A Linear Driving Force (LDF) Approximation of Moisture Diffusion Kinetics in White Rice

Abstract

Soaking characteristics of white rice grain in water are studied at 25, 40, 60, 70 and 80 °C. The kinetics of mass transfer are modeled using a linear driving force (LDF) approximation with constant diffusivity, which is capable of predicting the moisture ratio profile with time. This approximation is a relatively new approach in food engineering applications for systems in which the rate of mass transfer is controlled by intra-particle diffusion and nonlinear adsorption through porous adsorbent. The mass transfer is also modeled through Fick's law for unsteady-state diffusion using finite difference (FD) method, and compared with the LDF model. In general, the moisture uptake curves calculated with this new approximation compare favorably with the finite difference solution obtained in spherical coordinates, producing results of similar accuracy. Both the methods give a good agreement with the experimental data. The values of the effective diffusion coefficients are between 7.33×10-11 m2/s and 1.43×10-10 m2/s for a temperature of 25 and 80 °C respectively. Although gelatinization of starch is observed at a higher temperature which influences the increase in moisture content, the moisture uptake curves calculated with this new approximation compare favorably with the numerical solution of the non-linear diffusion equation. As such, it can be safely used to predict the unsteady-state moisture absorption kinetics of a rice grain, for the temperature range investigated.