K.J. Chua

New hybrid drying technologies for heat sensitive foodstuffs

Abstract Drying is an indispensable process in many food industries. The drive towards improved drying technologies is spurred by the needs to produce better quality products. Improvement in quality of most food products translates into significant increase in their market value. The recent development of new hybrid drying technologies to improve food quality is in line with the present trend of ‘quality’ enhancement with reduced environmental impact. This review paper summarises some recent developments in hybrid drying technologies of interest to food industry. Numerous emerging technologies are listed and discussed in detail. The potential application areas for these hybrid drying technologies in product quality enhancement are identified.

HEAT PUMP DRYING: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND FUTURE TRENDS

ABSTRACT This review paper focuses on the recent progress made in heat pump drying (HPD). An introduction is given on the operating and working principle of the heat pump drying system. Advantages and limitations of HPD are outlined. Two industrial applications of HPD, food and timber, are discussed. New developments in HPD are presented. A section discussing the potential of incorporating advanced heat pump cycles for drying application is also presented. Some possible new hybrid HPD technologies, e.g., radio frequency and infrared assisted HPD are discussed in terms of their industrial potential. Opportunities for further R&D to achieve better product quality and energy efficiency are identified. A new heat pump dryer design is also described to demonstrate the new trend in versatile heat pump design.

Batch drying of banana pieces: effect of stepwise change in drying air temperature on drying kinetics and product colour

Abstract Slices of banana were dried in a two-stage heat pump dryer capable of producing stepwise control of the inlet drying air temperature while keeping absolute humidity constant. Two stepwise air temperature profiles were tested. The incremental temperature step change in temperature of the drying air about the mean air temperature of 30°C was 5°C. The total drying time for each temperature-time profile was 240 min. The drying kinetics and temporal colour change of the products dried under these stepwise variation of the inlet air temperature were measured and compared with constant air temperature drying. The effects of the profile starting temperature and cycle time on both drying kinetics and product quality were also studied. It was observed that by employing stepwise-varying drying air temperature with appropriate starting temperature and cycle time, it was possible to reduce significantly the drying time to reach the desired moisture content with improved product colour.

CONVECTIVE DRYING OF BANANA, GUAVA AND POTATO PIECES : EFFECT OF CYCLICAL VARIATIONS OF AIR TEMPERATURE ON DRYING KINETICS AND COLOR CHANGE

ABSTRACT Pieces of banana, guava and potato were dried in a two-stage heat pump dryer capable of precise control of air humidity with predetermined cyclic variations of air temperature entering the drying chamber. The air temperature variations tested were : a cosine, a reversed cosine and three different square wave profiles with peak-to-valley variations from 20°C to 40°C. The cycle time was about 60 minutes with drying time of approximately 300 minutes. The drying samples were placed on trays in a thin layer. With appropriate choice of temperature-time variation, it is possible to reduce the overall color change while maintaining high drying rates.

Intermittent drying of bioproducts: an overview

Unlike the conventional practice of supplying energy for batch drying processes at a constant rate, newly developed intermittent drying processes employ time-varying heat input tailored to match the drying kinetics of the material being dried. The energy required may be supplied by combining different modes of heat transfer (e.g. convection coupled with conduction or radiation or dielectric heating simultaneously or in a pre-selected sequence) in a time-varying fashion so as to provide optimal drying kinetics as well as quality of the bioproduct. This is especially important for drying of heat-sensitive materials (such as foods, pharmaceutical, neutraceutical substances, herbs, spices and herbal medicines). Intermittent heat supply is beneficial only for materials which dry primarily in the falling rate period where internal diffusion of heat and moisture controls the overall drying rate. Periods when little or no heat is supplied for drying allow the tempering period needed for the moisture and heat to diffuse within the material. As the moisture content increases at the surface of the biomaterial during the tempering period, the rate of drying is higher when heat input is resumed. It is possible to control the heat input such that the surface temperature of the product does not exceed a pre-determined value beyond which thermal damage of the material may occur. This process results in reduction in the use of thermal energy as well as the mass of air used in convective drying. Thus, the thermal efficiency of such a process is higher. The quality of the product, as such color and ascorbic acid content, is also typically superior to that obtained with a continuous supply of heat. However, in some cases, there will be a nominal increase in drying time. In the case of microwave-assisted and heat pump drying, for example, the capital cost of the drying system can also be reduced by drying in the intermittent mode. This paper provides an overview of the basic process, selected results from experiments and mathematical models for a variety of biomaterials dried in a wide assortment of dryers. It begins with a classification of intermittent drying processes that may be applied e.g. time-varying temperature, air flow rate, operating pressure as well as heat input by different modes and in different temporal variations. The beneficial effects of improving the quality of dried bioproducts by different intermittent processes are also included and discussed.

