommendation and prospect for further improvement of the dryer system were stated.

Author(s):  
Nnaemeka R. Nwakuba

High-energy demand of convective crop dryers has prompted study on optimization of dryer energy consumption for optimal and cost effective drying operation. This paper presents response surface optimization of energy consumption of a solar-electric dryer during hot air drying of tomato slices. Drying experiments were conducted with 1kg batch of tomato samples using a 33Central Composite Design (CCD) of Design Expert 7.0 Statistical Package. Three levels of air velocity (1.0, 1.5 and 2.0ms–1), slice thickness (10, 15 and 20mm) and air temperature (50, 60 and 70oC) were used to investigate their effects on energy consumption. A quadratic model was obtained with a high coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.9825. The model was validated using the statistical analysis of the experimental parameters and normal probability plot of the energy consumption residuals. Results obtained indicate that the process parameters had significant quadratic effects (p < 0.05) on the energy consumption. The energy consumption varied between 5.42kWh and 99.78kWh; whereas the specific energy consumption varied between 5.53kWhkg–1and 150.61kWhkg–1. The desirability index method was applied in predicting the ideal energy consumption and drying conditions for tomato slices in a solar-electric dryer. At optimum drying conditions of 1.94ms–1air velocity, 10.36mm slice thickness and 68.4oC drying air temperature, the corresponding energy consumption was 5.68kWh for maximum desirability index of 0.989. Thermal utilization efficiency (TUE) of the sliced tomato samples ranged between 15 ≤ TUE ≤ 58%. The maximum TUE value was obtained at 70oC air temperature, 1.0ms–1air velocity and 10mm slice thickness treatment combination, whereas the minimum TUE was obtained at 50oC air temperature, 2.0ms–1air velocity and 20mm slice thickness. Recommendation and prospect for further improvement of the dryer system were stated.


Processes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanyang Wang ◽  
Dan Liu ◽  
Haiming Yu ◽  
Donghai Wang ◽  
Jun Li

The effect of microwave coupled hot air drying on rehydration ratio (RR) and total sugar content (TSC) of Chinese yam was investigated. Single factor test and response surface methodology were used for process parameter optimization with hot air temperature, hot air velocity, slice thickness, and microwave power density as variables and RR and TSC of dried products as responses. The effect of variables on RR followed the order: slice thickness > hot air temperature > microwave power density > hot air velocity. The effect of variables on TSC followed the order: slice thickness > microwave power density > hot air velocity > hot air temperature. The optimized process parameters were hot air velocity of 2.5 m/s, hot air temperature of 61.7 °C, slice thickness of 8.5 mm, and microwave power density of 5.9 W/g. Under the optimal conditions, the predicted values of RR and TSC were 1.90 g/g and 5.74 g/100 g, respectively, which is very close to corresponding actual values (1.83 g/g and 5.72 g/100 g). The desirability of 0.913 further validated the effectiveness of the model. The findings from this work may apply to other agricultural products.


2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (No. 1) ◽  
pp. 15-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Samimi Akhijani ◽  
A. Arabhosseini ◽  
M.H. Kianmehr

Mathematical modelling and effective moisture diffusivity of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) was studied during hot air solar drying. An experimental solar dryer with a swivel collector was used for experiments. The collector followed the solar radiation using a precious sensor. Drying experiments were performed in a thin layer hot air drying at slice thicknesses of 3, 5 and 7 mm and air velocities of 0.5, 1 and 2 m/s. The experimental data were fitted to different mathematical moisture ratio models and the Page model was selected as the best model according to correlation coefficient R<sup>2</sup>, chi-square &chi;<sup>2</sup> and root mean square error (RMSE) parameters. The maximum values of moisture diffusivity was&nbsp;6.98 &times; 10<sup>&ndash;9</sup> m<sup>2</sup>/s at air velocity of 2 m/s and slice thickness of 7 mm while the minimum value of the moisture diffusivity was 1.58 &times; 10<sup>&ndash;9</sup> m<sup>2</sup>/s at air velocity of 0.5 m/s and slice thickness of 3 mm.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiwei Zhang ◽  
Ninghua Kong ◽  
Yufang Zhu ◽  
Zhijun Zhang ◽  
Chenghai Xu

To determine the mechanism of energy consumption in hot air drying, we simulate the interior heat and mass transfer processes that occur during the hot air drying for a single corn grain. The simulations are based on a 3D solid model. The 3D real body model is obtained by scanning the corn kernels with a high-precision medical CT machine. The CT images are then edited by MIMICS and ANSYS software to reconstruct the three-dimensional real body model of a corn kernel. The Fourier heat conduction equation, the Fick diffusion equation, the heat transfer coefficient, and the mass diffusion coefficient are chosen as the governing equations of the theoretical dry model. The calculation software, COMSOL Multiphysics, is used to complete the simulation calculation. The influence of air temperature and velocity on the heat and mass transfer processes is discussed. Results show that mass transfer dominates during the hot air drying of corn grains. Air temperature and velocity are chosen primarily in consideration of mass transfer effects. A low velocity leads to less energy consumption.


