Drying and dehydration
Dr. Anurag Nema
Assistant Professor,
Department of FPE ,
College of FPT & BE,
AAU, Anand
DRYING
➢ Drying is one of the oldest methods of preserving food and
an important unit operation under post harvest phase.
➢ Dried foods can be stored for long periods without
deterioration occurring.
➢ The principal reasons for this are that the microorganisms
which cause food spoilage and decay are unable to grow and
multiply in the absence of sufficient water and many of the
enzymes which promote undesired changes in the chemical
composition of the food cannot function without water.
“Drying refers to removal of moisture from grains and
other products to a pre-determined level”.
Drying is a thermo-physical and physico-chemical
operation by which the excess moisture from a
product is removed.
Mostly, drying is accomplished by vaporizing the
water that is contained in the food, and to do this the
latent heat of vaporization must be supplied.
Two important process-controlling factors that enter
into the unit operation of drying are:
1) Transfer of heat to provide the necessary latent
heat of vaporization,
2) Movement of water or water vapour through the
food material and then away from it to effect
separation of water from food.
Main Advantages of drying:
Permits long time storage (increase in shelf life) of grain
without deterioration by reducing the microbial and
enzymatic activities. At low moisture content grains are
in dormant stage.
Ease of handling by reducing the bulk.
Helpful in processing of fruits and vegetables, milling
and storage of food grains.
Improvement in quality by concentrating the nutrients
and solids.
Prevents mould growth, fermentation, sprouting and
discolouration of grains.
Permits continuous supply of product throughout the
year.
Offers early harvest of crops, which reduces field
damage and shattering loss.
Fields can be prepared earlier for the next crop.
Permits the farmers to have better quality product.
Makes products available during off season.
Dehydration:
Removal of moisture to very low levels usually to bone dry
condition.
Moisture content:
Quantity of water present in a grain/food sample per unit
mass of its dry matter and moisture combined.
Moisture content representation:
Moisture content (wet basis, %)
Moisture content (dry basis, %)
Relationship Between Wet Basis and Dry Basis Moisture Content
If MW, the wet basis moisture content in percent, is known, the
dry basis moisture content can be calculated using:
If Md, the dry basis moisture content in percent, is known, the
wet basis moisture content can be calculated using:
Derivation of Relationship Between w.b. and d.b. Moisture Content
We Know,
Ww
M.C. wb , %= × 100
Wm
Divide both the numerator and denominator of the R.H.S. by Wd
Ww Ww
൙ ൙
Wd Wd
M.C. wb , %= × 100 M.C. wb , %= × 100
Wm Ww+Wd
൙
Wd ൙
Wd
M.C. (db) in decimal
(Wm = Ww + Wd) M.C. wb , %= × 100
M.C. (db) in decimal+1
Weight loss during drying:
During drying, paddy grain will loose weight due to loss
of moisture.
Wi = Initial weight [g]
Wf = Final weight [g]
Example:
Q. 1000 kg of paddy is harvested at 25% MC, and dried
down to 14% MC, what is the final weight of the dried
grain?
Soln: Final weight of grain = 1000* (100-25)/(100-14) =
872 kg of paddy at 14 % MC
Drying Rate Curve:
Drying curve usually plots the drying rate versus drying time
or moisture contents.
Three major stages of drying can be observed in the drying
curve.
1)Transient early stage, during which the product is heating up
(transient period)
2)Constant rate period, in which moisture is comparatively
easy to remove
3)Falling rate period, in which moisture is bound or held within
the solid matrix
➢ Point B represents equilibrium temperature conditions of the
product surface.
➢ Section B to C of the curve, known as the constant rate
periods, represents removal of unbound water from the
product.
➢ The water acts as if the solid is not present. The surface of
the product is very wet and water. And the water activity is
equal to one.
➢ The constant rate period continues as long as the amount of
water evaporates is equal to the amount of water supplied to
the surface of the material.
➢ The falling rate period is reached when the drying rate
starts to decrease, and the surface water activity falls
to less than one.
➢ The rate of drying is governed by the internal flow of
liquid or vapor. This point is represented by C in the
figure.
➢ At this point there is not enough water on the surface
to maintain a water activity value of one.
➢ The falling rate period can be divided into two steps. A
first falling drying rate occurs when wetted spots in
the surface continually diminish until the surface is
dried (Point D).
➢ Second falling rate period begins at point D when the
surface is completely dry. The plane of evaporation
recedes from the surface. Heat required for moisture
removal is transferred through the solid to the
vaporization of moisture in the solid and the vapor
moves through the solid into air stream.
