Drying simulation of corn with tempering

This work presents a diffusion model and experimental investigation of corn drying with tempering. The model solves numerically the diffusion equation for a hygroscopic porous solid consisting of two concentric spheres (starc hy endosperm and pericarp) with different shell thickness and relative resi stances to moisture flow. Multipass drying was simulated to evaluate the ef fect of tempering on drying process. Predicted moisture profiles within the kernel were used to evaluate the actual time for complete tempering or tem pering index. The effect of the initial moisture for tempering and the numb er of drying passes on the net drying time were analyzed. A mathematical ex pression was formulated to estimate the tempering index under different tem pering conditions.