EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION AND MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF HOT AIR CONVECTIVE DRYING OF TOMATO PASTE UNDER NEAR SOLAR DRYING OPERATING CONDITIONS

HADIBI Tarik; BOUBEKRI Abdelghani1; MENNOUCHE Djamel; AZZOUZ Soufien; BOUBEKRI Abderrahim; HADJI Abdelmadjid

HADIBI Tarik )Laboratoire de Développement des Energies Nouvelles et Renouvelables dans les Zones Arides et Sahariennes, Faculté des Sciences Appliquées, Université Kasdi Merbah Ouargla, Ouargla 30000, Algeria
BOUBEKRI Abdelghani1 Laboratoire de Développement des Energies Nouvelles et Renouvelables dans les Zones Arides et Sahariennes, Faculté des Sciences Appliquées, Université Kasdi Merbah Ouargla, Ouargla 30000, Algeria
MENNOUCHE Djamel Laboratoire de Développement des Energies Nouvelles et Renouvelables dans les Zones Arides et Sahariennes, Faculté des Sciences Appliquées, Université Kasdi Merbah Ouargla, Ouargla 30000, Algeria
AZZOUZ Soufien )Laboratoire d’Energétique et des Transferts Thermique et Massique, Département de Physique, Faculté des sciences de Tunis, Campus Universitaire, 2092 Manar II, Tunis, Tunisia
BOUBEKRI Abderrahim Laboratoire de Développement des Energies Nouvelles et Renouvelables dans les Zones Arides et Sahariennes, Faculté des Sciences Appliquées, Université Kasdi Merbah Ouargla, Ouargla 30000, Algeria
HADJI Abdelmadjid )Laboratoire de Développement des Energies Nouvelles et Renouvelables dans les Zones Arides et Sahariennes, Faculté des Sciences Appliquées, Université Kasdi Merbah Ouargla, Ouargla 30000, Algeria

Keywords: Hot air convective drying, tomato paste, mathematical modeling, moisture diffusivity, activation energy

Abstract

The present study was carried out to stabilize, by drying means, the surplus of local tomato production. Obtaining an organic product in the form of tomato paste was then invested during the study. The effect of two different drying conditions (air temperature and air velocity) on the drying behavior of a thin-layer tomato paste was experimentally investigated. Experimental drying kinetics were obtained at 45, 50, and 60°C performed with airflow velocities of 1.5 and 2.5m/s. Results showed that increasing of air-drying temperature from 45 °C to 60 °C reduced drying time by 48.66% and 44.7% for both air velocities, respectively. Among nine fitted mathematical models, Demir et al model was found the best model to describe thin-layer drying of tomato paste under different conditions. The effective moisture diffusivity values have been estimated from Fick’s diffusion model pointing out that it has been increased with the increase of the drying air temperature. Finally, the activation energies were found to be 44.836 and 38.159 Kj/mol for air velocities 1.5 and 2.5 m/s respectively.