Low Temperature Drying With Air Dehumidified by Zeolite for Food Products: Energy Efficiency Aspect Analysis

Abstract

Developments in low temperature drying of food products are still an interesting issue; especially with respect to the energy efficiency. This research studies the energy efficiency that can be achieved by a dryer using air which is dehumidified by zeolite. Experimental results are fitted to a dynamic model to find important variables for the drying operation. The results show that ambient air temperature as well as the ratio between air flow for drying and air flow for regeneration, affect the energy efficiency significantly. Relative humidity of used air, and shift time have a minor effect on the dryer performance. From the total work, it can be noted that the dryer efficiency operated at 50-60°C achieves 75 percent, which is attractive for drying of food products. Keywords: drying; adsorption; regeneration; energy efficiency; zeolite Citation Information: International Journal of Food Engineering. Volume 7, Issue 6, Pages –, ISSN (Online) 1556-3758, DOI: 10.2202/1556-3758.1930, December 2011