Infrared Drying Characteristics of Bean Seeds

Abstract

The effect of different infrared power levels on drying kinetics of red kidney bean seeds was investigated. The bean seeds were dried at 83, 125, 167 and 209 W infrared power levels and constant seed diameter is 1.14 cm. It is observed that drying characteristics of bean seeds were greatly influenced by infrared power. The drying data were fitted with 10 thin-layer drying models available in the literature. According to the results, Midilli et al. model is superior to the other models for explaining the drying kinetics of bean seeds. Effective moisture diffusivity was calculated and was between 1.75 × 10−9 and 1.02 × 10−8 m2/s within the studied infrared power level range. Activation energy was estimated by a modified Arrhenius-type equation and found to be 9.54 kW/kg. Practical Applications Drying process has been used for decades in food processing industries for efficient long-term preservation of final products. It has the potential to deliver safe food products through enzyme inactivation and microbe destruction. Infrared drying has gained popularity as an alternative drying method for a variety of agricultural products. This method is proven efficient for preserving main characteristics and quality of products, and additionally leads to shortened drying time. The main objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of infrared power on the drying rate and drying time, to fit the experimental data to different thin-layer drying models and to calculate the values of effective moisture diffusivity and activation energy of bean seeds.