➢ The amount water removed in this period can be
relatively small compared to the constant rate and
first falling rate period.
➢ However this period may take much longer than
constant rate period because the drying is slow.
Heat Transfer in Drying:
All three of the mechanisms by which heat is transferred –
conduction, radiation and convection – may enter into drying.
The relative importance of the mechanisms varies from one
drying process to another and very often one mode of heat
transfer predominates to such an extent that it governs the
overall process.
As an example, in air drying the rate of heat transfer is given by:
q = hsA(Ta - Ts)
where, q = heat transfer rate in J/s,
hs = surface heat-transfer coefficient J m-2 s-1 °C-1,
A = area through which heat flow is taking place, m2,
Ta = air temperature and
Ts = temperature of the surface which is drying, °C.
To take another example, in a roller dryer where moist material is
spread over the surface of a heated drum, heat transfer occurs by
conduction from the drum to the foodstuff, so that the equation is:
q = UA(Ti– Ts )
Where, U = overall heat-transfer coefficient,
Ti = drum temperature (usually very close to that of the
steam),
Ts = surface temperature of the food (boiling point of water or
slightly above) and
A = area of drying surface on the drum.
The value of U can be estimated from the conductivity of the drum
material and of the layer of foodstuff.
Values of U have been quoted as high as 1800 J m-2 s-1 °C-1 under
very good conditions and down to about 60 J m-2 s-1 °C-1 under poor
conditions.
In cases where substantial quantities of heat are transferred by
radiation, it should be remembered that the surface
temperature of the food may be higher than the air
temperature.
Estimates of surface temperature can be made using the
relationships developed for radiant heat transfer although the
actual effect of combined radiation and evaporative cooling is
complex. Convection coefficients also can be estimated using
the standard equations.
For freeze drying, energy must be transferred to the surface at
which sublimation occurs. However, it must be supplied at such
a rate as not to increase the temperature at the drying surface
above the freezing point. In many applications of freeze drying,
the heat transfer occurs mainly by conduction.
Dryer Efficiencies:
Energy efficiency in drying is of obvious importance as energy
consumption is such a large component of drying costs.
Basically it is a simple ratio of the minimum energy needed to
the energy actually consumed.
Because of the complex relationships of the food, the water,
and the drying medium which is often air, a number of
efficiency measures can be worked out.
Efficiency calculations are useful when assessing the
performance of a dryer, looking for improvements, and in
making comparisons between the various classes of dryers
which may be alternatives for a particular drying operation.
The minimum quantity of heat that will remove the required water is that
needed to supply the latent heat of evaporation, so one measure of
efficiency is the ratio of that minimum to the energy actually provided for the
process. Sensible heat can also be added to the minimum, as this added
heat in the food often cannot be economically recovered.
Yet another useful measure for air drying such as in spray dryers, is to look
at a heat balance over the air, treating the dryer as adiabatic with no
exchange of heat with the surroundings. Then the useful heat transferred to
the food for its drying corresponds to the drop in temperature in the drying
air, and the heat which has to be supplied corresponds to the rise of
temperature of the air in the air heater. So this adiabatic air-drying efficiency,
h, can be defined by:
h = (T1 - T2)/(T1 - Ta)
Where, T1 = inlet (high) air temperature into the dryer, T2 = outlet air
temperature from the dryer, and Ta = ambient air temperature.
The numerator, the gap between T1 and T2, is a major factor in the
efficiency.
Types of Dryers
Fluidized bed dryer :
This type of dryer is very commonly used in food processing
operations.
The particulate of food up to 15 cm thick bed is placed on
perforated base or on metal trace with mesh.
The food material is brought into fluidized state with the help
of hot drying air making the maximum surface area of food
available for drying.
They may be batch or continuous type in operation.
In continuous fluid bed dryer, product is discharged under
gravity and it may employ up to 6 dryers in series for high
production rate.
These types of dryers are compact and have good control over
drying conditions.
They have relatively high thermal efficiency and high heat and
mass transfer rate (drying rate).
The drying time is approximately 30-60 seconds.
Uniform drying and short drying periods are the advantage of
fluid bed dryer as product are mixed up by fluidization.
Wide range of moisture content in the dried product is possible
in continuous operation.
They are most suitable for peas, sliced vegetables, diced
fruits, grains, powders and extruded food product of small
particulate size which can be fluidized without excessive
mechanical damage.
