Modeling some drying characteristics of garlic sheets under semi fluidized and fluidized bed conditions

Abstract

Thin layer drying properties of high moisture garlic sheets under semi fluidized and fluidized bed conditions with high initial moisture content (about 154.26% d.b.) were studied. Air temperatures of 50, 60, 70 and 80°C were applied to garlic samples. Among the applied models, Page model was the best to predict the thin layer drying behavior of garlic sheets. Using this model, correlation coefficient (R²) was high for all drying cases. The computed values of D_eff were between 3.38 × 10^–10 and 2.54 × 10^–9 m²/s during the falling rate drying. Values of D_eff for garlic sheets were also increased with increasing in input air temperature. Activation energy values were varied between 51.32 and 60.58 kJ/mol for 50 to 80°C, respectively. The specific energy consumption (SEC) for garlic specimens was placed in the range of 0.316 × 10⁶ and 0.979 × 10⁶ kJ/kg from 50 to 80°C, respectively. An increase in air temperature caused decrease in SEC value. Application of semi fluidized bed convective drying with temperature between 50 and 60°C was suitable to produce dried garlic.