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Drying Technology: An International Journal

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EFFECT OF AIR FLOW RATE ON CARROT DRYING

A. Mulet , A. Berna , M. Borr & F. Pinaga
a a a a b

Chemical Engineering Department, University of Illes Balears, 07071, Palma de Mallorca, SPAIN
b

Instituto de Agroqumica y Tecnologa de Alimentos, Valencia, SPAIN

Available online: 02 Apr 2007

To cite this article: A. Mulet, A. Berna, M. Borr & F. Pinaga (1987): EFFECT OF AIR FLOW RATE ON CARROT DRYING, Drying Technology: An International Journal, 5:2, 245-258 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07373938708916538

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D R Y I N G TECHNOLOGY, 5 ( 2 ) , 245-258 ( 1 9 8 7 )

EFFECT OF AIR FLOW RATE O N CARROT DRYING

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A. Mulet, A. Berna, Mil. Borras and F. Finagar Chemical Engineering Department University of Illes Balrars 07071 Palma de Ma1 lorca (SPAIN) *Institute d e Asroqulmica y Tecnologla de Alimentos Valencia (SPAIN)

Key words and phrases: mass transfer, phase resistance, drying kinetics, vegetables drying

ABSTRACT The influence of air flow rate on the kinetics of drying 1 0 ~ 1 0 x 1 0m carrot cubes is presented. For this geometry kinetic equations are available, for the first falling rate drying period. Drying air flows of 1000, 2000, 2500, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, 8000 and 9000 k g / m ' ' h were employed. It was found that for flow rates above 6000 kg/mL'h the value of D/I--: remains almost constant, thus indicating that when the air flow rate i s higher it has no influence on the dl-ying rate. The influence of air flow rate on carrot drying has been determined, hence allowing optimal flow rate calculation under economic constrictions.

INTRODUCT' Since 1973, when oil price increased sharply, people have become aware of the importance of energy

Copyright @ 1987 by Marcel Dekker. Inc.

246
c o s t s on e c o n o m i c s of drying i n processing. the Food

MULET ET AL.
industry interest and on

p a r t i c u l a r have h a s been

not escaped research In f o c u s e d on

t h i s dynamics. prouuct q u a l i t y

Under t h e s e c i r c u m s t a n c e s , drying processes improvement necessary and energy

savings.

both c a s e s savings

i t is
can be new

t o know t h e m e c h a n i s m and k i n e t i c s o f d r y i n g Energy optimization or/and u s e of

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f o r each p a r t i c u l a r material. a c h i e v e d by d r y e r / d r y i n g

e n e r g y s o u r c e s 1i k e s o l a r e n e r g y . One o f a i r as the air t h e most common ways o f d r y i n g is u s i n g h o t Heat and m a s s t r a n s f e r between take place energy i n in opposite t h i s drying the One way solid

a drying agent. and

directions. process saving in

is b e n e f i c i a l

of saving

is t o d e c r e a s e t h e a i r f l o w i n t h e d r i e r . T h i s

i n two d i f f e r e n t ways; (and i n v e s t m e n t )

i

t h e f i r s t is t h e
~

energy

needed t o c i r c u l a t e t i he a i r heating o u t w e i g h e d by a h e a t and These To to flow. important. air i s

t h e a i r a n d t h e s e c o n d is a d e c r e a s e requirements. mass These reduction in the transfer the resistances optimize drying r a t e , resistances with dryer

b e n e f i t s c o u l d be become

when e x t e r n a l

increase

decreasing

operation

it

important

quantify these effects.

The
that is

solid

phase and

resistance being

depends dried, the When

on

the fluid this the

c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of resistance solid.
A s

the solid

transfered

temperature.

c o n t r o l s t h e drying process, t h e t r a n s f e r w i t l ~ i nt h e

a n i n c r e a s e on

t h e a i r v e l o c i t y w i l l n o t a f f e c t t h e d r y i n g r a t e of be by d i f f u s i o n ,

s o l i d is a s s u m e d t o

t h e f l u x is d e s c r i b e d by F i c k ' s l a w ,

The

external

resistance

(gas t o air between

phase) air

t o and

mass solid

t r - a n s f e r - is k

directly related

v e l o c i t y through

t h e mass t r a n s f e r c o e f f i c i e n t

>.

I n c r e a s i n g t h e a i r v e l o c i t y wi 11 i n c r e a s e k., a n d

AIR F L O W RATE ON CARROT DRYING

247

t h e resistance w i l l diminish

(Sberwood e t a 1 . , 1 9 7 5 ) .

