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Abstract
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Advantages of infrared fluid bed drying include high heat and mass transfer coefficients, short process time, high quality and low energy consumption. Since heat and mass transfer and quality changes during drying of terebinth fruit with infrared fluid bed method is not described in the literature. Goals of this research were study the effects of different infrared drying conditions on the drying kinetic and physical parameters of terebinth fruit. To predict moisture during drying process, five mathematical models were used. Experiments were conducted at different levels of hot air velocity (0.93, 1.76 and 2.6 m/s), temperature (40, 55, and 70°C) and infrared radiation power (500, 1000 and 1500 W). Results showed that Demir et al. model had the best performance for predicting of moisture ratio. Effective moisture diffusivity for terebinth samples (6.2×10-11 to 7.3×10-10 m2/s) was achieved. Activation energy of the samples (44.4 to 59.13 kJ/mol) was computed. Maximum rupture force (118.4 N) was calculated at air velocity of 2.6 m/s, infrared power of 1500 W and air temperature of 70°C. The results proved that in addition to short process time, monitoring of terebinth fruit characteristics such as mechanical properties during drying process can be achieved.
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