EFFECT OF PARTICLE STRUCTURE ON QUALITY RETENTION OF BIO-PRODUCTS DURING THERMAL DRYING

To study the influence of particle structure on quality retention of b ioproducts during thermal drying, the porous particles formed of album in and solid carriers were dried in a vibro-fluidized bed dryer at dif ferent inlet air temperatures and different initial bulk porosities. E quations to predict temperature and moisture content of particles as w ell as the kinetics of biomass degradation were developed The particle bulk porosity was incorporated into concentration-dependent moisture diffusivity model to estimate the effect of particle structure on prod uct quality. The analysis of both calculated and experimental results indicates that the more porous structure promotes moisture diffusion, increases drying rate and finally improves the quality retention of bi o-products. An extensive literature survey on quality retention issues during thermal drying has been done.