Experimental and theoretical investigation of drying of a solid particle in an inert medium fluidized bed assisted by infrared radiation

The application of combined electromagnetic radiation and hot air is gaining momentum in food processing. A combined infrared and hot air heating system was developed for the drying of vegetables. Set of coupled heat and mass transfer equations are developed to predict the effect of infrared radiation (IR) in a fluidized bed with inert particles for drying of a single sphere solid. A two layer models were introduced for green peas, a penetration layer and a conduction layer model. Comparison of the results showed that the predicted model agreed well with the experimental results with a maximum error of 5% and 9% for average moisture content and temperature respectively. The model is capable of reasonably predicting temperature, moisture content and shrinkage distribution inside a particle.

Keywords:

modeling , drying , infrared , fluidized bed , inert particles