Mass Transfer modeling in Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) during hot air convective drying

摘要

Quality of food during drying can be affected by a wide range of parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, air velocity and internal mass transfer coefficient. Mathematical modeling of moisture transport during drying is one powerful tool for understanding and control of drying process. In this research, date palms (V. Barhee) in khalal stage were dried as single layer at different temperatures (60, 70 and 80deg;C) with air velocity of 1.5 m2/s in a cabinet dryer. A numerical model was developed to describe two-dimensional moisture transfer during drying of dates in the base of Fickrsquo;s second law of diffusion by finite difference method on MATLAB software. The predicted model was validated by comparison with the experimental values. The predicted results by model showed good agreements with experimental data.