Experimental Data and Mathematical Model of the Thermal Drying of Algerian Apricot Slices (Prunus armeniaca L.)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22399/ijcesen.5302Keywords:
apricot, thermal drying, moisture content, temperature, drying kinetics, sorption isothermsAbstract
This study aims to determine the drying kinetics of three apricot varieties: 'Luizet' (var1), 'Rosé' (var2), and 'Khed Erroumia' (var3), as well as the sorption isotherms of the first two varieties, which are widely cultivated in the Aurès region of Algeria. Drying was performed at temperatures of 30, 40, 50, and 60°C with an air flow rate of 1 m/s, but the isotherms were established for the two temperatures of 30 and 60°C. The moisture content of the fresh apricots, initially ranging from 0.84 to 0.87 kg of water per kg of product, was reduced to values of 0.14 to 0.20 kg of water per kg of product after a drying time of 3 to 5 hours. The experimental work was followed by mathematical modeling using Henderson’s Two-Term model, which best fit the drying curves, with a coefficient of determination R² ranging from 0.99920 to 0.99994 and the chi-square hypothesis test (c ²) ranging from 0.000000333 to 0.000015921 depending on the variety and drying temperature. It was observed that the shortest drying time occurred at a temperature of 60°C, with a minimum of only 2.2 hours for variety 3. Sorption isotherms were also modeled, revealing that the Peleg model provides the best performance according to statistical criteria, with a correlation coefficient r ranging from 0.9952473 to 0.9992376 and a standard deviation coefficient s varying from 0.0034976 to 0.0098374 for both varieties, var1 and var2, at the operating temperatures considered.
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