Energy and Exergy Analyses of Thin-Layer Drying of Potato Slices in a Semi-Industrial Continuous Band Dryer

This article is concerned with the energy and exergy analyses of the continuous-convection drying of potato slices. The first and second laws of thermodynamics were used to calculate the energy and exergy. A semi-industrial continuous-band dryer has been designed and used for drying experiments. The equipment has a drying chamber of 2m length and the inlet air used for drying is heated by gas power. The experiments were conducted on potato slices with thickness of 5mm at three different air temperatures of 50, 60 and 70C, drying air mass flow rates of 0.61, 1.22, and 1.83kg/s and feeding rates of 2.3110-4, 2.7810-4, and 3.4810-4kg/s. The energy utilization and energy utilization ratio were found to vary between 3.75 and 24.04kJ/s and 0.1513 and 0.3700, respectively. These values show that only a small proportion of the supplied energy by the heater was used for drying. The exergy loss and exergy efficiency were found to be in the range of 0.5987 to 13.71kJ/s and 0.5713 to 0.9405, respectively, indicating that the drying process was thermodynamically inefficient and much energy was vented in the exhaust air. In addition, the results showed that the feeding rate and the temperature and flow rate of the drying air had an important effect on energy and exergy use. This knowledge will provide insights into the optimization of a continuous dryer and the operating parameters that causes reduction of energy consumption and losses in continuous drying.