INVESTIGATION OF CONVECTIVE DRYING CHARACTERISTICS AND SPECIFIC ENERGY CONSUMPTION OF APRICOT AND APPLE TREE DISCS

Abstract

The aim of this work was to investigate the drying characteristics and specific energy consumption during convective drying of apricot and apple tree. The measurements were performed in an experimental dryer with disk-shaped wood samples of 20 mm thickness at the temperatures of 40, 50, 60 and 70 oC. The velocity of the air during all experiments was set to be 2 m/s. Overall 8 experiments were performed – 4 with each tree type. Drying time and equilibrium moisture content were determined for each experiment. Analysis of drying curves showed that the increase in drying temperature decreases drying time. Based on the results of drying time, air temperature and velocity the specific energy consumption for drying of apricot and apple samples was determined and analysed.