Jean-Michel Méot

Heat and Mass Transfer in Fry Drying of Wood

This article describes the coupled heat and mass (water, oil) transport phenomena in parallelepiped samples of beech (Fagus sylvatica) fried in peanut oil between 120 and 180°C. The aim was to evaluate the suitability of simultaneous fry drying and oil impregnation as an alternative wood treatment process. Water loss and oil impregnation were continuously assessed during the process. Temperature and pressure were measured at the center of the sample. The water in the peripheral layers of the wood vaporizes at atmospheric pressure. The water at the center of the wood vaporizes at overpressures of the order of 2.8 × 105 Pa. High fluxes of water were recorded of about 0.006 kg/(m2s). The impregnated oil can amount to 20% of the mass of the removed water.

Modelling the effect of temperature, water activity and carbon dioxide on the growth of Aspergillus niger and Alternaria alternata isolated from fresh date fruit

To quantify and model the combined effects of temperature (T) (10–40°C), water activity (aw) (0·993–0·818) and CO2 concentration (9·4–55·1%, v/v) on the growth rate of Aspergillus niger and Alternaria alternata that cause spoilage during the storage and packaging of dates.