PROBLEM 9.

7-2
DRYING TESTS WITH A
FOODSTUFF
ERCILLE MAE O PACAMO
SEPTEMBER 9 2014
PROBLEM
IN ORDER TO TEST THE FEASIBILITY OF DRYING A
CERTAIN FOODSTUFF, DRYING DATA WERE OBTAINED
IN A TRAY DRYER WITH AIR FLOW OVER THE TOP
EXPOSED SURFACE HAVING AN AREA OF 0.186 M
2
.
THE BONE-DRY SAMPLE WEIGHT WAS 3.765 KG DRY
SOLID. AT EQUILBRIUM AFTER A LONG PERIOD, THE
WET SAMPLE WEIGHT WAS 3.955 KG H
2
O + SOLID.
HENCE, 3.955-3.765, OR 0.190 KG OF EQUILIBRIUM
MOISTURE WAS PRESENT.

PROBLEM
THE FOLLOWING SAMPLE WEIGHTS VERSUS TIME WERE
OBTAINED IN THE DRYING TEST.


GIVEN
A= 0.186 M
2
W
S
= L
S
=3.765 KG DRY SOLID
EQUILIBRIUM MOISTURE= 0.190 KG H
2
0

REQUIRED
A. CALCULATE THE FREE MOISTURE CONTENT X KG
H
2
0/KG DRY SOLID FOR EACH DATA POINT AND PLOT X
VERSUS TIME
B. MEASURE THE SLOPES, CALCULATE THE DRYING
RATES R IN KG H
2
0/HM
2
C. USING THIS DRYING RATE CURVE, PREDICT THE TOTAL
TIME TO DRY THE SAMPLE FROM X=0.20 TO X=0.04.
USE GRAPHICAL INTERGRATION FOR THE FALLING-
RATE PERIOD. WHAT IS THE DRYING RATE R
C
IN THE
CONSTANT-RATE PERIOD AND X
C
?
SOLUTION
A. CALCULATE THE FREE MOISTURE CONTENT X KG H
2
0/KG DRY
SOLID FOR EACH DATA POINT AND PLOT X VERSUS TIME
X =
W
T
W
S
EQUILIBRIUM MOISTURE
W
S


X =
4.944 3.765 0.190
3.765
= 0.26268

2
0


SOLUTION
A. CALCULATE THE FREE MOISTURE CONTENT X KG H
2
0/KG DRY
SOLID FOR EACH DATA POINT AND PLOT X VERSUS TIME
Time
hrs
X
kg H
2
0/kg Dry
solid

0.0 0.26268
0.4 0.24701
0.8 0.22656
1.4 0.19761
2.2 0.15910
3.0 0.11926
4.2 0.07596
5.0 0.05179
7.0 0.01700
9.0 0.00611
12.0 0.00000
SOLUTION
B. MEASURE THE SLOPES, CALCULATE THE DRYING RATES R IN KG
H
2
0/HM
2

SLOPE =
X
T
R =
L
S
A
X
T


R =
3.765
0.186
0.24701 0.26268
0.4 0
= 0.79301
SOLUTION
B. MEASURE THE SLOPES, CALCULATE THE DRYING RATES R IN KG
H
2
0/HM
2

X
kg H
2
0/kg Dry
solid
R
kg H
2
0/h m
2

0.26268 0
0.24701 0.793011
0.22656 1.034946
0.19761 0.976703
0.15910 0.974462
0.11926 1.008065
0.07596 0.730287
0.05179 0.611559
0.01700 0.352151
0.00611 0.110215
0.00000 0.041219
SOLUTION
C. USING THIS DRYING RATE CURVE, PREDICT THE TOTAL TIME TO DRY
THE SAMPLE FROM X=0.20 TO X=0.04. USE GRAPHICAL INTERGRATION
FOR THE FALLING-RATE PERIOD. WHAT IS THE DRYING RATE R
C
IN THE
CONSTANT-RATE PERIOD AND X
C
?

t 0.04 = 4.8 hr
t 0.2 = 0.7 hr
= .
SOLUTION
C. USING THIS DRYING RATE CURVE, PREDICT THE TOTAL TIME TO DRY
THE SAMPLE FROM X=0.20 TO X=0.04. USE GRAPHICAL INTERGRATION
FOR THE FALLING-RATE PERIOD. WHAT IS THE DRYING RATE R
C
IN THE
CONSTANT-RATE PERIOD AND X
C
?

R
c
= 0.998 kg H
2
0/ h m
2
x
c
= 0.12 kg H
2
0/kg Dry solid
=
L
s
A
dX
R
=
3.765
0.186
0.20 0.12
0.998

= 1.63

SOLUTION
C. USING THIS DRYING RATE CURVE, PREDICT THE TOTAL TIME TO DRY
THE SAMPLE FROM X=0.20 TO X=0.04. USE GRAPHICAL INTERGRATION
FOR THE FALLING-RATE PERIOD. WHAT IS THE DRYING RATE R
C
IN THE
CONSTANT-RATE PERIOD AND X
C
?

X 1/R
0.23 0.966
0.20 1.024
0.16 1.026
0.12 0.992
0.08 1.369
0.05 1.635
0.02 2.840
SOLUTION
C. USING THIS DRYING RATE CURVE, PREDICT THE TOTAL TIME TO DRY
THE SAMPLE FROM X=0.20 TO X=0.04. USE GRAPHICAL INTERGRATION
FOR THE FALLING-RATE PERIOD. WHAT IS THE DRYING RATE R
C
IN THE
CONSTANT-RATE PERIOD AND X
C
?

1
= 1.1805 0.04 = 0.04722

2
= 1.5020 0.03 = 0.04506

3
= 1.8175 0.01 = 0.01818

= 0.11
A
1
A
2
A
3
=
L
s
A
dX
R
=
3.765
0.186
0.11
= 2.24


= 2.24 + 1.63 = 3.87