If

the c o n t r o l l i n g s t e p is t h e f l u i d p h a s e t r a n s f e r , t h e f l u x w i l l be

then

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The mass t r a n s f e r c o e f f i c i e n t from s e v e r a l by Skelland c o r r e l a t i o n s , some o f transfer and this in

( k . , ) c a n be o b t a i n e d t h e m wer-e r e p o r t e d related These to a

( 1 9 7 4 ) . In g e n e r a l , c o r r e l a t i o n s a r e based analogy paper. Fasternak Gauvin's correlation authors

o n t h e h e a t and mas particle

( 1 9 6 0 ) is

shape.

considered

obtained ullder and s o l i d s

e x p e r i m e n t a l d a t a f o r h e a t a n d mass t ~ ~ a n s f e r , between a t l u i d This of differelit shapes and o r i e n t a t i o n s .

different operating conditions,

e q u a t i o n is

where

and t h e v a l i d i t y r a n g e 500 The c h a r a c t e r i s t i c

<

Re

<

5000
d,

dimeilsion,

used

fnr

the

c a l . c u l a t i o r 1 o f t h e Sh a n d Re n u m h e ~ - s , is d e f i n e d a s t h e t o t a l s u r f a c e a l - e a o f t h e body d i v i d e d by t h e p e r i m e t e r of the maximum p r o j e c t e d t h i s correlation

it

area perpendicular
is

t o flow.

From

found t h a t

the relation

b e t w e e n k, a n d a i r v e l o c i t y i.s

A s

influence resistantce velocity overall

Consequence, air velocity w i l l greatly mass transfer resistance. If t h e c o n t r o l i n g

is w i t h i n

the solid rate

phase t h e increase

drying r a t e with
air

w i l l be c o n s t a n t ;

t.his

w i l l

i f the controlling

p h a s e is i n

the gas.

The

r e s i s t a n c e is t h e sum o f

e x t e r n a l and i n t e r n a l

248

MULET ET AL.

resistances. Mass flux is inversely proportional t o the resistance and will be affected differently by air velocity, depending on the controlling resistance. From these considerations a logical conclusion is that for a given temperature, for each nwterial, size and shape, there is a threshold air velocity value over which no increase in drying rate is observed. This will be the maximum air velocity t o be used. Other Considerations taken into aciount could suggest a lower velucity but by no means it will be economic to use a higher one. From these considerations, it seems interesting to stablish a methodology t o determlne the threshold value of the air velocity to be used, this was one of the objectives of the study. Results on the influence of hat air velocity on the drying rate of carrots are presented and the threshold value of air velocity is determined. The agreement between experimental and computed threshold value is good.

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PROCEDURES Figure 1 shows a schematic. diagram of the laboratory dryer used for experimental work. Three part.=, can be distinguished: air flow rate control, heating control system and drying chamber.

A 0 . 5 HP SIEMENS fan was used and air flow rate was measured with a rotametel- aud manually controlled. The rotameter allowed measurements up t o 40 m5'/h with a n accuracy of 0.5 m'/h.
The heating system consisted of an electkic 700 W heater plac2d inside the chamber. Heating control was achieved by a PI controller, adjusting the drying chamber temperature. The temperature was measured with a thermocouple and digitally displayed on the control panel.

AIR FLOW RATE ON CARROT DRYING

I .Y/
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Drying Chamber

T Controller

1 FLOWMETER
HEATER
FIGURE 1.- Laboratory d r i e r

FAN

A
made t o the was was

basket

l o a d e d w i t h t h e m a t e r i a l t o be d r i e d was chamber-. select the An adjustment was d r y i n g a i r flowed through appropriate cross flow rate.

placed inside the drying sample and also t o

ensure t h a t a l l thc

section t o

obtain the desired a i r

Air

flow

p e r p e n d i c u l a r t o t h e d r y i n g bed. In this way

it

The b a s k e t h e i g h t was possible t,o

a l w a y s 1 0 crn a n d a d i a m , s t e r o f 5 , 0 , 8 , 9 o r 1 0 cm

c o u l d be s e l e c t e d .

a t t a i n d i f f e r e n t a i r v e l o c i t i e s through t h e sample with t h e same v o l u m e t r i c f l o w . Water weighing losses of the sample

were

measured

by

t h e b a s k e t and its c o n t e n t . c a r r o t s from Sa Pobla (Mallorca) w e r e c a r r o t s were f o r 5 min a n d t h a t was drying b l a n c h e d i n 90'" C

Chantenay used i n peeled, water then closed into cut

t h e experiments. f o r 8 min, cooled

Before drying,
i n 15', C w a t e r

i n t o l O x l O x l 0 mrn c u b e s ,

t h e s u r f a c e w a t e r was a d s o r b e d w i t h f i l t e r p a p e r .

