FOOD DRYING

Placing a food material in a medium in which the partial pressure

of water is low until the water content drops to the desirable level.
 Movement of moisture during drying

• Settling down period : the surface heats up to the wet-

bulb temperature (A–B)
• Constant-rate period : surface temp remain at Twb of
drying air, free water of aw=1 available at surface ,
water movement from the interior to the surface equal
to the rate at which water evaporates to the
surrounding air (B–C)
• Critical moisture content: surface start to dry
• 1st Falling rate period: slight increase of product temp,
no free moisture at surface but in material water is still
free with aw=1
• 2nd falling rate period: bound water capacity of material,
vaporization at interior, vapor has to diffuse to the
surface
 DRYING RATE CALCULATIONS
• Factors that controls the rate of drying
– Air temperature
– Air Humidity (the amount of water vapour already carried
by the air)
– Air velocity (the amount of air that passes over the food)
• Others factors
– The composition and structure of the food
– The amount of food placed into a drier in relation to its
capacity
“ Design and operation of dehydration processes depends therefore first of all
on understanding the equilibrium relations between water in food and water in the
dehydrating medium “
DRYING EQUIPMENT & DRYING RATE
CALCULATIONS
 DRYING EQUIPMENT & DRYING RATE
CALCULATIONS
• Convective Dryer
– Batch dryer

Cabinet Dryer with

Bin Dryer Cabinet (tray) Dryer auxiliary heaters.
Feeding Mode of Double Drum Dryer

Nip Feed dip feed

applicator roller feeds splasher or sprayer feed.

Feeding Mode of Single Drum Dryer

Dip roller feed applicator roller feed

Dip feed. splasher or sprayer feed.

Spray Dryer Configuration

A conventional spray dryer consists of

the following main components:
– Drying chamber (1)
– Hot air system and air distribution (2)
– Feed system (3)
– Atomizing device (4)
– Powder separation system (5)
– Pneumatic conveying and cooling system
(6)
– Fluid bed after-drying/cooling (7)
– Instrumentation and automation (8)
DRYING EQUIPMENT & DRYING RATE CALCULATIONS

Spray Dryer
1.Complete burner
2.Feed tank 21. Washer water storage
3.Product filter 22. Washer bomb
4.Feed pump
5.Feed set 23. Suporte da talha
6.Complete atomizer
24. Talha do atomizador
7.Hot gases generator- direct
8.Hot air duct 25. Product exit
9.Hot air disperser
10.
Drying chamber roof
11.
Drying chamber with inspection door
12.
Interconnecting ducts
13.
Product recovery cyclone
14.
Aspiration ventilator
15.
Chimney
16.
Vibrators
17.
Control and command panel
18.
Rotary valve
19.
Adjustable Venturi
20.
Gas washer
DRYING EQUIPMENT & DRYING RATE CALCULATIONS
 DRYING EQUIPMENT & DRYING RATE
CALCULATIONS
• Heat & mass transfer

• At constant period
Heat transfer = mass transfer

• (hc) is related to the mass flow rate of air

– Parallel flow

– Perpendicular flow
 DRYING EQUIPMENT & DRYING RATE
CALCULATIONS
• If water evaporates only from the upper surface

• In Falling rate period *

*using number of assumptions for example: the nature of moisture movement

and the absence of shrinkage of the food
 Sample Problem
1. A conveyor drier is required to dry peas from an initial moisture content of
78% to 16% moisture (wet-weight basis), in a bed 10 cm deep which has a
voidage of 0.4. Air at 85°C with a relative humidity of 10% is blown
perpendicularly through the bed at 0.9ms-1. The drier belt measures
0.75m wide and 4m long. Assuming that drying takes place from the
entire surface of the peas and there is no shrinkage, calculate the drying
time and energy consumption in both the constant- and the falling-rate
periods. (Additional data: the equilibrium moisture content of the peas is
9%, the critical moisture content 300% (dry-weight basis), the average
diameter 6 mm, the bulk density 610 kgm-3, the latent heat of evaporation
2300 kJ kg-1, the saturated water vapour pressure at wet-bulb temperature
61.5 Torr and the mass transfer coefficient 0.015 kgm-2 s-1)
 Sample Problem
1. Consider a drying process in which 1000 kg/h of sliced
onions are to be dried in continuous, convective dryer.
Their initial water content is 83% and the final water
content 8%. The air enters at a temperature of 120 0C
and an RH of 1.2%. It exits at a temperature of 50 0C and
an RH of 55%. Assume that all the energy for drying is
provided by the cooling of the air and that the losses to
the dryer wall are insignificant. We can also assume that
the food enters at Tw. Calculate required air flow for
this process (in: kg dry air/h and m3/h if the density of
air of 1.2 kg/m3
DRYING EQUIPMENT & DRYING RATE
CALCULATIONS

