Absorption kinetics of sulfur dioxide in flint corn during steeping

A mathematical model was proposed to simulate simultaneous sulfur dioxide a bsorption and reaction during corn steeping. The parameters of the model, t he diffusion coefficient and the reaction rate constant, were determined. T he reaction rate of sulfur dioxide in corn grain followed first-order kinet ics, with rate constants in the range 1.49 x 10(-7) to 9.78 x 10(-7) s(-7) for steeping temperatures from 25 to 55 degreesC The Arrhenius activation e nergy for sulfur dioxide loss was 60.5 kJ/mol. The fitting of the mathemati cal model to the absorption curves determined the diffusion coefficient of sulfur dioxide in corn kernels. These varied from 1.17 x 10(-11) to 5.18 x 10(-11) m(2)/s for the temperature range 25-55 degreesC Temperature-depende nt diffusion coefficients was shown to obey the Arrhenius equation with an activation energy of 39.8 kJ/mol.