The 20th International Drying Symposium (IDS 2016)

Gifu, JAPAN, 7-10 August 2016

CFD STUDY OF A DESIGNED FORCED CONVECTION SOLAR DRYER.

APPLICATION TO THE DRYING OF PUNICA GRANATUM LEGRELLIAE’S
FLOWERS

Hicham EL FEROUALI1, Said DOUBABI1, Toufik EL KILALI2 and

Naji ABDENOURI1*
1
Université Cadi Ayyad, FSTG, ER2D Marrakech, B.P 549, Morocco
2
Ste CADVAL 506 Quartier Industriel 40000 Marrakech, Morocco
tel :+212-524-433-404, E-mail: n.abdenouri@uca.ac.ma

Abstract: A numerical study by the finite volume method through the software Solidworks
Flow Simulation is used to study the dynamic and thermal behavior of the airflow within a
forced convection solar dryer. This study aims to improve the drying conditions of
products by studying the temperature distribution homogeneity in the drying chamber and
by controlling the drying air temperature due to the fact that the drying kinetics studies of
products requires making experiments at different constant and homogeneous
temperatures.
Drying experiments were conducted on the flowers of Punica granatum Legrelliae in
Marrakech (Morocco) by using the said dryer in the specific experimental condition
derived from the first part. The aim of this work is to study the effect of drying air
temperature on drying kinetics of Punica granatum Legrelliae’s flowers. The
experimental drying curves obtained were fitted to a number of mathematical models.
Midilli–Kucuk drying model was found to be the most suitable for describing these solar
drying curves. The experimental sorption curves are described by seven mathematical
models, Peleg model was found to be the most suitable for describing the sorption curves.

