Microwave Assisted Convective Air Drying of Sugarloaf Pineapples (Ananas Comosus)

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.

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Ernest Abano

Microwave and steam blanching as pretreatments to hot air drying of orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) were studied. The air-drying experiment was performed at constant temperature of 70°C and airflow of 1.0 m/s. The effective moisture diffusivity varied from 1.5 × 10 − 9 to 4.4 × 10 − 9 m2/s, and 1.1 × 10 − 10 to 7.9 × 10 − 10 m2/s, for the microwave and blanched assisted hot air drying, respectively. The activation energy obtained for the various microwave-assisted hot air drying was 29.1 W/mm for 4 min, 68.1 W/mm for 3 min, and 79.7 W/mm for 2 min. Ascorbic acid degradation and formation of brown pigments in the OFSP slices were lower in microwave than in steam blanch-assisted drying. Microwave-assisted drying of OFSP is best governed by Page model, M R = exp − k t n , while the blanch-assisted followed the logarithmic model, M R = a   exp − k t + c . To produce better quality OFSP flour, it is recommended to cut the tubers into 3 mm slices, microwave at a power of 630 W for 2 min or blanch for 1 min, 43 seconds prior to hot air drying.


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.


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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 701-709
Author(s):  
Osman Ismail ◽  
Ozlem Gokce Kocabay

In this study, drying kinetics, chemical composition and surface color for fillets samples, namely Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) subjected to combined drying (ultrasonic assisted vacuum drying) and hot-air drying were compared at full length between 50-70°C. Drying process carried out entirely in the falling rate period. The results suggested that the moisture content was influenced by the combined drying method and the drying temperature. The shortest drying time was obtained using combined drying method at 70°C. The combined drying method made shorter the drying process and enhanced the effective moisture diffusivity by comparison with hot-air drying method. The activation energies were observed using a modified Arrhenius type equation as of 2.392 and 4.83 kW kg-1 for combined and hot-air drying, respectively. Quality characteristics of fillets samples were specified as physical (moisture content, color values) and chemical (protein, fat and ash). Seven different drying models were considered for moisture ratios using nonlinear regression analysis. The consequences of regression analysis stated that the Midilli et al., model best fits data set. According to the results, the highest effective moisture diffusivity was determined in the fillets dried with the ultrasonic assisted vacuum drying method and they increased with increasing drying temperatures. Ultrasonic treatment accelerated the vacuum drying process for the fillets. Also, the ultrasonic assisted vacuum drying method is a better technology to preserve the original material and prevent thermal damage.


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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-37
Author(s):  
Ernest Ekow Abano ◽  
Robert Sarpong Amoah ◽  
Eugene Kwabena Opoku

This study investigated the effect of air temperature, microwave power, and pomace thickness on the drying kinetics and quality of dried carrot pomace. The study established that the drying of carrot pomace occurs in the falling rate period, suggesting that drying was driven by molecular diffusion. The microwave-drying moisture diffusivity increased with microwave power and ranged between 1.57×10–8 and 2.61×10–8 m2/s. As regards convective air-drying, the moisture diffusivity values were between 3.38×10–10 and 8.27×10–10 m2/s. The microwave powerto-mass activation energy was 15.079 W/g for 5 mm, 7.599 W/g for 10 mm and 9.542 W/g for 15 mm dried samples. Meanwhile, the temperature-dependent activation energy for carrot pomace was found to be 27.637 kJ/mol for 5 mm, 17.92 kJ/mol for 10 mm and 38.76 kJ/mol for 15 mm thickness pomace. Generally, drying time decreased with increasing microwave power or air temperature. The ascorbic acid content of the fresh carrot pomace reduced after both microwave and convective air-drying. However, microwave power, and sample thickness had significant effect on the β-carotene content of dried products but air temperature did not have a significant effect. The effect of temperature and sample thickness on brown pigment formation was substantial with air temperature compared to microwave. The study has demonstrated that microwave drying, compared to conventional drying, enhances moisture removal, drying time, and preservation of carotenoids and ascorbic acid. Therefore, microwave drying can be considered as an alternative method for obtaining quality dried carrot pomace.


2012 ◽  
Vol 490-495 ◽  
pp. 3074-3078
Author(s):  
Chun Shan Liu ◽  
Wen Fu Wu ◽  
Jia Song ◽  
Ya Qiu Zhang ◽  
Jun Xing Li ◽  
...  

In order to solve the drying problems in the deep-processing of pepper, peppers were dried through blanching pre-treatment and hot-air drying process. Orthogonal test designs were carried out to investigate factors influencing the quality and moisture content of pepper. The results showed that the whole drying process was a reduction speed drying, hot-air temperature and wind speed have significantly affected on the drying rate of pepper, but the impact of hot-air temperature was more prominent than wind speed; hot-air temperature was found to be the primary parameter to affect the quality of the pepper, wind speed was the secondary one and followed by packing thickness; drying time was found to be the primary parameter to affect the moisture content of the pepper in the drying process, the best drying conditions were as follows: wind temperature was 80°C, wind speed was 10 m/s, packing thickness was 80 cm, drying time was 12 h after 100°C steam blanching pre-treatment


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 783-792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao-Yu Ju ◽  
Qian Zhang ◽  
A.S. Mujumdar ◽  
Xiao-Ming Fang ◽  
Hong-Wei Xiao ◽  
...  

Abstract The drying kinetics and mathematical modeling of hot-air drying of yam slices were investigated under two-stage relative humidity (RH) control strategy with 60 °C and 1.5 m/s as its constant drying temperature and air velocity, respectively. Results indicate high RH in the initial stage results in high sample’s temperature that enhances water diffusion in the falling rate drying period. Within the scope of current work, change in RH in the later drying period has insignificant influence on sample’s temperature rise while low RH can accelerate the drying rate. Compared to drying at constant 20 % RH at the same drying air temperature, the drying strategy of using 40 % RH over the first 15 min and then lowing to 20 % RH for the remainder time yields a shorter drying time. Weibull model adequately described the moisture content variation with time for all experiments with the scale parameter ranging from 105.02 to 122.38 min and the values of shape parameters from 0.988 to 1.183. The effective moisture diffusivity determined from the Weibull model varied from 2.032 to 2.610×10−8 m2/s. The rehydration ratio increased as the overall drying time was reduced. Microstructure examination shows that higher RH in the initial drying stage can lead to a more porous microstructure which enhances drying, while fast drying rate in the initial drying period generates a crust layer which hinders drying.


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