The current article introduces a new tool to model drying kinetics. The perspective described here involves application of regimes originally used for heterogeneous reactions to quantify the reaction rate against the diffusional transfer of reactants. This method helps to determine the controlling steps in the falling and constant rate periods of drying and can be used as a base for advanced mathematical models. The proposed method can be used for solid/semisolid materials of varying dimensions. It addresses the research gap of the current unavailability of a universal technique to describe drying kinetics. The effect of parameters such as temperature, humidity, and the dominant mode of drying has been discussed with the help of a sample material (tomato). The effect of using different regimes for the variation of relative excess activation energy against the moisture content is also discussed. This approach showcases the "internal" character of the material and the kinetic model can be applied to different drying processes. The conditions under which transition between regimes may occur are also discussed and elaborated in terms of dimensionless numbers, such as the Hatta number and the Biot number.
The understanding of the drying of food materials is based on the theoretical, empirical, and semi-empirical models. The fundamental understanding of the drying process is always been a nebulous concept. These models merely provide information based on the fitting of experimental data and fail to explain the actual physics involved during the drying operation. Mass transfer regime approach for drying, developed in the previous year is still a nascent idea but a vital tool to analyze a drying operation. The paper discusses the application of the mass transfer regime approach to the drying of carrots. Drying operation involves internal diffusion of moisture from the material core to the surface followed by the external mass transfer to the environment. The mass transfer regime approach is used to represent the rate of these steps in the form of equations analogous to the heterogeneous reaction. A comparison of these equations with the experimental rate is made to determine the governing step (internal or external) during the drying process. It was observed that during drying, there is a transition between these governing steps owing to the dynamics of the material and external environment. This approach will thus provide more information on the drying operation and help to design the drying process.
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