2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 763-774
Author(s):  
Ernest Ekow Abano

HighlightsMicrowave pretreatment before drying reduced drying time significantly.Microwave-assisted drying increased the effective moisture diffusivity coefficient.Microwave pretreatment before convective hot-air drying improved quality parameters.The Middili et al. (2002) model best fitted the microwave-assisted drying of sugarloaf pineapples.Abstract. This study’s objective was to provide the optimum drying conditions to produce quality dried sugarloaf pineapples using microwave pretreatments before the conventional hot air drying. For this, the effect of microwave power (385 to 697 W), microwave time (2 to 4 min), and air temperature (50°C to 70°C) on the drying kinetics and quality of sugarloaf pineapple were evaluated using the Box Behnken response surface methodology. To reach a 17.44±0.09% kg/kg dry matter moisture content, we found the optimum drying conditions for sugarloaf pineapples to be 697 W microwave power for 2.26 min before convective hot air drying at a temperature of 64.75°C. The predicted drying time, ascorbic acid content, and browning index were 13.68 h, 20.89 mg/100 g, and 0.099 Abs unit at this optimum condition, respectively. The pineapple slices’ effective moisture removal rate pretreated with microwave before drying was higher than the control and was between 6.42 × 10-10 m2/s and 11.82 × 10-10 m2/s while ones without a microwave were between 3.54 × 10-10 m2/s and 8.78 × 10-10 m2/s for drying at air temperature between 50°C and 70°C. It was discovered that the Midilli et al. (2002) model was the most appropriate thin layer model for microwave-assisted drying of sugarloaf pineapples. The pineapple slices’ drying rate potential generally increased with microwave power and pretreatments time but not the corresponding increase in the air temperature. Drying time for microwave-assisted drying was in the range of 11 to 20 h, while the ones without microwaves were between 18 and 24 h. Therefore, microwaves should be considered a pretreatment step to the industrial production of sugarloaf pineapple to reduce drying time and produce better quality products. Keywords: Drying, Hot air, Microwave, Moisture diffusivity, Sugarloaf pineapple.


Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1792
Author(s):  
Nikola Major ◽  
Bernard Prekalj ◽  
Josipa Perković ◽  
Dean Ban ◽  
Zoran Užila ◽  
...  

The extraction of glucosinolates in boiling aqueous methanol from freeze dried leaf tissues is the most common method for myrosinase inactivation but can be hazardous because of methanol toxicity. Although freeze drying is the best dehydration method in terms of nutritional quality preservation, the main drawbacks are a limited sample quantity that can be processed simultaneously, a long processing time, and high energy consumption. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of applying high temperature for myrosinase inactivation via hot air drying prior to the extraction step, as well as the effects of cold aqueous methanol extraction on total antioxidant activity, total glucosinolates, total phenolic content, and sugar profile in 36 landraces of kale. The results from our study indicate that cold aqueous methanol can be used instead of boiling aqueous methanol with no adverse effects on total glucosinolate content. Our results also show that hot air drying, compared to freeze drying, followed by cold extraction has an adverse effect on antioxidant activity measured by DPPH radical scavenging, total glucosinolate content, as well as on the content of all investigated sugars.


Foods ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Senadeera ◽  
Adiletta ◽  
Önal ◽  
Di Matteo ◽  
Russo

Drying characteristics of persimmon, cv. “Rojo Brillante”, slabs were experimentally determined in a hot air convective drier at drying temperatures of 45, 50, 55, 60, and 65 °C at a fixed air velocity of 2.3 m/s. It was observed that the drying temperature affected the drying time, shrinkage, and colour. Four empirical mathematical models namely, Enderson and Pabis, Page, Logarithmic, and Two term, were evaluated in order to deeply understand the drying process (moisture ratio). The Page model described the best representation of the experimental drying data at all investigated temperatures (45, 50, 55, 60, 65 °C). According to the evaluation of the shrinkage models, the Quadratic model provided the best representation of the volumetric shrinkage of persimmons as a function of moisture content. Overall, higher drying temperature (65 °C) improved the colour retention of dried persimmon slabs.


Author(s):  
MILAD ASGARPOUR KHANSARY ◽  
FARZANEH KAZEMI QALEH JOOGH ◽  
ASHKAN HOSSEINI ◽  
JABER SAFARI ◽  
EDRIS ALLAHYARI ◽  
...  

Drying of a coated paper is modeled and simulated. The paper sheet is assumed to form three zones, and each zone has its own drying mechanism. Coupling of energy and mass balances must be used in order to solve differential equations. The simulations are carried out in various drying conditions i.e., only hot air drying, only radiant drying, and mixed hot air-radiant drying. Also the effect of one side and two side assumption on evaporation is studied. Effect of venting air speed and radiant heat source presence and its distance from the drying surface on the drying of a coated paper has been studied. It is found that both distance and venting air speed are inversely related to drying in mixed hot air-radiant drying. Both surfaces participate in evaporation however, during the last time of drying, no difference between the upper and the bottom surfaces exist.


Author(s):  
Xiaoli Huang ◽  
T. Li ◽  
S.N. Li ◽  
Z.H. Wu ◽  
J. Xue

In this paper, hot air drying (HAD) was applied when moisture content of apple slices range from 50% to 86%, and then vacuum-filling nitrogen drying (VFND) was used till moisture content reaching 7%. Results showed that, the drying rate of apple slice during VFND period increased with temperature increment and decreased with increment of slice thickness; compared to freezing dried samples,  samples dried in this research were owned lower Vc and higher flavonoid; when HAD (70℃,3.0m/s)+VFND(relative pressure 0.08MPa, 50℃) and thickness of 6.0mm, nutrients reached better levels: retentions of Vc, total phenolics and flavonoid were 1.63mg/100g, 4.07mg/100g and 2.10mg/100g, respectively. Keywords: apple slices, hot air drying, vacuum-filling nitrogen drying, drying rate, nutrients


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