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Drying of mango slices using heat

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Christian Mortel

Proc 14th Int Drying …

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Int roduct ion t o Food Engineering

Drying 2004 – Proceedings of the 14th International Drying Symposium (IDS 2004)
São Paulo, Brazil, 22-25 August 2004, vol. B, pp. 884-891

DRYING OF MANGO SLICES USING HEAT PUMP DRYER

Márcio N. Kohayakawa1, Vivaldo Silveira-Júnior1 and Javier Telis-Romero2

1. Departamento de Engenharia de Alimentos, Universidade Estadual de Campinas,

13038-970, Campinas, SP, Brasil
2. Departamento de Engenharia e Tecnologia de Alimentos, Universidade Estadual
Paulista, 15054-000, São José do Rio Preto, SP, Brasil
*E-mail: naoki@fea.unicamp.br

Keywords: Heat pump dryer, mango, Drying kinetics, COP.

ABSTRACT

Heat pump assisted-drying provides a controllable drying environment (temperature and

humidity) for better products´ quality at low energy consumption. The heat pump
system consisted of two condensers, hermetic compressor, thermostatic expansion valve
and evaporator, which were connected by using copper tubes. The refrigerant R22 was
chosen as the working fluid, and thermodynamic cycle temperatures were measured by
thermocouples T type. The fluid bed drying circuit contains a centrifugal blower,
fittings, controls and a removable drying chamber and access window. Mango slices
were dried with thickness and velocities varying according a central composite
experimental design, with thickness from 0.58 to 1.42 cm and air velocities from 1.6
and 4.4 m/s. Effects of air velocity and slices thickness on effective diffusion
coefficients and increase of drying potential and performance of system were
investigated. The heat pump effective coefficient of performance (COPHT,EF) was
between 1.21 and 1.71. The Fick model could be used to predict drying time of mango
and it is not possible to make a statistical analysis without the control of temperature.

INTRODUCTION

The mango (Mangifera indica) is a tropical fruit, original from the South of Asia, and it is avaiable
worldwide today.
The culture of mango, although still concentrated Asia, was become enlarged for some countries, in all
the continents, being important in Africa and Americas and with lesser presence in the Europe, where it is
cultivated in small scale in Spain. From the annual world production of 18 million tons, Asia accounts for
75%, Americas 14%, Africa 10% and 1% remain in other areas, as Australia and Europe.

884
 Brazil is the nineth world-wide productor of mango (FAO, 2003), being its production destined to the
external market. The most planted varieties are “Tommy Atkins”, “Haden”, “Keitt” and “Palmer”. The
states of Bahia and São Paulo are responsible for about 54% of the 542,000 ton of the national production
(IBGE, 2003).
The mango is distinguished as a fruit with high commercial value in many regions of the world, mainly
the tropical regions. Universally, beyond its excellent qualities of flavor and aroma, they have its
recognized alimentary value, for being vitamin A and C source.
The food dehydration is one of the common used food conservation processes for increase of shelf life,
reduction of costs of packings, transport and storage and modification of sensorial attributes (Queiroz,
2003).
The most applied technique of dehydration in the production of dry fruits is the drying using hot air.
This drying consists of displaying the material to be dehydrated, normally in the form of pieces or slices,
to a hot airflow.
In this case, two simultaneous processes occur: heat transference and mass transference. The factors
that conduct the speed of these transference phenomena determine the drying tax, such as water vapor
pressures of air and in the material, temperature and air speed, speed of diffusion of the water in the
material, thickness and surface displayed for drying.
Mathematical modeling of the dehydration process is very useful in design and optimization of dryers.
According to Rizvi (1986) many authors have used the Fick’s second law to estimate the average time of
drying during the falling drying rate period.
The analytical resolution of Fick`s second law was given by Crank (1975) for various regularly shaped
bodies, such as rectangular, cylindrical and spherical. The effective diffusivity proposed in this solution
involves the several effects that could interfere the dehydration process.
However the water removal leads to a serious loss of nutrients and the sensorial quality of the products
(Lenart, 1996).
Many works have been done to increase the efficiency of the drying by convection, mainly using heat
pumps. Vazquez et. al (1997) suggests the use of driers with heat pump as an alternative method to dry
foods with lower values in consumption of energy, relative humidity and temperatures.
Preliminary studies of dried products quality comparation between the dried products using heat pump
and the dry products with only heating of air, proved that the color and aroma of the first ones are better
(Prasertsan & Saen-saby, 1998).
The objective of this work is to evaluate the parameters of process (air speed and thickness of the
product) influences in the effective diffusivity of mango drying using a drier connected to a heat pump.
The COP (efficiency coefficient) of the equipment also was evaluated.