EFFECT OF OSMOTIC PRE-TREATMENT AND INFRARED RADIATION ON DRYING RATE AND COLOR CHANGES DURING DRYING OF POTATO AND PINEAPPLE

A combination of intermittent infrared and continuous convection heating was used to dry various osmotically pretreated sample of potato (in solutions of 10%, 20% and 30% NaCl) and pineapple (in solutions of 30%, 50%, 70% Brix). The effect of drying conditions on color changes of potato and pineapple was investigated. The Hunter color scale parameters (redness, yellowness and lightness) were measured to quantify the color changes. With appropriate choice of infrared intermittency as well as osmotic pretreatment, it is possible to reduce the overall color change while maintaining high drying rates. As expected, osmotic pretreatment resulted in a shift in the sorption isotherms for both products.

CONVECTIVE DRYING OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. EFFECT OF CONTINUOUS AND STEPWISE CHANGE IN DRYING AIR TEMPERATURE

Samples of banana were dried in a two-stage heat pump dryer capable of producing stepwise control of the inlet drying air temperature while keeping absolute humidity constant. Two stepwise air temperature profiles were tested. The incremental temperature step change in temperature of the drying air about the mean air temperature of 30 °C was 5 °C. The total drying time for each temperature-time profile was about 300 minutes. The drying kinetics and color change of the products dried under these stepwise variation of the inlet air temperature were measured and compared with constant air temperature drying. The stepwise air temperature variation was found to yield better quality product in terms of color of the dried product. Further, it was found that by employing a step-down temperature profile, it was possible to reduce the drying time to reach the desired moisture content.

On the study of an energy-efficient greenhouse for heating, cooling and dehumidification applications

An analytical model, based on basic heat-transfer processes within a greenhouse, was used to study the performance of heat pump to meet the heating and dehumidification requirements in a greenhouse. Performance parameters of the heat pump, namely the Coefficient of Performance (COP) and the Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) of the heat pump were determined, along with the condenser and evaporator capacity ratings required to provide the necessary thermal conditioning to a model-sized greenhouse. Based on a typical weather pattern in Bangkok, the performance of the heat pump to maintain the greenhouse air at a day temperature of 27 °C and night temperature of 18 °C with a relative humidity of 40% spans 1.2-4.0 and 1000-16,000 kJ/kg for COP and SEC, respectively.

ON THE STUDY OF TIME-VARYING TEMPERATURE DRYING—EFFECT ON DRYING KINETICS AND PRODUCT QUALITY

ABSTRACT The ability of heat pump dryer to produce controlled transient drying conditions, in terms of temperature, humidity and air velocity, has given it an edge over other drying systems. Exploiting this characteristic, we studied and compared the effect of different temperature-time profiles on the quality of agricultural products in a tunnel heat pump dryer capable of providing up to 14.6 kW of cooling capacity. The product quality refers to the color change of the products. Samples of banana and guava were dried in batches in a two-stage heat pump dryer. The effects of the starting temperature of a selected profile and the cycle time on both drying kinetics and product quality were studied. It was observed that by employing a step change in drying air temperature with the appropriate starting temperature and cycle time, it was possible to reduce significantly the drying time to reach the desired moisture content with improved product color.

Analytical study of cyclic temperature drying: effect on drying kinetics and product quality

An analytical model has been formulated to determine the temperature and moisture distributions during the drying of an agricultural product when different cyclic air temperature variations were employed. The variations in these distributions, with respect to space and time, are presented graphically. Evaluation of the model predictions with drying data obtained from square-wave temperature variations showed good agreement between the model and the experimental data within 8.4%. The advantages of employing cyclic heating/cooling schemes on the drying kinetics and product quality are demonstrated. Analytical results illustrated the importance of product tempering, continuous heat flux reversals within the product and reducing the product surface temperature to minimise the ascorbic acid loss and product colour change due to non-enzymatic browning.