Spatial homogeneity of drying in a batch type food dryer with diagonal air flow design

• A batch type dryer has been developed with a design of diagonal airflow channel.
• Design was simulated in ANSYS Fluent and potatoes were used for experiments.
• Drying uniformity was found at all distances with minimum variation.
• Numerical and experimental data showed 87.09% correlation coefficients.
• Drying homogeneity is directly linked with uniform air distribution.

Batch type dryers are some of the most widespread equipment used for food dehydration. One major drawback of dryer is the spatial heterogeneity of air distribution in the drying chamber. A new batch type dryer with diagonally airflow inlet channel (along the length of drying chamber) has been developed. This feature caused drying uniformity by exposing the entire food product to incoming warm air. A flow simulation software, ANSYS-Fluent has been used to predict the profile of air distribution in drying chamber. A spatial homogeneity of air distribution was found. To validate the designed geometry of dryer and its performance evaluation, experiments were conducted using potatoes (slices, 4 mm thickness) as drying material. The result, expressed as drying curves for all food buckets, showed high R2 value. The simulated results of airflow were compared with experimental measured data. This comparison revealed a good correlation coefficient of 87.09% for airflow distribution.