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Heat and Mass Transfer Model Including Shrinkage Applied to Ellipsoidal Products: Case Study for Drying of Bananas
Author(s) -
De Lima A.G.B.,
Queiroz M.R.,
Nebra S.A.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
developments in chemical engineering and mineral processing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1932-2143
pISSN - 0969-1855
DOI - 10.1002/apj.5500100405
Subject(s) - mass transfer , shrinkage , mechanics , convection , diffusion , prolate spheroid , moisture , finite volume method , ellipsoid , thermodynamics , volume (thermodynamics) , heat transfer , materials science , convective heat transfer , mathematics , physics , mathematical analysis , composite material , astronomy
This paper presents an investigation of the simultaneous heat and mass transfer in solids with prolate spheroidal shape. A two‐dimensional unsteady diffusion model applied to a prolate spheroid is presented assuming that liquid diffusion is the sole mechanism of moisture transport, with convective and evaporative boundary conditions at the surface of the solid. The resulting equations were solved numerically using the finite‐volume method. To validate the numerical model, results of the mean moisture content and center temperature were compared with experimental data on banana drying and good results were achieved. The convective and transport coefficients were obtained by fitting the model with experimental data using the least squares error method.