Energy and exergy analyses of native cassava starch drying in a tray dryer

Energy and exergy analyses of native cassava starch drying in a tray dryer were carried out to assess the performance of the system in terms of energy utilization, energy utilization ratio, energy efficiency, exergy inflow and outflow, exergy loss and exegetic efficiency. The results indicated that for the starch with ash content of 0.76%, 0.85% crude protein, 0.16% crude fat, negligible amount of fiber, average granule size of 14.1 μm, pH of 5.88, amylose content of 23.45% and degree of crystallinity of 22.34%, energy utilization and energy utilization ratio increased from 1.93 to 5.51 J/s and 0.65 to 0.6 as the drying temperature increased from 40 to 60 °C. Energy efficiency increased from 16.036 to 30.645%, while exergy inflow, outflow and losses increased from 0.399 to 2.686, 0.055 to 0.555 and 0.344 to 2.131 J/s respectively in the above temperature range. Exergetic efficiency increased with increase in both drying air temperature and energy utilization and was lower than energy efficiency. Exergetic improvement potential also increased with increase in drying air temperature. Model equations that could be used to express the energy and exergy parameters as a function of drying temperature were established.