Equilibrium Humidity as One of Important Energy-Efficiency Indexes in Drying of Food Powder Materials of Biological Nature

Abstract

Considering general trend of energy consumption, according to which the amount of consumed energy increases, its cost and scarcity continuously increase. The 10–12 % of all energy is spent on drying processes in the world. At the current stage of the development of dehydration processes in Ukraine and the world, an urgent problem has arisen in the creation and development of highly efficient thermal technologies that would ensure minimal energy consumption for the process and high quality of the material. When drying powdered food materials of a biological nature, equilibrium humidity is important, which allows you to determine the final moisture content. Energy costs for the dehydration process, term, storage conditions and quality characteristics of the product depend on this indicator. The tensometric (static) method of Van Bamelen was used to determine the equilibrium humidity of the studied samples depending on the relative humidity of the air. The article presents the results of research – the kinetic curves of water vapour adsorption of antioxidant functional powders and instant cooking products (dry borscht) based on them were obtained and the comparative characteristics of the studied samples were carried out.