Submitted by Leticia Schettini (leticia@ufrrj.br) on 2016-10-11T14:28:18Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2005 - Jonatas de Aguiar Ferreira.pdf: 582914 bytes, checksum: cf08766dd08ac2ba431524c048eecb30 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-10-11T14:28:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2005 - Jonatas de Aguiar Ferreira.pdf: 582914 bytes, checksum: cf08766dd08ac2ba431524c048eecb30 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-08-30 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior-CAPES / In this research, the drying kinetics and equilibrium conditions during osmotic dehydration of chayote (Sechium edule, Sw.) were studied using 20, 30 and 40 % (w/v) sucrose solutions. A thermostatic bath was built to allow the experimental evaluation of osmotic dehydration kinetics and equilibrium moisture content determination. The experiments were carried out at three different temperatures (30 ?C, 40 ?C and 50 ?C) in order to evaluate the influence of temperature and sucrose concentration. Chayote fruits were washed and submerged in sodium hypochloride solution for ten minutes, for sanitization. Afterwards, the fruits were dried and cut into slices of about 0.5 cm thickness. Then, the slices were put into hypertonic sucrose solutions during preestablished time intervals. After osmotic dehydration, the solution was discarded and the slices were softly dried with absorbent paper to remove surface moisture. The moisture content was determined gravimetrically. Long time experiments up to 96 h were performed to provide information about the equilibrium moisture content. An specific equilibrium isotherm was selected by statistical methods. The correlation that better described equilibrium moisture content behavior was the Smith sorption isotherm, adapted to osmotic environment. The Overhults model was used to describe osmotic dehydration kinetics and estimate the drying constants k and n. Based on the results obtained in this research, it could be demonstrated that the equilibrium moisture content is strongly influenced by sucrose concentration and that k is a parameter dependent on the temperature and sucrose concentration, whereas n may be considered constant for the given experimental setup. / Neste trabalho foi feito um estudo da desidrata??o osm?tica de fatias de chuchu em um sistema que possibilitou a determina??o da umidade de equil?brio e dos coeficientes do modelo de Overhults para descrever a cin?tica de desidrata??o osm?tica das fatias. O procedimento experimental consistiu em lavar e escovar os frutos, para a remo??o de impurezas da casca, fatiar o chuchu, em fatias de 5 mm de espessura, num fatiador dom?stico de alimentos, submeter o material ? desidrata??o osm?tica em solu??o hipert?nica de sacarose a 20,30 e 40%, por at? 96 horas, tomando amostras em per?odos determinados para levantar a curva de desidrata??o do material e tamb?m determinar a umidade de equil?brio das fatias de chuchu como uma fun??o da concentra??o inicial da solu??o hipert?nica e da temperatura. Com base nos resultados obtidos foi poss?vel determinar os par?metros do modelo de Overhults para as fatias de chuchu, bem como a uma correla??o para a umidade de equil?brio do material e constatar que h? forte influ?ncia da temperatura e da concentra??o sobre a cin?tica de desidrata??o osm?tica do chuchu, que cerca de 50 % da umidade das amostras ? removida nas primeiras duas horas de imers?o, que a umidade de equil?brio ? atingida em cerca de 48 horas de imers?o e que o modelo de Overhults descreve satisfatoriamente as curvas de desidrata??o osm?tica.

A mathematical model for the drying of particulate solids in a continuous vibrated fluidised bed dryer was developed and applied to the drying of grain wetted with a single liquid and porous particles containing multicomponent liquid mixtures. Simple equipment and material models were applied to describe the process. In the plug-flow equipment model, a thin layer of particles moving forward and well mixed in the direction of the gas flow was regarded; thus, only the longitudinal changes of particle moisture content and composition as well as temperature along the dryer were considered. Concerning the material model, mass and heat transfer in a single isolated particle was studied. For grain wetted with a single liquid, mass and heat transfer within the particles was described by effective transfer coefficients. Assuming a constant effective mass transport coefficient and effective thermal conductivity of the wet particles, analytical solutions of the mass and energy balances were obtained. The variation of both transport coefficients along the dryer was taken into account by a stepwise application of the analytical solution in space intervals with non-uniform inlet conditions and averaged coefficients from previous locations in the dryer. Calculation results were verified by comparison with experimental data from the literature. There was fairly good agreement between experimental data and simulation but the results depend strongly on the correlation used to calculate heat and mass transfer coefficients.   For the case of particles containing a multicomponent liquid mixture dried in the vibrated fluidised bed dryer, interactive diffusion and heat conduction were considered the main mechanisms for mass and heat transfer within the particles. Assuming a constant matrix of effective multicomponent diffusion coefficients and thermal conductivity of the wet particles, analytical solutions of the diffusion and conduction equations were obtained. The equations for mass transfer were decoupled by a similarity transformation and solved simultaneously with conduction equation by the variable separation method. Simulations gave a good insight into the selectivity of the drying process and can be used to find conditions to improve aroma retention during drying.   Also, analytical solutions of the diffusion and conduction equations applied to liquid-side-controlled convective drying of a multicomponent liquid film were developed. Assuming constant physical properties of the liquid, the equations describing interactive mass transfer are decoupled by a similarity transformation and solved simultaneously with conduction equation and the ordinary differential equation that describes the changes in the liquid film thickness. Variations of physical properties along the process trajectory were taken into account as in the previous cases. Simulation results were compared with experimental data from the literature and a fairly good agreement was obtained. Simulations performed with ternary liquid mixtures containing only volatile components and ternary mixtures containing components of negligible volatility showed that it is difficult to obtain an evaporation process that is completely controlled by the liquid-side mass transfer. This occurs irrespective of the initial drying conditions.   Despite simplifications, the analytical solution of the material model gives a good insight into the selectivity of the drying process and is computationally fast. The solution can be a useful tool for process exploration and optimisation. It can also be used to accelerate convergence and reduce tedious and time-consuming calculations when more rigorous models are solved numerically. / QC 20110614