Mathematical Modeling

Assuming that the resistance to moisture flow is uniformly distributed throughout the interior of the
homogeneous isotropic material, the diffusion coefficient is constant and independent of the local
moisture content. If in addition the volume shrinkage is negligible, Fick’s second law can be stated as
follows:
∂X
= ∇(D EF ∇X ) (1)
∂t
where X = moisture content; t = time and DEF = effective diffusivity.
The analytical solution of equation (1) was given by Crank (1975) for rectangular shaped bodies is:
X − X eq 2
8 ∞ 1 2 D eff π t
= 2 exp − ( 2 n − 1) (2)
X o − X eq π n =1(2n − 1)2 L2

885
 where, X is the moisture content (dry basis) at drying time t, Xeq is the equilibrium moisture content
correspondent to air relative humidity, Xo is the initial moisture content, Deff is the effective diffusion
coefficient and L the slab thickness. The above solutipon is obtained considering the abstence of any
external resistences, constant sample temperature (isothermal process) and constant thikcness.

Heat Pump Dryer Efficiency

The drying efficiency is a measure of the quantity of energy used in removing a unit mass of water from a
product. The efficiency of a heat pump can be expressed as its effective coefficient of performance
(COPHT,EF) defined as the ratio of the heat recovered at the condenser to the work required by the
compressor:
COPHT, EF = Q HT WCP (3)
In equation (3), WCP is the power input to the compressor and Q HT is the heat delivered in the condenser
(capacity of air heating) estimated as:

• •
Q AQ = m AIRdry (H air 3 − H air 2 ) (4)

• V AIR
m AIRdry = (5)
v AIR
where m AIR is the mass flow rate of air, CpAIR is the specific heat of air, VAIR is the volumetric flow rate
of air, vAIR is the especific mass of air, H2 and H3 are the air enthalpy entering and leaving the condenser,
respectively (Figure 1).

The increase of the drying potential, ∆PV , related to ambient air is given by:
The Fick`s first law, gives the molar flux dependent of the water vapor pressure gradient between the
product and air ( ∆PV ).
J A = − K∆PV (6)
where K is any constant.
Assuming that the surface of the product is saturated of water and at same temperature of air, the
gradient of vapor pressure can be calculated as:
∆PV = PVapor ( Tar ) − UR ar PVapor ( Tar ) (7)

From the gradient values ( ∆PV ) of the heat pump, it was calculated the temperature of air heated by an
electrical resistences, with the same absolute humidity of ambinet air, using this equation:

Pv
Y = 0.622 (8)
Pt − P v
where, P v is parcial pressure of water vapor on air, Pt is ambiente pressure.
The estimated energy consumption for a hypothetical electrical resistance system supplying drying air
with the same drying potential as the HPD, was calculated by:

m AIR (H∗3 − H1)

WER = (9)
ηER

886
In equation (9) ηER is the electrical efficiency, taken as 80% (Rossi, 1993), H1 is the ambient air entahlpy
and H∗3 is the entahply on the required air drying temperature ( T3∗ ) in order to provide the same drying
potential ( ∆PV ) as the HPD.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Material

The mango used in the experiments was haden, produced in the S. J. Rio Preto-SP region from
December 2003 harvest.
The fruits was rinsed in current water, peeled and cut, while seeds and skin was discarded. The
maturation degree was evaluated by the texture and coloration.