Keywords: Solar air drying, Numerical simulation, Punica granatum Legrelliae

INTRODUCTION In the second part of this paper, drying experiments

were conducted on Punica granatum Legrelliae
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can be used to
(Punicacee family), it is generally called
analyze and investigate the air flow, temperature
pomegranate and it is a flowering shrub without
distribution, humidity,… inside a solar dryer through
fruiting, native to the Mediterranean and Asia region
appropriate simulation of heat and mass transfer in
and it has been used extensively in the folk medicine
both gaseous and solid phases (Chen et al., 2008).
in many countries. Morocco is fortunate to have a
Cristiana et al. (2012) had used CFD method to
varied climate where this medicinal plant can grow
analyze the airflow inside a hybrid solar-electrical
and be cultivated. The flowers of pomegranate are a
dryer. The dryer was tested experimentally without
traditional antidiabetic medicine (Li et al., 2008) and
trays and with no load, their simulation results
are strongly astringent (Huang et al., 2005). The
showed that the velocity and temperature distribution
flowers are also used to treat diarrhea, and the
is uniform in the drying chamber. Controlled drying
passive bleeding. Many researches on the
requires higher operational costs, which can be
mathematical modeling and experimental studies
unfeasible to some applications but its results are
have been conducted on the solar drying processes
great in terms of the uniformity and quality of
and water activity of various medicinal plants (Jamali
products (Bena and Fuller, 2002). Hybrid solar dryers
et al., 2006); (Nourhène et al., 2008). However, no
arise as an interesting solution (Ferreira et al., 2007)
studies have been reported on drying kinetic and the
because the characteristics of the drying air can be
hygroscopic character of Punica granatum
controllable; improving the quality of dried products
Legrelliae’s flowers.
and the drying costs can be reduced compared with
artificial drying. The main objectives of this study are to:
- Simulate a forced convection solar dryer on
Solidworks Flow Simulation in order to see its
behavior for different scenarios and to model an on-
off control of the drying chamber temperature.
- Study the drying kinetics of Punica granatum
Legrelliae’s flowers for different controllable
aerothermal parameters by using the designed forced
convection solar dryer.
- Determine the effect of the temperature on the
moisture adsorption and desorption isotherms of
Punica granatum Legrelliae’s and to find the suitable
model that describes its sorption curves.
CFD study
The 3D simulation was done on Solidworks Flow
Simulation. It solves the Navier-Stokes equations
which are formulations of mass, momentum and
energy conservation laws for fluid flows. Tow heat
sources were modeled for this study, which are the
solar radiation that enters the computational domain
through the glass of the solar air collector and a
volume source that represent the electrical auxiliary
heater.
Fig. 1. (1) Solar air collector, (2) Fan duct, (3) Fan,
(4) Suction duct, (5) Control Box, (6) Electric
auxilary heater, (7) trays, (8) Drying chamber, (9) Air
flap, (10) air outlet
The simulated dryer, as shown in Fig. 1 consists of
an indirect forced convection solar dryer with a
(2.5m×1m) solar air collector oriented southward
under an angle of 30° versus the horizontal, a drying
chamber, a fan and an electric auxiliary heater. A
galvanized iron flat plate painted black is used as an
absorber for trapping the incident solar radiation. A
glass cover is used as the top cover of the collector in
order to transfer to the absorber the greater part of the
incident solar radiation and oppose the heat losses.
The insulation in the bottom and the edges of the
collector is 5 mm polyurethane foam. The drying
cabinet is constructed with insulted walls
(dimensions: 1.40m (length), 0.5 m (width), and
0.90m (depth)).The fan allows to vary the air flow
rate from 50 to 300 m3s-1. In solar drying processes,
the drying air temperature varies with the intensity of
the solar radiation; an electric auxiliary heater of
4kW was, thus, used to control the drying air
temperature.
Formulation of the CFD Model
Thermal conduction in solids is taken into
consideration. The flow type is laminar and turbulent,
laminar flows occur at low values of the Reynolds
number, when the Reynolds number exceeds a
certain critical value, the flow becomes turbulent.
Flow Simulation employs transport equations for the
turbulent kinetic energy and its dissipation rate (k-ɛ
model). The model uses the discrete ordinates (DO)
radiation model, the solar absorptivity and emissivity
of the solar collector’s absorber are respectively 0.7
and 0.23, the transmissivity, solar absorptivity and
emissivity of the solar collector’s glass are
respectively 0.9, 0.04 and 0.85. Gravitational effects
are taken into account. Simulations are time
dependent analysis of 1 hour with a time step of
0.19s.
Fig. 2. 3D View of the modeled solar dryer on
Solidworks Flow Simulation
Fig. 3. 2D View of the solar dryer’s mesh
Solar radiation is modeled in order to be
perpendicular to the glass of the collector and has an
intensity of 900 Wm-2 (see Fig. 2). The inlet and the
outlet of the dryer are modeled by an environmental
pressure of 1 atm as boundary conditions. The
ambient temperature is equal to 25°C. The air is
forced to circulate in the dryer by a fan with a
constant air flow rate of 300 m3h-1. An electric
auxiliary heater is modeled by a volume heat source
of 4KW. Flow Simulation solves the governing
equations with a discrete numerical technique based
on the finite volume method (FVM) on a rectangular
(parallelepiped) computational mesh. Local
refinement of the mesh is used in this model taking
into account the peculiarities of the model’s
geometry. Fig. 3 represents a 2D view of the mesh
which is composed from 52 907 rectangular cells
(about 38 nodes for each axis).
Mean drying chamber air temperature (°C)
-Case 2: the electric auxiliary heater is activated
throughout the simulation.
-Case 3: Regulation of the drying chamber air
temperature at 40°C.
-Case 4: Regulation of the drying chamber air
temperature at 50°C.
-Case 5: Regulation of the drying chamber air
temperature at 60°C.
By analyzing Fig. 4, when the solar radiation source
is uniquely activated (Case 1); the response of the
system is slow and it reaches the permanent regime
after almost 30 min, the mean drying chamber air
temperature in this case is equal to 50°C as maximum

