DETERMINATION OF THE DRYING KINETICS AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF RED PEPPER (CAPSICUM ANNUUM L.) USING DIFFERENT DRYING METHODS AND MICROWAVE FINISH DRYING

ÇALIŞKAN KOÇ G.

Latin American Applied Research, vol.50, no.4, pp.299-307, 2020 (SCI-Expanded) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 50 Issue: 4
  • Publication Date: 2020
  • Journal Name: Latin American Applied Research
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.299-307
  • Keywords: Activation energy, Effective moisture diffusivity., Energy consumption, Microwave finish drying, Red pepper
  • Uşak University Affiliated: No

Abstract

Abstract−− The effects of different drying processes (microwave (MD), freeze (FD), convective (CD), and vacuum drying (VD) and combined drying methods (FD+MD and CD+MD)) on the drying characteristics, effective moisture diffusivity (Deff), and activation energy of the red pepper powder and total energy consumption of dryers were investigated. All drying processes took place in the combined form of constant and falling rate periods for all drying experiments except for CD and CD+ MD. In order to deter-mine drying kinetics of red pepper pulp (RPP) seven thin layer drying models were fitted to experimental data and Page (MD, FD, CD, VD, CD+MD) and Logarithmic (FD+MD) models which had the highest R2 and lowest χ2 and RMSE were found to satisfactorily describe the drying behavior of RPP. Findings indiated that compared to FD and CD alone, microwave finish drying resulted in Deff values (p < 0.05). Specific energy consumption values ranged between 3.13 and 270.87 kWh/kg H2O.