Characteristics of thin-layer infrared drying of apple pomace with and without hot air pre-drying.

摘要

Thin-layer infrared drying characteristics of apple pomace, with and without hot air pre-drying, were studied with a laboratory scale infrared dryer. Moreover, 10 commonly used mathematical models were used to fit experimental data. The logarithmic model and Page model provided the most accurate descriptions of the thin-layer drying of fresh and pre-treated apple pomace, respectively. The values of average effective diffusivity in drying the pre-treated apple pomace were about 1.3 times that of fresh apple pomace with an initial moisture content of 40% (wet basis).The values of activation energy of moisture diffusion were about 30 kJ/mol for the fresh and pre-treated apple pomace respectively. IR drying, combined with hot air pre-drying, can save 20% of drying time to remove the same amount of remained moisture as compared to the infrared drying alone.