DRYING KINETICS OF LEMON-SCENTED GRASS

作者：Oliveira M T R; Berbert P A^*; Martinazzo A P; Berbert Molina M A

来源：Transactions of the ASABE, 2011, 54(5): 1837-1846.

• Convective drying
• Error analysis
• Essential oil
• Lewis model
• Medicinal plants
• Thin-layer drying

Lemon-scented grass (Pectis brevipedunculata) is an essential oil-bearing plant, which is considered a potential source of citral for the food and fine chemical industries. Knowledge of its drying kinetics can assist in the design of convective driers that are capable of preserving the quality of the product. In this study, the drying kinetics were investigated using three levels of drying air temperature (30 degrees C, 40 degrees C, and 50 degrees C) and two levels of dry air mass flow rate (0.274 and 0.542 kg 5(-1) m(-2)) for a mean humidity ratio of 0.019 kg kg(-1). The suitability of the Lewis drying Model to accurately represent the drying curves was also investigated. The goodness of fit between the experimental and predicted values was based on the correlation coefficient, root mean square error, mean absolute percentage error, mean bias error, and agreement index. The dependence of the model's drying constant (k) on temperature was also established. Results revealed that although mass transfer is mainly affected by temperature, it is also dependent on dry air mass flow rate. The Lewis model was found to produce accurate predictions of the drying curves, and an Arrhenius-type equation holds for the relationship between the drying constant (k) and the drying air absolute temperature.

• 出版日期2011-10