sMi + GHi = sMf + GHf

 Sample Problem
2. Consider the dryer in example 1. It is desired to reduce the required air
flow. However, the initial temperature of the air must not exceed its
current value of 1200C, and it is not feasible to lower the exit
temperature below 500C because the driving force for heat transfer
would be lowered too much. What other steps could be taken? It is clear
that the amount of water picked up per kg of air must be increased.
However the entering air is already at a very low RH, and further
dehumidification would be of little value. A solution would be to have
the air exit at the same temperature but at a higher RH. This of course
would deviate the humidification path from adiabatic saturation (which
is equivalent to the Tw line). Such a deviation requires additional heat.
Assuming that we allow the air to exit at 80% RH, Ye would rise to 0.065
kg/kg, Using mass balance calculate new required air flow for this
process and the power of heater to be installed in this dryer
 Sample Problem
• Consider the dryer in example 1 and calculate
drying surface required for that process
 Video Drum Dry Process
• https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5lrVt6dNtQ
• https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=orWBVv7kXpM
Temperature profile of the drum dryer
Moisture content (dry basis) profile of the
drum dryer
 DRYING EQUIPMENT & DRYING RATE
CALCULATIONS
• Drying Rate at constant rate

_ dw = UA∆T
dt ∆ hfg
R = 1 + ∆x + 1
hcA kwA hLA
U = 1
RA
 Sample Problem
1. A single-drum drier (Section 15.2.2) 0.7m in diameter and
0.85m long operates at150°C and is fitted with a doctor
blade to remove food after 34rev. It is used to dry a 0.6mm
layer of 20% w/w solution of gelatin, pre-heated to 100°C,
at atmospheric pressure. Calculate the speed of the drum
required to produce a product with a moisture content of 4
kg of solids per kilogram of water. (Additional data: the
density of gelatin feed is 1020 kgm-3 and the overall heat
transfer coefficient 1200Wm-2 K-1; assume that the critical
moisture content of the gelatin is 450% (dry weight basis).)
 Solution
80% moisture and 20%
solid ; 0,6 mm thick ;
ρ 1020 kg/m3
100 o C

80% solid
and 20% moisture
at ¾ rev

0,7 m diameter
0,85 m long
150 o C
Calculate
a. Drum area
b. Mass of feed on drum surface and mass loss
c. Constant drying rate and resident time required
d. Rpm needed
 Sample Problem
2. A drum dryer is being designed for drying a
product from initial total solid content of 12% to a
moisture content of 4%. An overall heat transfer
coefisient (U) of 1700 W/m2C is being estimated
for the product. An average temperature
difference between the roller surface and the
product of 85oC will be used for the design
purpose. Determine the surface area of the roller
required to provide a production rate of 20 kg
product/h
 Problem Sample
1. Calculate the drying time for a liquid atomized in a centrifugal
atomizer at a feed rate of 15 lb/min (6.8 kg/min) at a
peripheral speed of 200 ft/s. Base the drying time for a
particle size representing a diameter larger than that of 90%
of the total droplets produced. Assume there is no change in
droplet diameter with drying. The liquid originally has a
density of 61 lb/ft3 (993 kg/m3) and a moisture content of
8% (wet basis) using air at 347◦F (175◦C) and a humidity of
0.001 H2O/dry air. The critical moisture content is 2.00 g
H2O/g dry matter. The dried solids have a density of 0.3
g/cm3. Exit air temperature is 220◦F (104.4◦C). Product exit
temperature is 130◦F (54.4◦C)
 DRYING EQUIPMENT & DRYING RATE
CALCULATIONS
• If water evaporates from the sperical droplet

Kf
Log mean Temp
DRYING EQUIPMENT & DRYING RATE CALCULATIONS
Droplet Size for Rotary Disc Atomizer

Parameters:
• Correction factor
• Cumulative volume
• Feed rate (w)
• Peripheral speed (Vp)
DRYING EQUIPMENT & DRYING RATE CALCULATIONS
Droplet Size for Pneumatic Atomizer

Parameters:
• Atomizing air
Pressure
• Feed rate (w)
 DRYING EQUIPMENT & DRYING RATE CALCULATIONS

• Vacuum Dryer

Continuous (belt) vacuum dryer. Batch freeze-dryer.

 Freeze Drying
• The drying transforms the ice or water in an
amorphous phase into vapor.
Freeze Drying Mechanism
1. the energy transport to
transform ice into water
vapor (between –21 and
–30 °C approximately
2805 kJ/kg) and
2. the transport of the
water vapor from the
sublimation surface
through the already
dried product into the
drying chamber
Freeze Drying Time Calculation
Sample Problem