CONVECTIVE DRYING OF MOIST MATERIAL UNDER A GIVEN LAW OF HEAT CARRIER TEMPERATURE VARIATION.

Abstract

In this work, by the joint solution of a system of differential equations of heat and mass transfer with the corresponding boundary conditions, a mathematical model of the convective drying of fruits (in the form of a plate, a cylinder or a sphere) under conditions of periodic thermal action (in solar drying units) was obtained. The aim of this study was the intensification of the drying process of fruit and vegetable slices with the use of solar energy by combining the air collector and the drying chamber of a solar dryer into a single energy unit. To achieve this aim, a procedure for the diagnostics of heat exchange processes with variable potentials of diffusion and moisture transfer was developed. The analysis of the experimental data together with the solution of the mathematical model of heat and mass transfer and of the potentials of diffusion and moisture transfer is in good agreement with the experimental data.