Influence of air dehumidification on water evaporation in a food plantInfluence de la déshumidification de l'air sur l'évaporation de l'eau dans une usine agroalimentaire

•Experimental results show the importance of a dehumidifier to enhance drying.•Dehumidifier reduced relative humidity from about 90% to 60%.•Model was developed to predict water evaporation rate on surfaces of a food plant.•Good agreements between the model and the experimental results.•Model can be generalized to other food plant to predict and improve drying.

To reduce the proliferation of bacteria inside food plants, cleaning and disinfection are performed daily following production. These operations are followed by drying during which the drying rate should be as high as possible. This study shows the influence of a dehumidifier on the water mass evolution on surfaces during the drying of a food plant. The temperature, relative humidity and water mass evolution were monitored under two conditions: with and without a dehumidifier. Comparison of the results shows that the drying rate is about 1.5 times higher when a dehumidifier is used. These data were used to develop a simplified heat and mass transfer model allowing the prediction of the temperature and drying rate at different locations. The results can help the manufacturer to evaluate the benefits of a dehumidifier and consider the use of other devices to achieve better airflow distribution or greater heat supply for certain surfaces.