150
140 value. But, when the electric auxiliary heater is
130 uniquely activated (Case 2); the response of the
120 Case 1
system is faster and the drying chamber temperature
110 Case 2
Case 3
reaches high values around 140°C.
100
90 Case 4 In order to study the temperature effect on drying
80 Case 5 kinetics of Punica granatum Legrelliae’s flowers, the
70 dryer must be operated at constant and homogeneous
60
50
temperatures. So, among the aims of this study is to
40 design a solar dryer in which the temperature
30 distribution of the drying chamber is homogeneous as
0 600 1200 1800 2400 3000 3600 well as controlling the drying air temperature. So an
Time (s) on-off control was implemented in the dryer. The
electric auxiliary heater and the solar radiation are
Fig. 4. Mean drying chamber air temperature versus not always activated during the time dependent
time simulation. The activation of the electric auxiliary
heater is dependent on the mean drying chamber air
temperature that represents the goal value (see Fig.
5). The electric auxiliary heater is turned on until the
goal value is greater than the specified control value.
The value of the dead band is considered as equal to
3°C, Thus, the volume heat source is turned off until
the control value exceeds the goal value by 3°C. By
this way, the volume heat source is not turned on
immediately after that the mean drying chamber air
temperature falls below the specified control value.
The solar radiation is activated until the goal value is
Fig. 5. On-off control of the electric auxiliary heater greater than the specified control value by +3°C that
depending on the mean drying chamber temperature represent the dead band (see Fig. 6), in such way, the
solar radiation source is not turned off as soon as the
mean drying chamber temperature exceeds the
specified control value. During the experiments, the
solar radiation is disabled by hiding the glass of the
solar air collector with an opaque cover.
As it can be seen from Fig. 4, the mean drying air
temperature is controlled in order to be set at 40°C
(case 3), 50°C (case 4) and 60°C (case 5). For the
case 5, the solar radiation source can’t reach by itself
a temperature of 60°C so; the electric auxiliary heater
Fig. 6. On-off control of the solar radiation source is automatically activated and disactivated
depending on the mean drying chamber temperature throughout the experiment in order to set the
temperature at the desired value, which explains the
Five Transient simulations of the modeled solar dryer corrugated form of the temperature. For the cases 3
are presented: and 4, the electric auxiliary heater works only one
-Case 1: the solar radiation source is activated time at the beginning of the simulation so as to
throughout the simulation. quickly reach the desired temperature because the
thermal energy given by the solar radiation source is
enough throughout these experiments. Furthermore,
as it can be noticed from this figure, the temperature
fluctuates around ±3°C from the desired values,
which is acceptable.
Fig. 7. 3D trajectory of the air inside the dryer
Fig. 8. Transversal cut view of the solar dryer
showing the fluid temperature at t=3600s a) Case 3,
b) Case 4, c) Case 5
Fig. 7 represents the trajectory of the flow from the
inlet to the outlet of the dryer. The recycled air rates
fluctuates around 65.66%, 64% and 62.27% for the
respective temperatures 40°C, 50°C and 60°C.
Hence, the fan aspirates more air from the drying
chamber than from the dryer inlet.
Fig. 8 shows the fluid temperature by taking a
transversal view of the dryer for the cases 3, 4 and 5,
it can be noticed that the dying chamber’s
temperature is homogeneous which proves that the
geometry of the model is suitable for the drying
process that requires homogeneous temperature
distribution of the drying chamber in order to dry the
product sufficiently and to improve its quality.
CASE STUDY, Punica granatum Legrelliae’s
flowers
Before performing the drying experiments on Punica
granatum Legrelliae’s flowers, it is necessary to
determine the equilibrium moisture content of this
product by establishing the isotherm sorption.
Sorption isotherms
In the present work, the static gravimetric method
was applied in order to determine the sorption
isotherms at 30, 40 and 50°C. This method is based
on the use of saturated salt solutions to maintain a
fixed relative humidity. The salts used are KOH,
MgCl2, K2CO3, NaNO3, KCl and BaCl2. These salts
provide a range of relative humidity of 5–90%.
Fig. 9. Oven used for measurements of sorption
isotherms: static gravimetric method
The experimental apparatus consists of six glass jars
of 1l each with an insulated lid. Each glass jar is
quarter filled with a different salt solution. The
samples used for desorption are fresh and have a
weight between 0.06 and 0.09g. The samples used for
adsorption are dried 24 hours in an oven at 105°C
before putting them on the glass jars, their weight is
between 0.027g and 0.035g. The jars containing the
samples were put in an oven (see Fig. 9) adjusted to
fixed temperatures (30, 40 and 50±1°C). The samples
were weighed every 2 days; this process had been
continued until their weight became constant. The
dry matter of each sample was determined by drying
them in the oven at 105°C for 24 hours. Each
sorption experiment was carried out 3 times in order
to minimize the error and ensure the reproducibility.
The results represent the main values of the
experiments. The hygroscopic equilibrium of Punica
granatum Legrelliae’s flowers is reached in 11 days
for desorption and 10 days for adsorption.
 2
100 x Equilibrium moisture content Xeq N  ___ 
40   X eq ,i,pre  X eq ,i, exp 