The fluid bed dryers with semi continuous operations
equipped with microprocessor control are suitable for puff
drying in addition to roasting and cooking (such as ready to eat
foods; snack foods etc).
As drying continues density of material increases and drying
air velocity which was previously sufficient to keep it in
fluidized state will not be able to keep the food material in
suspended form.
Such dried food is collected at the bottom. If this dryer is used
for puffing in which the density of puffed material decreases
then the drying air velocity will throw the material towards the
top of the dryer.
The drying air velocity is maintained just enough so that the
drying bed starts to expand and keep the particles to float. The
pressure drop can be given by blanching the force of gravity
as:
∆𝑃 = ℎ𝑔 𝜌𝑝 − 𝜌 (1 − 𝜀)
where,
∆𝑃 = pressure drop in pascal
h = height of drying bed in meter at rest
𝜀 = porosity of the bed at rest
𝜌𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜌 are the density of particle and drying air in kg/m3,
respectively.
Fig. Fluidized bed dryer
Spray dryer:
In this dryer, liquid is transformed into dried particles by
spraying the feed into hot drying medium.
The feed can either be a solution, suspension or paste.
It is generally used to prepare milk, coffee or fruit juice's
powder.
Spray drying consist of four stages namely:
(a) Atomization of feed into spray
(b) Spray air contact
(c) Drying of spray
(d) Separation of dry product from air
The drying air after filtration is heated in an in an indirect type
steam heater or oil fried heater to a temperature of 150℃ −
250℃ .
The fluid is atomized and dispersed into the stream of heated
air.
The moisture evaporates almost instantly and the dried
particles are separated and collected from the air.
The cool moist air is then exhausted.
Spray nozzles or high speed spray discs are used to form
droplets. The spray disc rotate at about 5000-10000 rpm and
atomize the liquid into tiny droplets.
The droplets usually dry at wet bulb temperature. the residence
time of the liquid droplets and the time in the drying chamber is
1-5 seconds depending upon the drying air temperature.
The drying air and fine particles of the product enter
pneumatic conveying system.
The exhaust air passes to atmosphere via exhaust fan and
wet scrubber. The dried powder is collected at the base of the
transport/bagging cyclone. The characteristics of the dried
product depend on the physical and chemical properties of
feed.
Tray Dryer (Batch Type Dryer):
Tray dryers usually operate in batch mode, use racks to hold product and
circulate air over the material.
It consists of a rectangular chamber of sheet metal containing trucks that
support racks.
Each rack carries a number of trays that are loaded with the material to be
dried.
Hot air flows through the tunnel over the racks.
Material is placed in one or more trays with 4-6 cm deep layer.
Sometimes fans are used to on the tunnel wall to blow hot air across the
trays. Even baffles are used to distribute the air uniformly over the stack of
trays.
The hot air is circulated through the trays at 0.5 to 5 m/s velocity per m2 of
the tray area.
Some moist air is continuously vented through exhaust duct; makeup fresh
air enters through the inlet.
Schematic of tray dryer
The racks with the dried product are taken to a tray-dumping station.
These types of dryers are useful when the production rate is small.
They are used to dry wide range of materials, but have high labor
requirement for loading and unloading the materials, and are expensive
to operate.
They find most frequent application for drying valuable products.
Drying operation in case of such dryers is slow and requires several
hours to complete drying of one batch.
With indirect heating often the dryers may be operated under vaccum.
The trays may rest on hollow plates supplied with steam or hot water or
may themselves contain spaces for a heating fluid.
Vapour from the solid may be removed by an ejector or vacuum pump.
Freeze-drying involves the sublimation of water from ice under high
vacuum at temperatures well below 0°C. This is done in special vacuum
dryers for drying heat-sensitive products.
Drum Dryer:
In drum dryers a liquid containing dissolved solids or slurry carrying
suspended solids forms a thin layer on the outside surface of a large
rotating drum.
For a single drum unit thickness of the film can be controlled by an
adjustable scraping blade.
In case of a double drum unit thickness can be controlled by the gap
between the drums.
A gas, normally air may be blown over the surface for rapid removal of
moisture.
The rotation of the drum adjusted so that all of the liquid is fully
vaporized and a dried deposit can be scrapped off with the help of
flexible or adjustable knife.
This type of dryer mainly handles the materials that are too thick for a
spray dryer and too thin for a rotary dryer.
The solid collects on an apron in front of the knife and rolls to a
container or to a screw conveyor.
The operation of the drum drier is continuous.
The drum is rotated continuously by a gear driven by a pinion that
receives its motion through a belt, a chain, or a reduction gear.
