Influence of shrinkage on convective drying of fresh vegetables: A theoretical model

• We provided a theoretical description of the anisotropic change of food dimensions.
• We estimated the interactions between transport phenomena and food structure modifications.
• We developed a computational tool describing the performance of real driers.
• We determined the effects of operating conditions on shrinkage and on transfer rates.
• The fluid–food interactions were modeled considering the time change of integration domains.

The aim of the present work was the formulation of a theoretical model predicting the behavior of a convective drier over a wide range of process conditions. The proposed approach was based on the coupling of a transport phenomena model, describing the simultaneous transfer of momentum, heat and mass both in the drying chamber and in the food, and of a structural mechanics model aimed at estimating food sample deformations, as due to moisture loss. The effects of food shrinkage on drying performance were ascertained by analyzing the spatial distributions of temperature, moisture content, strain and stress, as a function of operating conditions. The agreement between model predictions and a set of experimental data collected during drying of cylindrical potatoes was good as far as the time evolutions of food average moisture content and of its main dimensions, i.e. length and diameter, were concerned.