i  1 
35
Desorption 30°C
r 
(Kg water/ Kg dry matter)
Desorption 40°C 2
N  ___ 
  X eq ,i, exp  X eq ,i, exp 
30 Desorption 50°C

i  1 
25  (1)
20
With,
15
____ 1 N
10 X eq ,i,exp   X eq ,i,exp
N i 1
5 (2)
0
 X eq ,i,pre  X eq ,i,exp 2
N
0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0
Water activity aw (-) SEM  i 1
df
Fig. 10. Influence of temperature on the desorption (3)
isotherms of Punica granatum Legrelliae’s flowers.
100 N X eq ,i,pre  X eq ,i,exp
MRE  
N i 1 X eq ,i,exp
35 (4)
100 x Equilibrium moisture content Xeq

Adsorption 30°C Where X eq ,i , exp is the ith experimental moisture

30 Adsorption 40°C
content, X eq ,i , pre is the ith predicted moisture
(Kg water/ Kg dry matter)

Adsorption 50°C
25
content, N is the number of experimental points, and
20 d f is the number of degrees of freedom of the
15 regression model.
The Peleg equation gives the best fit to the
10
experimental data for a wide range of water activity
5 (0.05–0.9) with an r of 0.9777 and 0.9973, SEM of
2.7989 and 1.8487, and MRE of 10.7180% and
0
0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 12.2103% for desorption and adsorption isotherms,
Water activity aw (-) respectively.
Fig. 11. Influence of temperature on the adsorption Drying kinetics of Punica granatum Legrelliae’s
isotherms of Punica granatum Legrelliae’s flowers. flowers
The results of the experiments are presented in
Fig. 10 and Fig. 11. These figures show that X eq
increases with decreasing temperature at
constant aw . This result may be explained by the
higher excitation state of water molecules at higher
temperature thus decreasing the attractive forces
between them. Furthermore, at constant temperature,
X eq increases with increasing of aw . The sorption
isotherms are type II of BDDT classification and
exhibit a sigmoidal shape; this is consistent with the
behavior of other medicinal and aromatic plants
(Mujumdar, 1990). Fig. 12. The designed forced convection solar dryer
In the present study, The relationship between X eq , Drying experiments were conducted during June
aw and the temperature of Punica granatum 2014 in Marrakech (Morocco) on a designed forced
Legrelliae was predicted by applying seven models convection solar dryer (see Fig. 12). In order to
namely GAB, modified Henderson, Peleg, modified ensure greater stability of the drying conditions and
Halsey, modified Oswin, Enderby and LESPAM. homogeneous temperature distribution inside the
The best model describing desorption and adsorption drying chamber, the dryer must be operated at least
isotherms of the product is the one which has the 15min before the introduction of the loaded tray.
highest value of correlation coefficient r and smallest
values of Standard Error of Moisture SEM and Mean
Relative Error MRE . These statistical parameters are
defined as follows:
 Drying rate V (Kg water /( Kg dry moisture.h))
14
=40°C
12 =50°C
=60°C
10
-1
Q =300 m3h
8
6
4
2
0
Fig. 13. Tray loaded by a thin layer of Punica 0,0 0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 2,5 3,0 3,5
granatum Legrelliae’s flowers Moisture content X (Kg water / Kg dry matter)

