Introduction

Drying is a mass transfer process consisting of the removal of water or another solvent by
evaporation from a solid, semi-solid or liquid (Greensmith, 1998). This process is often used as a
final production step before selling or packaging products. To be considered "dried", the final
product must be solid, in the form of a continuous sheet, long pieces, particles or powder. A
source of heat and an agent to remove the vapor produced by the process are often involved. In
bio products like food, grains, and pharmaceuticals like vaccines, the solvent to be removed is
almost invariably water. Thus, it is important to have drying process in order to reduce moisture
content in the products. During drying process, two fundamental and simultaneous processes
occur; first is the transfer of energy, mostly as heat from the surrounding environment to
evaporate the surface moisture, and second is the transfer of internal moisture to the surface of
the solid and its subsequent evaporation due to the process.

In industries, there are several type drying units that have been used such as tray dryers,
tunnel dryers, roller or drum dryers, vacuum dryers and freeze dryers. Each have its own pros
and cons. In this experiment, tray dryers have been used to reduce moisture content in the rice.
Tray dryers are used for small-scale production or for pilot-scale work. By using this method,
the food (rice) is spread out, generally quite thinly, on trays in which the drying takes place. The
trays is heated by an air current sweeping across the trays using hot air that pumped into the
chamber which removes the moist vapors. The air temperature is usually controlled by a
thermostat which is normally set between 50 and 70 oC. The air enters the bottom of the chamber
below the trays and then rises, through the trays of food being dried, and exits from an opening
in the top of the chamber.

Depending upon the food and the desired final moisture, drying time may be of the order
of 10 or even 20 hours. Tray dryers require low capital and maintenance costs but have relatively
poor control and produces more variable product quality. Thus, in the Practical Action systems
the trays are designed to force the air to follow a longer zigzag route which increases the air and

food contact time and thus improve its efficiency. This system also reduces back pressure which
means that cheaper, smaller fans can be used.

Objective of experiment
The purpose of this experiment is

To determine the drying rate of the sample by drying method using tray dryers.
To study the drying behavior of a non-porous solid.

Scopes of experiment
The experiment is done by using tray dryer. Analysis of experimental data relating
moisture content to time and represented by plotting a drying curves. The study of drying
behavior can be carried out further by determining the drying rate of the solid and also by
calculating the heat and mass transfer coefficient during the constant rate period.

References

Greensmith, M. (1998). Practical Dehydration. Woodhead Publishing, Ltd.