3.

DEHYDRATION
The removal of moisture from a product is known as drying or dehydration.
Drying is removal of moisture to a moisture content in equilibrium with the
environment such that quality deterioration due to mould, enzymes and insects is
negligible – 12 to 14% w.b. for most food stuffs. Dehydration is the removal of
moisture to very low moisture content, nearly bone dry condition.
Advantages of drying
1. Early harvesting at a higher moisture content reduces harvesting shatter
losses and facilitates earlier field operations
2. Products can be stored for longer periods without deterioration
3. Seed viability is maintained over longer periods
4. Due to the reduction in weight of product, transportation costs are also
reduced.
Methods of drying
Hot Air Drying – Air supplies heat and takes away the evaporated moisture. Heat
transfer from air to product is by convection. Types: Cabinet, Tunnel, Pneumatic,
Rotary and Fluidised dryers. These are used for particulate materials. For liquids
spray dryer is used.
Direct Contact Drying – Heat transfer to the product is by conduction. Food
material is placed in contact with a heated surface. Types: Drum dryer, Vacuum
Cabinet and Vacuum Band.
Radiant, Microwave and Dielectric Heating – Not used for removal of bulk of
moisture, usually for finishing of little moisture e.g. Infrared.
Freeze Drying – Involves freezing material, then removal of ice to vapour form.
Osmotic Drying – Water removed from food material by osmosis is about 50% in
weight of water.
3.1 Theory of Hot Air Drying
Wet material is placed in a stream of air. Air supplies heat and removes moisture
away from the product.

dQ/dt dM/dt

Ts, Ps, Hs
Constant

Air temp. Ta
Air humidity, Ha
Air velocity, va wet solid
Air pressure, Pa

A wet solid being dried by a stream of hot air.

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Drying data can be represented in the form of curves below.
M(kg/kg d.s.)
A B

C
tc

D
t(h)

dM/dt(kg/kg d.s.)(h)

B C
A

tc

D
t(h)

Drying curves for a wet solid in heated air at constant temperature and humidity.
Where dM/dt = drying rate
Point C = critical point
t = time
M = moisture content
Stages A-B Equilibrium period
B-C Constant rate period
C-D Falling rate period
Equilibrium period is very short. The constant rate period prevails as long as the
surface of the food material is saturated and the conditions of the air are
constant. The surface temperature (Ts) of food also remains constant and
equivalent to the wet bulb temperature of the air.
Moisture content – If S = mass of dry solid, m = mass of water, then the % wet
basis moisture content of the material is given by
m
M w.b.  100 (1)
mS

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The decimal dry basis moisture content is given by
m
M d .b.  (2)
S
The moisture content on dry basis will be used in the calculations unless stated.
3.1.1 Constant Rate Period – (stage B-C) – surface of solid remains saturated with
liquid water and drying takes place by movement of water from the saturated
surface through a stagnant air film into the stream of drying air. Rate of mass
transfer or drying rate is given by

  K g APs  Pa 
dm
(3)
dt
Eqn (3) can be written in the form

  K g AH s  H a 
dm '
(4)
dt
The rate of transfer of heat to the drying surface is

 hc ATa  Ts 
dQ
(5)
dt
Because of equilibrium, rate of heat transfer and rate of mass transfer related as
follows
dm dQ
h fg  (6)
dt dt
Combine eqn (5) and (6)
h A
  c Ta  Ts 
dm
(7)
dt h fg
If the drying rate is expressed in terms of rate of change of moisture content, M,
eqn (7) becomes
h A
  c s Ta  Ts 
dM
(8)
dt h fg
Consider a slab (e.g. a tray of food in which water evaporates only from the upper
surface) of 1 kg mass, depth d, and density s, the effective drying surface area As
is equal to 1/d.s, eqn (8) becomes
hc
dM
 Ta  Ts  (9)
dt d s h fg
Drying time during the constant rate period is obtained by integrating eqn (9)
M 0  M c  s h fg d
tc  (10)
hc Ta  Ts 