A mass of approximately 8.5g of fresh Punica
granatum Legrelliae’s flowers was used for each
drying experiment (see Fig. 13). The samples were
uniformly spread forming a thin layer on the drying
tray that was then placed on the first tray of the
drying chamber. The heated air enters the drying
chamber below the trays and flows upwards trough
the samples. A digital weighing apparatus (±0.001g)
measures the mass loss of the product during the
process. The weight of the product on the tray was
measured by removing it from the drying chamber
for approximately 15–20s. These measurements were
performed every 10min at the beginning of the
drying experiment and then every 20min at the end.
The initial and final moisture contents of each sample
were determined by using a drying oven whose
temperature is fixed at 105°C. The experiments were
performed at three air temperatures (40, 50 and
60°C), a fixed drying air flow of 300m3/h and an
ambient relative humidity varying from 41 to 46%.
The initial moisture content of the product ranged
from 3.0476 to 3.25 kg water per kg dry matter and it
was reduced to the final moisture content ranged
from 0.0476 to 0.2857 kg water per kg dry matter.
Moisture content X (Kg water/ Kg dry matter)
Fig. 15. Variation of drying rate as a function of
moisture content for different temperatures.
According to Figs. 14 representing the moisture
content versus drying time, an increase in the drying
air temperature has led to a significant reduction in
the drying time; 310, 120 and 70 minutes for
respective temperatures 40°C, 50°C and 70 min. It
can be noted from Fig. 15 that represents the drying
rate versus moisture content that there is the absence
of the increasing drying rate period (phase 0) in
which the temperature of the product is increased
without any substantial loss of water, the absence of
the constant drying rate period (phase 1) and there is
only the presence of the falling drying rate period
(phase 2). These results are in agreement with the
drying results of other medicinal plants as Citrus
aurantium leaves (Mohamed et al. 2005) and
Gelidium sesquipedale (Mohamed et al. 2008).
The principle of the characteristic drying curve is to
reduce all the experimental data so as to make them
usable not only by the experimenter himself, but also
by the entire scientific community (Mohamed et al.
2005).

3,5
1,2 r =0,9826
=40°C
Dimensionless drying rate f (-)

3,0 =50°C 1,0

=60°C
2,5
-1 0,8
Q =300 m3h
2,0
0,6
1,5
0,4
1,0
0,2 Experimental data
0,5 Characteristic drying curve
0,0
0,0 0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Moisture ratio X*(-)

Drying time (min) Fig. 16. Dimensionless drying rate versus moisture
Fig. 14. Variation of moisture content as a function ratio of Punica granatum Legrelliae’s flowers.
of time for different temperatures. Fig. 16 represents the variation of dimensionless
drying rate versus moisture ratio as given by (Van
Meel, 1958) method, it shows that all the solar drying
curves obtained for the different test conditions fall
into a tight band, indicating that the effect of
variation of temperature is small over the range chosen as the criteria of the fit. These parameters can
tested. A polynomial model was found to fit best the be calculated as follows:
dimensionless experimental data of Punica granatum N
Legrelliae’s flowers.

