Integrated approach on solar drying, pilot convective drying and microstructural changes

Inês N. Ramos, Teresa R. S. Brandão, Cristina L. M. Silva*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)
18 Downloads

Abstract

Solar drying of foods is an old technique, still used nowadays. Nevertheless, the mathematical approach of the complex phenomena involved is not completely integrated. Drawbacks appear in modelling heat transport, specially related to the huge variability of meteorological factors. The great dependence of the heat and mass transfer model parameters on water content is also frequently forgotten. Macroscopic changes (e.g. shrinkage) that occur during drying processes, are usually not considered in mass transfer equations, also affecting the predictive ability of the models. The objective of this work was to develop the mathematical basis and considerations for integrating heat and mass transfer phenomena, taking into consideration macroscopic changes and their correlation to changes at microscopic level (e.g. cellular shrinkage), that might occur during solar drying of grapes.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)195-203
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Food Engineering
Volume67
Issue number1-2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2005

Keywords

  • Drying
  • Heat transfer
  • Mass transfer
  • Microstructure
  • Solar drying

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