EVALUATION OF MATHEMATICAL MODELS FOR PREDICTION OF THIN-LAYER DRYING OF BANANA SLICES

Abstract

Drying characteristics of bananas were experimentally determined. The drying experiments were carried out in a hot air dryer at four inlet temperatures of 50, 60, 70 and 80 degrees C, at a constant air velocity of 2.4 m/s and relative humidity of 4-25%. The experimental results were fitted to five thin-layer drying models and it was found that the Page and Logarithmic models gave better fit that the other models. Values of the effective diffusivity ranged from 7.374 x 10(-11) to 2.148 x 10(-10) m(2)/s. Activation energy for moisture diffusion of the banana slices was found to be 32.65 kJ/mol.