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The heat transfer coefficient hc is related to the mass flow rate of air.
For parallel air flow
hc = 14.3 G 0.8 (11)
For perpendicular air flow
hc = 24.2 G 0.37 (12)
3.1.2. Falling Rate Period – (stage C-D) Most of the drying takes place here. Point
C on the curve is called the critical point and moisture content at C is called
critical moisture content Mc.
Factors affecting movement of water within the material during the falling rate
period are
1. Capillary mechanism – due to capillary forces
2. Liquid diffusion – due to concentration gradient
3. Vapour diffusion
Capillary in Falling Rate Period – Rate of drying in falling rate period is

  K M  M e 
dM
(13)
dt
At the critical point, the drying rate during the critical and falling rate periods are
equal. Therefore equ (9) and (13) give
dM  hc Ta  Ts  M  M e 
 (14)
dt d s h fg M c  M e 
The time to reach a particular moisture content from the critical point is
d s h fg M c  M e   M c  M e  
tf  ln   (15)
hc Ta  Ts   M  M e  
3.2 Theory of Direct Contact Drying
Drying by contact with a heated surface is an alternative to the use of hot air
drying. Drying by contact is often carried out under reduced pressure in order to
achieve lower surface and material temperatures. This is particularly important for
heat sensitive materials. One common application of contact drying is the
continuous drum or roller dryer where food is coated as thin layer paste over the
surface of a slowly rotating cylinder that is heated internally. The food is in
contact with the drum for almost a complete revolution of the drum and is
removed with a scraper knife. The drying rate is expressed as
dm M 0  M f m hc ATw  Ts 
  (16)
dt t h fg

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4. FREEZING
This is a unit operation in which the temperature of the food is reduced below the
freezing point. Commercially frozen foods include fruits, vegetables fish and
seafood, meats, baked food and prepared food.
Table 1 Water content and freezing points of selected foods.
Food Water Content (%) Freezing Point (C)
Vegetables 78-92 -0.8 to –2.8
Fruits 87-95 -0.9 to –2.7
Meat 55-70 -1.7 to –2.2
Fish 65-81 -0.6 to –2.0
Milk 87 -0.5
Egg 74 -0.5
A characteristic curve of the temperature of a food being frozen is shown below.
Temperature
A

B
Tf S D
C E

tf
Ta F

time

The positions on the curve are:

A-S Food is cooled to below its freezing point Tf, below 0 C except for water.
Point S is supercooling, water remains liquid although temperature below
freezing.
S-B Temperature rises rapidly, ice crystals form, latent heat of crystallisation
released.
B-C Heat removed from food, latent heat removed, ice forms.
C-D One of the solutes becomes supersaturated and crystallises out
D-E Crystallisation of water and solutes continues
E-F Temperature of ice water mixture falls to temperature of freezer.
Freezing time – rate of freezing depends on thermal conductivity of food, area of
food available for heat transfer, distance that heat must travel through food,
temperature difference between food and freezing medium and insulating effect of
the boundary film of air surrounding the food and packaging. Freezing time is
given by;

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 h fs  s  PL  1 x  RL2 
tf   
T f  Ta    hc k1   k2 
 (17)

P R
Slab ½ 1/8
Cylinder ¼ 1/16
Sphere 1/6 1/24

Symbols
Q rate of heat transfer, W
t time, h or s
M moisture content
T temperature, C
Tb boiling temperature of liquid, C
P pressure, Pa
H absolute humidity, kg/kg d.a.
m mass of water, kg
S mass of dry solid, kg
Kg mass transfer coefficient, s/m
Kg’ mass transfer coefficient, kg/s2m
A area of heat transfer, m2
hc convective heat transfer coefficient, W/m2 K
hfg latent heat of vaporisation, J/kg
hfs latent heat of fussion, J/kg
d depth of solid, m
tc drying time during constant rate period, h or s
M moisture content, dry basis
G mass air velocity, kg/s
K drying constant, 1/h or 1/s
k1 thermal conductivity of packaging, W/mK
k2 thermal conductivity of food material, W/mK

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tf freezing time, h, min or s
m mass flow, kg/s
L characteristic dimension, m
s density of solid, kg/m3

Subscripts
a air
s surface
c critical point
e equilibrium
f final
fd feed
st steam
w wall surface
p product
v vapour

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