i 1
(X *exp ,i  X *pre,i )2
2 3 4 χ2 
f  A  B1 X *  B2 X *  B3 X *  B4 X * (5) N ob  nc (8)
With: A=-0.06242, B1=351118, B2=-4.84588,
1 N * * 2
B3=2.77564, B4=-0.38036. RMSE   (X exp ,i  X pre,i )
N i 1
Given the complexity of the phenomena occurring (9)
during the drying of products; several authors
Where X *exp,i is the experimental moisture ratio;
proposed mathematical models in the form of semi-
empirical or theoretical relationships to describe the X *pre,i is the predicted moisture ratio; N ob is the
macroscopic behavioral of products. number of observations; and nc is the number of the
model’s constants.
Table 1. Mathematical models applied to the drying
curves (Idlimam, 2008). Table 1 presents the ten models used to fit the solar
drying curves in which a, b, c, k, k0, k1, and n are the
Model Model expression model’s coefficients. Midilli-Kucuk model was
Newton selected as the most suitable model to represent the
X *  exp (  kt) thin-layer drying behaviour of Punica granatum
Legrelliae’s flowers.
Page X *  exp (  ktn )

Henderson and X *  a exp (  kt) 1,0

Pabis
Predicted moisture ratio X*pre(-)

0,8
by Midilli-Kucuk model

Logarithmic X *  a exp (  kt)  c

0,6
Two term X *  a exp (  k0t)  b exp (  k1t)
0,4
Two term X *  a exp (  kt)  ( 1  a) exp (  kat)
exponential 0,2
Wang and X *  1  at  bt 2 0,0
Singh 0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0

Approximation Experimental moisture ratio X*exp(-)

