The effects of solar drying on drying kinetics and effective moisture diffusivity of pistachio nut

محورهای موضوعی : Food and Health

Mohsen Mokhtarian ¹ (Department of Food Science and Technology, Roudehen Branch, Islamic Azad University, Roudehen, Iran)
Hamid Tavakolipour ² (Department of Food Science and Technology, Sabzevar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sabzevar, Iran)
Ahmad Kalbasi-Ashtari ³ (Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Technology and Engineering, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran)
Fatemeh Koushki ⁴ (Department of Food Science and Technology, Roudehen Branch, Islamic Azad University, Roudehen, Iran)

تاریخ دریافت : 1400/06/21 تاریخ پذیرش : 1400/09/19 تاریخ انتشار : 1400/09/29

کلید واژه: Solar dryer /, Pistachio nut (<i>Pistacia vera</i> L.) /, Clean and renewable energy /, Drying kinetics,

چکیده مقاله :

This research aimed to investigate the process of pistachios solar drying in two different conditions of the designed dryer (recycle and without recycle modes). As well, in this study, the drying kinetics curves of pistachio were drawn and its dewatering behavior was monitored by empirical models. Furthermore, the mass transfer rate (MTR) of the examined product during drying in two noted modes was determined by Fick’s 2nd law. Maximum, minimum, and average values of collector output air temperature were recorded 54.20, 32.30, and 42.99oC & 47.10, 30.70, and 40.03oC in air recycle and without air recycle modes, respectively. The results dedicated that, 18.75 % saving in drying time was obtained for air recycle mode compared with without air recycle mode. Also, the obtained data revealed that the drying rate of pistachio nut under recycle mode was higher than that of pistachio nut under without recycle mode, especially during the first hours of drying. Moreover, the empirical modeling showed that the Parabolic and Diamante et al. models were found to be the most suitable for describing drying curve of the thin layer solar drying process of whole pistachio nut under recycle and without recycle modes, respectively. In addition, the highest value of effective moisture diffusivity was observed in solar dried pistachio nut under air recycle mode with the Deff value of 2.26×10-6 m2/h (R2=0.9265).

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