Analysis of Single Phase Moisture and Heat Model of Food Drying

摘要

Single phase heat and mass models have been widely used to describe the movement of water and heat during drying. In order to reduce the number of parameters and minimise computer time on the problem, reported and non-reported non-dimension numbers have been used. However, very limited research has been done to analyse the sensitivity of these numbers. In this paper, non-dimension analysis of the mathematical model applicable to drying food is discussed. The model combines the principles of mass balance with heat balance for the movement of moisture and heat. Numerical solutions are presented corresponding to one-dimensional food tissues with constant diffusivity. The main finding of the model is the ability of equations with constant properties to represent the movement of moisture and temperature inside the fruit and, consistent with experiment findings, results providing physical contents are assigned appropriate numerical values.