The c u b e s temperature

w e r e placed
and in were

inside a to

p l a s t i c bag heat t o the

allowed dried.

t h e hot a i r stream.

Then t h e y w e r e p u t of t h e d r i e d

t h e basket and

The m o i s t u r e

250
product was (1970). obtained according to the

MULET ET
AOAC

AL.

method

RESULTS Experiments were carried out at different air velocities, but at a constant air temperature and initial bed heiyht. The influence of bed height and air temperature on the drying rate bas been reported by others (Madarro et al. , 1901, Rossell6, 1983;. Loadings of less than 10 kg/m:? bed height had no influence on the drying rate. When air temperatures were higher than 7 0 , . C , the dried product partially lost it.s fresh product characteristics. Due t o the interest on drying at near room temperatures (solar dryers), a temperature 0 ' ' C was chosen to carry out the experiments, the of 3 low drying rate facilitates the observance of the kinetics. The alr flow range was selected accordine to the results oi Mitchell and Potts (1958) who concluded that for air flow rates greater than 4200 kg/m h no influence of this variable was observed on the drying rate Based on this information, we decided to carry out experiments under the following operating conditions: Air temperature: 30- C Loading : 10 kg/m:" : 1000, 2000, 2500, 3000, 4000, Air flow 5000, 6000, 8000, 9000 kg/m-: h The mean air humidity was: 50-40 % relative humidi ty. No case hardenins operating conditions. was observed under these

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Drying curves for some of these experiments are shown, in ,figure 2, in the form of dimensionless

A I R FLOW RATE ON CARROT DRYING

251

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FIGURE 2.- Drying curves for air flow rates.

carrot cubes

at several

moisture, $ = (W - W, )/(W, - W . , versus drying time. Equilibrium data were obtained from literature (Carbonell et al. , 1 9 8 4 ) . It can be observed (figure 3 ) that almost all the drying takes place during the falling rate period. A small constant. drying rate period was observed for the lower air flow rates. The drying rate increases with air flow. The objective of this study was limited to the first difussional period ( falling rate). Equations for this period are known and can be found in the literature (Mulet et a l . , 1983). Dimensionless moisture a s a time function, for sufficiently high values of this variable, is described by equation (6)

where D is a n effective diffusivity

252

MULET ET AL.

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FIGURE 3 . - Drying rate curves for

air flow rates.

carrot cubes at two

Data points representing the falling rate period were obtained fl-om the plot of In $ versus time. One of these plots, for three different air flows, is shown in -figure 4. The points that were on a strajght line, after those with dimenaionless moisture greater than 0.6 were eliminated, were considered to be within the first diffussional drying perlod. The value 0.6 is considered t o be a reasonable starting point for the ( Perry and Green, 1984). Values diffusional period of D/r2 obtained from the slope of the straieht lines (-3 n D/4r.) are shown in T a b l e 1. in this table t N , , , 1 obtained by using values of mass flux density < N ( \ . : . ) Fick's law are also shown. Calculated values ccame from Pasternak and Gauvin's correlation. In order to minimize interactions between the effects of air

-.

flow, changing volume and shape, calculations were carried out for. high product moisture ( 6 kg water/kg dry matter).

AIR FLOW RATE ON CARROT DRYING

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FIGURE 4 . - Graphical selection of the first diffusional d r y i n g period.

254
TABLE 1

MULET ET AL.

Experimental Diffusivities and Experimental Calculated Mass Flux for Different Air Flow Rates.

Air flow rate (kg/m;:' h)

D/r2: 1 0 ~ ;
(

I?,., 4

Ne.:

"'

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'

(kg water /h m-:)

N,,, from experimental data N A - from Pasternak and Gauvin correlation

Experimental mass flux values versus air flow ar-e plotted in figure 5. A straight line can be fitted to the left zone of the plot. The slope of the line i s 0 . 5 2 8 , which agrees well with the expected value of 0.514 from the Pasternak and Gauvin's correlation. The right zone of the plot is almost an horizontal line, indicating that the air flow had no influence on the drying rate, thus the internal resistance was controlling. The slope changing zone (figure 5 ) indicates a change of the controlling phase, in our experiments this zone was about 6000 kg air/h m : ' . This value is higher than the one reported by Mitchell and Potts < 1 9 5 8 ) , although the influence of air flow rates ' . ; is small. greater than 4 2 0 0 kg air/h m The shape of a log--logplot of D/r'::? versus linear , . From the velocity would be similar to that of N

air

AIR FLOW RATE ON CARROT DRYING

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F I G U R E 5 . - Mass f l u x v a r i a t i o n v e r s u s a i r f l o w .

r e s u l t i n g least lines, for it

square equations

f i t t o

two s t r a i g h t

is p o s s i b l e t o compute

t h e masnitud of The k n o w l e d g e o f

a given l i n e a r a i r velocity.

