The initial drying rate will depend on the rate of heat and mass transfer from the product

surface to
the surrounding air. When the product reaches the critical moisture content where the free
moisture content has been removed, then the drying rate will be determined by the rate of water
movement from the inside to the product surface and the distance it has to go through.

The characteristics of drying curve is commonly used as the basics to describe the mechanism of
heat and mass transfer during the drying process and to compare the product properties in selecting
the drying method. The characteristics of the drying curve is obtained by plotting the drying rate
versus the dry basis moisture content as illustrated in Fig. 1. The air properties can be observed from
a psychrometric chart.