Equipament

Figure 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of the HPD. The heat pump system consisted of two
condensers, hermetic compressor, thermostatic expansion valve and evaporator, which were connected by
using copper tubes. The refrigerant R22 was chosen as the working fluid.
Dryer consisted of three basic sections: heating, air flowing and drying chamber. The drying chamber
was horizontal with parallel airflow in relation to the drying material. According to Figure 1, air is forced
through an axial blower with air velocity being measured by means of an anemometer.
Dry bulb temperatures were measured by copper-constantan thermocouples installed where indicated
in Figure 1. The relative humidities of the ambient and just before drying chamber were measured by
thermo-hygrometers connected to a portable meteorological station (Oregon Scientific, model WMR918).
Power consumption was determined by measuring the current of each component of the system with a
multimeter (Minipa, model ET2700).

Methods

From the experimental data of the drying kinetic a non linear regression based on the Equation (2) was
made. The effective diffusivity calculated was correlated with the air speed and the product thickness
using the methodology of the factorial planning central composed (PFCC) of Barros Neto et al. (1996).
Table 1 describes the planning, with the levels on table 2.

887
 Figure 1: Schematic diagram of the heat pump dryer.

Table 1 – Factorial Planning Central Composed in 2 levels for 2 independent variables [PFCC]

Independentes Variables Dependent Variables

o X1 X2 Y1
N
Var (m/s) Thickness (mm)
1 +1 +1
2 -1 +1
3 +1 -1
4 -1 -1
5 0 0
6 0 0
7 +α 0
8 -α 0
9 0 +α
10 0 -α

Table 2. PFCC Level

Independent Variables -α -1 0 +1 +α
Air Speed (m/s) 1.6 2 3 4 4.4
Slab Thikcness (mm) 5.8 7 10 13 14.2

888
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Heat Pump Dryer Performance

The use of the heat pump systems can significantly enhance the energy efficiency. Table 3 presents the
values of the COPHT,EF, of the system dryer/ heat pump, calculated according to equation (6), for
temperatures of 40, 46 and 56 oC inside of the drying chamber.
Those values of COPHT,EF is comparable to the cited in literature. Rossi (1993) and Queiroz (2003) had
found values between 1.3 and 1.7 and 2.56 the 2.68 in similar systems, respectively.
It can be observed in Table 3 that the COPHT,EF, at 56 oC was minor than others, what can be explained by
the high amount of refrigerant introduced in the system in order to attain this temperature and consequent
increase of the operation pressure, leading to a higher energy consumption.
The advantage in the energy performance of the dryer/heat pump instead of a hypothetical electrical
resistences system is demonstrated in Table 4. The Comparison between WCP , the power input to the
compressor in the real drier/heat pump system, and WER estimated by equation (9), indicated a reduction
of about 22 to 40% in the electric energy consumption. Table 4 also shows the calculated values of ∆PV ,
the increase in drying potential of air conditioned by the HPD in relation to the ambient air. These values
were in the range of 19.21 to 55.19 mmHg.

Process Parameters Influence on Effective Diffusivity

Table 3 presents the effective diffusivity obtained according to experimental planning of table 1.
Table 3 – Experiment Results – Effective Diffusivity in Heat Pump Dryer

Experiment Independent Variables Dependent Ambient Conditions Drying Chamber

Variables Conditions
Var Thickness Deff (x 1010) T(oC) UR (%) T(oC) UR (%)
1 +1 +1 3.048 26.1 68 39.3 29
2 -1 +1 6.195 30.3 47 56.4 12
3 +1 -1 3.043 27.2 75 39.4 28
4 -1 -1 2.577 29.5 48 56.6 12
5 0 0 4.400 23.4 63 44.0 15
6 0 0 4.125 28.2 65 49.8 15
7 +α 0 5.073 28.7 72 46.1 23
8 -α 0 6.680 28.0 71 46.0 23
9 0 +α 6.550 28.2 69 46.2 22
10 0 -α 3.384 27.7 70 46.0 23

It was applied as fixed parameters in these experiments the dry period (8 hours) and amount of product
(300 g). It was not possible to standardize the drying temperature, due to the lack of an efficient and safer
control than the variation of refrigerante amount of circulating in the system.
Table 4 presents the regression coefficients of the considered model, as well as the standart deviation
and significance level of each regression coeficient.

