Continuous and Intermittent Drying of Rough Rice: Effects on Process Effective Time and Effective Mass Diffusivity

Joan Carlos Alves Pereira, Wilton Pereira da Silva, Josivanda Palmeira Gomes, Alexandre José de Melo Queiroz, Rossana Maria Feitosa de Figueirêdo, Bruno Adelino de Melo, Ângela Maria Santiago, Antônio Gilson Barbosa de Lima and Antonio Daniel Buriti de Macedo
Additional contact information
Joan Carlos Alves Pereira: Federal University of Campina Grande, Campus I, Paraiba CEP 58429-900, Brazil
Wilton Pereira da Silva: Federal University of Campina Grande, Campus I, Paraiba CEP 58429-900, Brazil
Josivanda Palmeira Gomes: Federal University of Campina Grande, Campus I, Paraiba CEP 58429-900, Brazil
Alexandre José de Melo Queiroz: Federal University of Campina Grande, Campus I, Paraiba CEP 58429-900, Brazil
Rossana Maria Feitosa de Figueirêdo: Federal University of Campina Grande, Campus I, Paraiba CEP 58429-900, Brazil
Bruno Adelino de Melo: Federal University of Campina Grande, Campus I, Paraiba CEP 58429-900, Brazil
Ângela Maria Santiago: State University of Paraiba, Paraiba CEP 58431-410, Brazil
Antônio Gilson Barbosa de Lima: Federal University of Campina Grande, Campus I, Paraiba CEP 58429-900, Brazil
Antonio Daniel Buriti de Macedo: Federal University of Campina Grande, Campus I, Paraiba CEP 58429-900, Brazil

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-13

Abstract: The choice of the drying process plays a key role in reducing the costs of electricity consumption in the food industry. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate continuous and intermittent drying of rough rice, using empirical and diffusion models to describe the drying kinetics, considering only effective time of operation to compare and evaluate these processes. Experiments were carried out during the month of April 2018, in Campina Grande, Paraiba Brazil, and were conducted with continuous and intermittent drying of rough rice grains (about 20 g, each experiment) using a fixed-bed dryer with constant power, at temperatures of 50 and 70 °C. For the intermittent experiments, the intermittency ratio was α = 2/3 and the drying periods were 10 and 20 min, with intermittency periods of 20 and 40 min, respectively. Comparison between continuous and intermittent drying kinetics indicated reduction in the effective time of all intermittent drying experiments, reaching up to 32.2%, hence promoting energy saving. It was also found that a one-dimensional diffusion model with boundary condition of the first kind properly described all rough rice drying processes and that the effective mass diffusivity is higher in intermittent drying, compared to continuous drying at the same temperature.

Keywords: convective drying; intermittency ratio; energy saving; drying models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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