Mass transfer analysis of bell pepper samples during convective drying using an automated hot air dryer

Date

4-2014

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics

College

College of Arts and Sciences (CAS)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Ranzivelle Marianne L. Roxas-Villanueva

Abstract

Food drying is a common preservation process used in the food industry which has parameters and conditions that can be improved and predicted using physical analysis. In this research, a prototype automated laboratory food dryer was constructed and tested. Its drying process is based on convective drying that allows hot air to remove moisture on the food surface. It is equipped with microcontroller-based sensors to automate the data collection of the drying temperature, relative humidity and the food sample?s mass. A mass transfer analysis of bell pepper samples was conducted by varying the drying temperature and sample?s size. The drying temperature tested ranged from 40OC to 60OC with an increment of 10OC while two sample sizes used are 2.0cm x 0.5cm x 0.4cm and 1.0cm x 0.5cm x 0.4cm. The response parameters such as the moisture content and drying rate were found to decrease respectively with increasing drying time. The drying temperature and size of the food samples affected the total drying rate significantly, and the most efficient drying condition among the tested combinations is found at the highest temperature and smaller size. Also, the moisture content against time is plotted and it was found out that the drying process of bell pepper samples can be described as polynomial (of order 2). This drying model equation is more commonly known as the Wang and Singh model of drying.

Language

English

Location

UPLB Main Library Special Collections Section (USCS)

Call Number

LG 993.5 2014 P51 /L46

Document Type

Thesis

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