Revista de Engenharia Química e Tecnologia de Processos
Acesso livre

Abstrato

Tomato Dehydration in a Hybrid-Solar Dryer

Reyes A, Mahn A, Huenulaf P and González T

Tomato pieces were dehydrated in a hybrid solar dryer provided with a 3 m2 solar panel and electric resistances. At the outlet of the tray dryer 80 or 90% of the air was recycled and the air temperature was adjusted 50 or 60ºC. At the outlet of the solar panel the air temperature raised between 5 and 18°C above the ambient temperature.
Temperature and sample size significantly affected critical moisture content. The color parameters of dehydrated tomato indicate a notorious redness. Rehydration was achieved in less than 50 minutes.
Drying kinetics was adequately adjusted with three empirical models. Sorption isotherms adjusted soundly well with the Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer and Peleg models. The solar energy input resulted in 6.6-12.5% energy saving.