Modelling the drying kinetics of canola in fluidised bed dryer

Abstract

Canola, one of the new oil seeds in Iran, is investigated for drying in Batch fluidised beds. Experiments were conducted to assess the kinetics of drying in the temperature range of 30–100°C. The drying rate was found to increase significantly with increasing temperature. The drying rate was compared with various exponential time decay models and the model parameters were evaluated. The approximate diffusion and logarithmic models were found to match the experimental data very closely with the maximum Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) less than 0.02. Considering fewer differences in the model evaluation factors and friendly use, logarithmic model was recommended for modelling canola drying. The experimental data were also modelled using Fick's diffusion equation, the effective diffusivity coefficients having been found to be from 3.76 × 10–11 m²/s to 8.46 × 10–11 m²/s in the range of experimental data covered in the present study. For the process, the activation energy was calculated to be 11.03 kJ/mol assuming an Arrhenius type temperature reliance.