Results As stated in the theory, all the experimental runs will be carried out with superficial velocity and

the static bed height constant. These values are kept constant at 2.37m/s and 10.8cm respectively. The ambient air dry bulb temperature and the relative humidity were relatively constant on the days the experiments were carried out and these are also fixed at 22oC and 41%. From the psychometric chart attached in appendix A, the ambient air wet bulb temperature, the inlet air humidity, the saturation humidity at the inlet temperature were obtained. The ambient air wet bulb temperature and the inlet air humidity also remains constant because the ambient air dry bulb temperature and saturation humidity are fixed. The saturation humidity at the inlet temperature however varies in accordance to the temperature of the inlet air. The table below summarises the parameters that are kept constant during the course of the experiment Uo ho Tair RH Ts Ho 2.37m/s 10.8cm 22oC 41% 13.5oC 0.0075kg/kg

The mass transfer and diffusion co-efficient values are chosen to have the least deviation between the co-efficient values calculated from the experimental run and the theoretical mass transfer and diffusion co-efficient values. Details of these calculations are included in appendix C Results at an inlet temperature of 50oC The total mass of peas dried in this experimental run is 360.94g and the saturation humidity at the inlet temperature was 0.0235kg of water per kg of air. The initial, critical and equilibrium moisture contents by weight were 490.25%, 247.31% and 21.08% respectively. These values are important in the calculation of the mass transfer and diffusion coefficient. The graph below shows the reduced saturation of the peas at different time intervals. The fitted linear line represents the constant rate drying period and the curved line represents the variable rate drying period.

Reduced Saturation (E or S(R))

1.000 0.900 0.800 0.700 0.600 0.500 0.400 0.300 0.200 0.100 0.000 0 20 40 Drying Time (Minutes)
Measured Constant rate Variable rate

60

80

From the calculations shown in appendix B, the mass transfer co-efficient of water into air is 0.01g/cm2s and the diffusion co-efficient is 3.1*10-6cm2/s. Result at 60oC The table below summarises the important variables used in the generation of the reduced saturation vs drying time graph in figure ..

Wo H* mo mc meq

356g 0.0235kg/kg 533.34% 314.48% 17.24%

Reduced Saturation (E or S(R))

1.000 0.900 0.800 0.700 0.600 0.500 0.400 0.300 0.200 0.100 0.000 0 20 40 Drying Time (Minutes)
Measured Constant rate Variable rate

60

80

Mass transfer co-efficient = 0.008 g/cm2s Diffusion co-efficient = 3.8*10-6cm2/s Result at 70oC The upper temperature limit of the experiment was chosen to be 70oC and the peas should dry the quickest at this temperature. Also below are the important variables used in the generation of the reduced saturation vs drying time graph.

Wo H* mo mc meq

337.52g 0.0245kg/g 503.47% 266.37% 19.11%

Reduced Saturation (E or S(R))

1.000 0.900 0.800 0.700 0.600 0.500 0.400 0.300 0.200 0.100 0.000 0 20 40 60 Drying Time (Minutes)
Measured Constant rate Variable rate

From figures 1,2,3 above, the variable rate drying period is the longest part of the drying operation because the rate of transfer of moisture from the peas can only be equal to the rate of evaporation for a few minutes due to the size of the peas hence the surface of the peas doesnt remain wet for a long period of time. Food substances with larger diameter and similar moisture content to peas at the same equilibrium relative humidity will have a longer constant rate drying period due to the ability of the material to hold more moisture. Another point noticed from the graph is that the

Analysis of Result Mass transfer co-efficient The chart below shows the mass transfer co-efficient of water into air at the three experimental temperatures.
0.012 Mass transfer co-efficient (g/cm2s) 0.01 0.008 0.006 0.004 0.002 0 50 60 Temperature (oC) 70

According to equation 1.1 the mass transfer co-efficient of water into air should increase with increasing temperature. This is because the saturated air humidity is dependent on the inlet air wet bulb temperature, which is also dependent on the inlet air dry bulb temperature and the ambient air relative humidity. Since the ambient air relative humidity remains the same during the course of the experiment, an increase in the inlet air dry-bulb temperature will lead to an increase in the mass transfer coefficient. Although the increase in temperature does not significantly increase the mass transfer co-efficient, the experimental value shows a decrease in the mass transfer co-efficient with an increase in temperature between 50oC and 60oC. The higher value of mass transfer co-efficient at 50oC is attributed to experimental error which is further explained in the next section. Between 60 oC and 70oC however, there is an increase in mass transfer co-efficient, consistent with the theoretical prediction.

Diffusion co-efficient . The graph below shows diffusion co-efficient within the peas at different air temperatures.
5 4.5 Diffusion co-efficient *10-6 (cm2/s) 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 50 60 Temperature (oC) 70

The falling rate period of the drying process is controlled by the diffusion of water from the interior to the surface of the peas. The temperature of the air determines the rate at which heat is transferred to the evaporation plane within the food. At a higher temperature, more heat reaches the food and this increases the amount of evaporation that takes place and hence increases the vapour pressure at the liquid surface. This increase in vapour pressure increases the vapour pressure gradient between the liquid surface and the peas surface hence increasing the rate at which moisture is removed from within the peas. The experimental calculations do conform to the theoretical prediction and we would have expected the diffusion co-efficient to be less if the experiment was carried out a lower temperature.

Drying time analysis

1.200 1.000 Reduced saturation 0.800 0.600 0.400 0.200 0.000 0 10 20 30 40 Time (min) 50 60 70 80 T= 50C T=60C T=70C

As observed from the graph above, an increase in temperature causes a decrease in the time it takes for the peas to reach the equilibrium weight. However it is important to control the air temperature in order to balance the rate of moisture movement and reduce the extent to which the food is damaged due to exposure to heat. This has an important consequence in the drying industry as the food needs to be dried in a shorter period of time to minimize utility cost however the temperature is also carefully controlled to minimize wastage as a result of heat damage. Experimental error The main source of error in the experiment is condition of the peas. The average diameter of the peas was assumed to be constant during the experiment however the condition of some of the peas had deteriorated due to manhandling during packaging therefore they were not spherical and only had the outer surface and no internal mass. This would have lowered the mass transfer and diffusion co-efficient calculated in the experiment. Another source of error was the initial weight of the peas. The initial bed height was kept constant however the weight of the peas was different. The difference in weight arose because of the porosity of the bed. It is impossible to have a uniform porosity in all the runs hence the weight of the peas will be different for the same bed height. At the 50oC run, the initial weight of peas was 360.94g; the initial weight of the peas at 60oC and 70oC were 356g and 337.52g respectively. This could have contributed to the higher mass transfer co-efficient at the 50 degrees run.

A possible solution to this will be to keep the bed weight constant and see what effect this has on the mass transfer and diffusion co-efficient values. Other sources of experimental errors include the interval temperature of the peas and time-keeping error during the experiment. Although the temperature of the bed rises back almost immediately to the desired temperature, the temperature drop of the system when the bed is removed to measure the interval bed height and weight could be a possible source of error and it takes a longer time to stabilise at the higher temperature. Conclusion It can be concluded from this experiment that