D/ri' D/r"'

a l l o w s moistul-e c a l c u 1 a t i o n : s u s i n g e q u a t i o n 6 . F i g u r e 6 s h o w s t h e v a r i a t i o n o f D/r::': rate. with a i r flow

I t c a n be o b s e r v e d t h a t f r o m a b o u t 6 0 0 0 kg/m:.:h remains p r a c t i c a l l y constant. A s a i r flow r a t e , D/r:.:'

expected, t h e a p p a r e n t d i f f u s i v i t y <D/I-':) the o b t a i n e d from T h e r e is a n has no This

experimental data v a r i e s with a i r velocity. a i r f l o w v a l u e a b o v e which influence process

air

velocity

on t h e d r y i n g r a t e , v a l u e is

meaning t h a t t h e d r y i n g determine mainly points

is c o n t . r o l l e d by t h e i n t e r n a l r e s i s t a n c e .

a i r flow r a t e

difficult t o errors.

due t o t h e

experimental

Experimental

MULET ET AL.

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FIGURE

6 . - Air flow influence on apparent diffusivity. Results from Rossell6 (1983,.

dispersion could be explained by the actual non-uniformity of raw material and drying air (ambient) throughout the year. The relationship between D/rY; and air flow rate (G) could be well described by equations ( 7 ) and ( 8 ) . D/r"::= exp (-6.602 for G

0.528 I n G)

(7)

<

6000 kg/m2h, and

for G

>

6000 kg/m'h

AIR FLOW RATE ON CARROT DRYING

257

where the numerical parameters have been obtained from experimental points by the use of a least square technique. The mean error is 4 .7 % and the standard deviation 1.51 lo-"

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NOMENCLATURE c,,, gas phase concentration of water c,,, Interphase water concentration Concentration Apparent dif fusivity Characteristic distance Air flow rate j factor for mass transfer Mass transfer coaf f icient Mass flux A half of thickness Reynolds number Schmidt number Sherwood number Time Air velocity Moisture Critical moisture Equilibrium moisture Length on X axis Dimensionless moisture

REFERENCES AOAC 1970. Official methods of analysis ( 1 l w ' Ed. * ), 876, 45.031.

p.

Carbonell. J . V . , Madarro, A . , Pifiaga, F. and Pefia. J . L . 1984. DeshidrataciBn de frutas y hortalizas con aire ambiente. CinCtica de adsorci5n y desorcibn de agua e n zanahoi-ias. Rev. Agroquim. Tecnol. Aliment., 24 (1): 94-104.

258

MULET ET AL.

Madarro, A . , PiRaga, F . , Carbonell, J . V . and Pefia, J . L . 1981. DeshidrataciBn de frutas y hortalizas con I . Ensayos exploratorios con alre ambiente. zanahorias. Rev. Agroqul m. Tecnol. Alim. , 21 (4), 525-533. Mitchell, T.J. and Potts,C.S. 1958. Through-circulation drying of vegetables. 1 1 1 . Carrots. J . Sci. Food Agric. 9, 93-98. Mulet, A . , Rossell6, C . , Pisaga, F., Carbonell, J . V . , and Berna, A. 1993. Mecanismo y cinetica del secado de zanahorias con aire caliente. Rev. 369-377. Agroquim. Tecnol. Aliment. , 2 3 ( 3 1 , Pasternak, I.S. and Gauvin, W.H. 1960. Turbulent heat and mass transfer from stationary particles. Can. J. Chem. Eng., 39, 35-42. Perry, R.H. and Green, D. 1984. Chemical Engineers Handbook, 6 " , Ed. McGraw-Hill Book Co. , N. Y. Rossell6, C. 1983. Contribuci6n a1 estudio del secado de hortalizas en Mallorca. Secado de zanahorias con aire caliente en un secadero tipo SARGENT. Tesis dr Licenciatura. Facultad de Ciencias. Universitat de les Illes Balears. Sherwood, T.K. , Pigford, R.L. and Wilke, C.R. Mass transfer. McGraw-Hill Book C o . , N. Y. 1975.

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Skelland, A. H.P. 1974. Difussional mass transfer. John Wiley & Sons Inc.