889
Table 4: Regression Coeficients of Effective Diffusivity in Heat Pump Dryer

Standart Significance Level (p)

Regression Coeficient
Deviation
Average 4.2625 0.863879 0.013715
Var (L) -0.61922 0.43194 0.070393
Var2 (Q) 0.380538 0.571402 0.125235
E (L) 1.012517 0.43194 0.04316
E (Q) -0.07414 0.090948 0.564603
Var E -0.90343 0.610855 0.068251

Analysing the regression coefficients significance, at 75% confidence level, the quadratic term of the
thickness did not present significance. The codified model (the parameters air speed and thickness vary
between [-α e +α]) calculated for the diffusivity is:
Y= 4.2625 – 0.61922 Var + 0.380538 Var2 + 1.012517 E – 0.90343 Var E (10)
The variance analysis presented in table 5 validates the codified model calculated for the diffusivity,
but the adjustment of the data had not been good enough to prove the validity of this model.

Table 5: ANOVA of Codified Model for Effective Diffusivity R2=0.72 e F0.75

Variance Source SQ GL MQ Fcal F Tab

Regression 15.22 4 3.805 3.186 1.89
Residues 5.970 5 1.194
Lack of fit 5.932 4 1.483 39.025 8.58
Pure Error 0.038 1 0.038
Total 21.19 9

Although at a low confidence level (75%). the correlation coefficient (r2) was only 0.72 for the
effective diffusivity model. We can conclude that the temperature, which was not considered in the
experiment planning, had great influence in the experimental data.
Using the chosen independent variables (air speed and thickness of product) and, achieving the
experiments without the control of the temperature it was not possible to arrive at a conclusion on the
analyzed system of drying.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of a dryer/heat pump system showed to be adequate for the mango drying, mainly considering
the energy efficiency, when compared with a electrical resistences dryer, for the same increase of drying
potential. From the parameters of process effect analysis (thickness of the product and air speed) on the
effective diffusivity, it was observed that it is impossible a study without the standarization of drying air
temperature.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Authors thank to FAPESP - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (Proc. 01/02037-
1) and CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (Proc. 300956/97-5) and
CAPES – Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior for the financial support of this
research.

890
 NOTATION

X moisture content -
t Time s
DEF effective diffusivity m2/s
Xeq equilibrium moisture content correspondent to air relative humidity -
Xo is the initial moisture content -
L slab thickness m
COPHT,EF Coeficient of performance -
WCP power input to the compressor kW
Q HT heat delivered in the condenser kW
m AIR mass flow rate of air kg/s
VAIR volumetric flow rate of air m3/s
vAIR especific mass of air m3/kg
H2 and H3 air enthalpy entering and leaving the condenser kJ/kg
∆PV increase of the drying potential mmHg
Ja molar flux mol/m2.s
Pv parcial pressure of water vapor on air mmHg
Pt ambiente pressure. mmHg
ηER electrical efficiency (80%) -

LITERATURE

FAO (2004). FAOSTAT Agriculture Data. http://apps.fao.org/page.collections?subset=agriculture.

Access in february, 20th.
IBGE – INSTITUTO BRASILEIRO DE GEOGRAFIA E ESTATÍSTICA (2004). Banco de Dados
Agregados. http://www.sidra.ibge.gov.br/bda. Access in february, 20th.
QUEIROZ, R. (2003) Secagem de Tomates Utilizando Secadores Resistivos e com Bomba de Calor.
Tesis, IBILCE, UNESP.
LENART, A.(1996) Osmo-convective Drying of Fruits and Vegetables: Technology and Application.
Drying Technology, 14(2), 391-413.
VÁZQUEZ, G., CHENLO, F., MOREIRA, R. & CRUZ, E. (1997) Grape drying in a pilot plant with a
heat pump. Drying Technology, 15(3&4), 899-920.
PRASERTSAN, S. & SAEN-SABY, P.(1998) Heat Pump Drying of Agricultural Materials. Drying
Tecnology, 16 (1&2), 235-250.
RIZVI, S.S.H. (1986) Thermodynamic properties of foods in dehydration. Engineering Properties of
Foods, (M.A. Rao e S.S.H. Rizvi, eds.) p. 155-165, Academic Press, New York.
CRANK, J. (1975) The mathematics of diffusion. Pergamon Press, Oxford.
BARROS NETO, B.; SCARMINIO, I. S. e BRUNS, R. E. (1996) Planejamento e Otimização de
Experimentos. 2.ed. Campinas: Editora da Unicamp, 299p.

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