Effective moisture diffusivity estimation from drying data. A comparison between various methods of analysis

Moisture diffusivity is the most crucial property in drying calculations. Literature data are scarce due to the variation of both experimental measurement techniques and methods of analysis. The effect of using different methods of analysis on the same experimental drying data is examined in this work. Detailed and simplified mathematical models, incorporating moisture diffusivity as model parameter, are applied. It is proved, that significant differences in the calculated values of moisture diffusivity result when different models are used, and probably these differences explain the variation in literature data. Thus, the adoption of a standardised methodology will be of great importance in moisture diffusivity evaluation. The above findings resulted from the application of four alternative models on the drying data of three common food materials, potato, carrot and apple. A typical pilot plant scale dryer with controlled drying air conditions was used for the experiments. The moisture content dependence of the diffusion coefficient was proved significant at the last drying stage, while the temperature dependence followed the well known Arrhenius relation. The effects of considering external mass transfer and volume shrinkage during drying, were also investigated.