X *  a exp (  kt)  ( 1  a) exp (  kbt)
of diffusion
Verma et al. X *  a exp (  kt)  ( 1  a) exp (  k0t)
Fig. 16. Comparison between experimental moisture
ratio and Midilli-Kucuk predicted moisture ratio
Midilli-Kucuk
X *  a exp (  ktn )  bt Fig. 16 compares experimental data with those
predicted with Midilli-Kucuk model for different
The moisture ratio and the dimensionless drying rate temperatures. The predicted data generally banded
of Punica granatum Legrelliae’s flowers during the around the straight line shows the suitability of this
thin layer drying experiments were calculated model in describing drying characteristics of Punica
respectively using the following formulas (Al hodali, granatum Legrelliae’s flowers.
1997):
CONCLUSIONS
X  X eq
X*  A CFD study was performed on a forced convection
X 0  X eq
(6) solar dryer by Solidworks Flow Simulation. An on-
off control of the electric auxiliary heater and the
dX
 solar radiation source were implemented in order to
f  dt
control the mean drying chamber temperature at
 dX 
  desired values, the results showed that the behaviour
 dt  0 (7) of the dryer for different simulations is acceptable.
Where X eq is determined from the desorption Also the temperature homogeneity inside the drying
isotherms. The highest value of the correlation chamber is achieved.
coefficient r and the lowest values of the reduced The sorption isotherms and drying kinetics of Punica
chi-square  2 and root mean square error RMSE are granatum Legrelliae’s flowers were studied as a case
study. The sorption isotherms present a sigmoid
shape, and among the seven sorption models chosen
to fit the sorption curves, the Peleg model gave the
best results. From the drying kinetics study of Punica
granatum Legrelliae’s flowers, it is observed that the
drying air temperature greatly influences the drying
kinetics, and there is just the presence of the falling
rate period. Also, among ten thin layer drying
models, the Midilli–Kucuk drying model was found
to be the most suitable for describing the solar drying
curves of Punica granatum Legrelliae’s flowers.
NOMENCLATURE
Q volume flow rate m3h-1
X moisture content (kg water/kg dry matter)
V drying rate (kg water/(kg dry matter. h))
X* moisture ratio
Aw water activity
f dimensionless drying rate
r correlation coefficient
RMSE root mean square error
SEM standard Error of Moisture
MRE mean Relative Error (%)
Greek letters
θ temperature of the experiment (°C)
χ² reduced chi-square
Subscripts
eq equilibrium
0 initial
exp experimental
pre predicted
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was supported by the research institute for
solar energy and new energies (IRESEN) as part of
the project SSH and all of the authors are grateful to
the IRESEN institute for its cooperation.
REFERENCES
Al hodali R. Numerical simulation of an agricultural
foodstuffs drying unit using solar energy and
adsorption process 1997, Thèse de Ph.D,
Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgique, 309 p.
Bena, B. and Fuller, R.J., Natural Convection Solar
Dryer With Biomass Back-up Heater. Solar
Energy 2002, 72(1), 75-83.
Chen, H.H.; Huang, T.C.; Tsai CH, Mujumdar, A.S.
Development and performance analysis of a new
solar energy-assisted photocatalytic dryer. Drying
Technology 2008, 26(4), 503-507.
Cristiana Brasil Maia, Andre Guimaraes Ferreira,
Luben Cabeszas-Gomez, Sergio de Morias
Hanriot, Tiago de Oliveira Martins, Simulation of
the airflow inside a hybrid dryer. International
Journal of Research and Reviews in Applied
Sciences 2012, 10(3).
Ferreira, A.G.; Charbel A.L.T.; Pires R.L.; Silva J.G.
and Maia C.B. Analysis of a Hybrid Solar-
Electrical Dryer. In Proceedings of the 19th
Brazilian Congress of Mechanical Engineering,
Brazil 2007.
Huang, T.H.W. ; Peng, G.; Kota, B.P. ; Li, G.Q. ;
Yamahara, J. ; Roufogalis, B.D. et al.
Pomegranate flower improves cardiac lipid
metabolism in a diabetic rat model: role of
lowering circulating lipids. British Journal of
Pharmacology 2005, 145(6), 767-774.
Jamali, A.; Kouhila, M.; Mohamed, L. A.; Idlimam,
A., & Lamharrar, A. Moisture adsorption–
desorption isotherms of Citrus reticulata leaves at
three temperatures. Journal, Journal of food
engineering 2006, 77(1), 71-78.
Li, Y.H.; Qi, Y.H.; Huang, T.H.W. Pomegranate
flower: a unique traditional antidiabetic medicine
with dual PPAR-a/c activator properties. Diabetes,
Obesity and Metabolism 2008, 10(1), 10-17.
Metzger T, Tsotsas E, Prat M Pore network models: a
powerful tool to study drying at the pore level and
understand the influence of structure on drying
kinetics. In: Mujumdar Arun S, Tsotsas ET (eds)
Modern drying technology. Volume 1:
computational tools at different scales, Wiley
Wiley-VCH, 2007.
Mohamed, L. A.; Kouhila, M.; Jamali, A.; Lahsasni,
S.; Kechaou, N.; & Mahrouz, M. Single layer
solar drying behaviour of Citrus aurantium leaves
under forced convection, Energy conversion and
Management 2005, 46(9), 1473-1483.
Mohamed, L. A.; Kane, C. E.; Kouhila, M.; Jamali,
A.; Mahrouz, M. & Kechaou, N. Thin layer
modelling of Gelidium sesquipedale solar drying
process, Energy Conversion and Management
2008, 49(5), 940-946.
Mujumdar, A.S. Handbook of industrial drying;
Marcel Dekker: New York, 1990.
Nourhène, B.; Mohammed, K. and Nabil, K.
Experimental and mathematical investigations of
convective solar drying of four varieties of olive
leaves. Food and Bioproducts Processing 2008,
86(3), 176-184.
Van Meel D.A. Adiabatic convection batch drying
with recirculation of air. Chemical Engineering
Science 1958, 9(1), 36-44.