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DRYING KINETICS AND MOISTURE TRANSFER PARAMETERS OF HAZELNUT
Author(s) -
KAYA AHMET,
AYDIN ORHAN,
AKGUN MITHAT
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of food processing and preservation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.511
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1745-4549
pISSN - 0145-8892
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-4549.2011.00522.x
Subject(s) - sorption , mass transfer , moisture , relative humidity , diffusion , water content , humidity , chemistry , equilibrium moisture content , thermodynamics , environmental science , materials science , pulp and paper industry , chromatography , physics , organic chemistry , geotechnical engineering , adsorption , engineering
In this experimental study, drying kinetics, sorption isotherms and mass transfer parameters (mainly the diffusion coefficient and h m ) of hazelnut are investigated under various drying air conditions. Experiments were conducted in a lab‐scale convective drier under the following drying conditions: temperatures at 25C, 35C, 45C and 55C; velocities at 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 m/s; relative humidity values at 20%, 40%, 60% and 80%. Initially, sorption isotherms of the dried hazelnut are determined for different temperatures and equilibrium relative humidity values. Then, the drying characteristics of hazelnut are determined for various values of drying air parameters tested. In addition, the mass transfer parameters (i.e., Bi , moisture diffusion coefficient and h m ) of hazelnut were evaluated using a correlation. The Bi numbers were in the range 0.4216–1.4806 and moisture diffusion coefficient and h m s in the range from 0.7056 × 10 −9 to 3.2933 × 10 −9 and from 1.2401 × 10 −7 to 1.7361 × 10 −7 m/s, respectively. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Turkey is the largest hazelnut‐producing country, providing most of world hazelnut production. Supplying the market with the best product available is always critical. Therefore, ensuring better harvesting and processing conditions of hazelnut attracts a great deal of research interest. To prevent field losses by unfavorable weather conditions, there is a tendency to harvest hazelnuts at moisture contents above safe storage levels. In this regard, drying seems to be necessary.