The speed of the drum may be regulated by a variable-speed drive to
adopt the speed to any slight variation in the feed quality.
The speed of the drum regulated depending upon the nature of
materials (i.e wet or dry), if the product material is wet/dry quite a
distance before the knife is reached, the speed should be
decreased/increased.
The design of the components is similar to that of drum filter.
The knife may be held just against the surface.
It may be brought closer by turning the adjusting wheels.
The knife supports may be turned through part of a circle so that the
angle of the blade of the knife relative to the drum surface may be
selected for the greatest shearing effect.
In recent years, double drum dryers have replaced single drum dryer in
several applications due to their more efficient operation, wide range of
products and high production rates.
Vacuum drying:
A drying method that places the object to be dried in an enclosed
container to vent air and reduce the pressure with a vacuum pump in
order to artificially increase the water vapor partial pressure difference is
called vacuum drying.
Vacuum drying is a batch operation performed in an air-tight vessel.
Using vacuum pumps, the pressure and humidity within the chamber
are reduced.
By lowering the atmospheric pressure within the chamber, the materials
inside dry more quickly through contact with the indirectly heated walls.
Vacuum drying is essentially contact drying in a vacuum.
The vacuum drying method dries an object with a temperature of 25ºC
three times faster comparing to drying with warm air of 30ºC and
humidity of 50%
Vacuum drying is one of the foremost industrial drying techniques for
heat-sensitive, hygroscopic, and/or toxic powders and granules.
Avoiding excessive heat while drying powder may be necessary for a
variety of reasons, ranging from product quality to safety
Pharmaceutical powders: active ingredients may lose their medicinal
effect when warmed.
Food drying: certain nutrients may break down if exposed to high
temperatures. Taste, consistency, and appearance can also degrade
under too much heat.
Plastics and chemical processing: synthetic materials can leach toxins
with prolonged exposure to heat. This can even make convection drying
methods hazardous, as the hot air stream must eventually be emitted.
Vacuum drying is a safe and highly efficient technique for
drying large volumes of heat-sensitive powders or granules at
a much lower temperature than would be required in a
traditional industrial dryer. In a vacuum, where ambient
pressure is reduced, the flashpoint of liquids lowers
considerably.
Freeze Dryer
In freeze dryer, by lowering the temperature of the crop, most of its
moisture becomes ice and then sublimated by lowering the ambient
pressure. The freeze dryer process can be used for many foods,
especially products whose quality is important to the consumer.
During freeze drying, heat and mass transfer processes are optimally
performed. Depending on the shape of the drying system, heat transfer
is carried out through the frozen or dried layer of the product. Obviously,
the heat transfer through the frozen layer is fast, so it will not limit the
drying speed.
One of the benefits of freezing drying process is the high quality of the
product produced due to the low temperature during sublimation and
preservation of the product structure. These advantages are balanced
against energy consumption for freezing and vacuum generation and justify
the process. By lowering the temperature of the product, most of its moisture
is converted to ice and then sublimated by reducing ambient pressure.
Rotary Dryer
The rotary drier is basically a cylinder, inclined slightly to the horizontal,
which may be rotated, or the shell may be stationary, and an agitator
inside may revolve slowly.
In either case, the wet material is fed in at the upper end, and the
rotation, or agitation, advances the material progressively to the lower
end, where it is discharged.
Figure shows a direct heat rotary drier. Typical dimensions for a unit like
this are 9 ft diameter and 45 ft length.
In direct-heat revolving rotary driers, hot air or a mixture of flue gases
and air travels through the cylinder. The feed rate, the speed of rotation
or agitation, the volume of heated air or gases, and their temperature
are so regulated that the solid is dried just before discharge.
The shell fits loosely into a stationary housing at each end. The material is brought to
a chute that runs through the housing; the latter also carries the exhaust pipe.
The revolving shell runs on two circular tracks and is turned by a girth gear that
meshes with a driven pinion. The inclination is one in sixteen for high capacities and
one in thirty for low ones.
As the shell revolves, the solid is carried upward one-fourth of the circumference; it
then rolls back to a lower level, exposing fresh surfaces to the action of the heat as it
does so.
Simple rotary driers serve well enough when fuel is cheap. The efficiency is greatly
improved by placing longitudinal plates 3 or 4 in. wide on the inside of the cylinder.
These are called lifting flights.
This is the most common form of revolving rotary cylinder. It has high capacity, is
simple in operation, and is continuous.
Thank You