Comprehensive study on potato drying in convective air dryer: experimental observations, mathematical modeling, and model validation

Abstract

We studied the drying kinetics of sliced potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) using a tray dryer. An experiment was conducted on how the drying rate was impacted by air temperature, sample thickness, and air velocity. The study was conducted under varying temperature ranges (50°C, 60°C, and 70°C), air velocities (0.6 ms⁻¹, 0.7 m s⁻¹, and 0.8 m s⁻¹), and potato slice thickness (2 mm, 4 mm, and 6 mm). The findings revealed that a higher air temperature was correlated with an increase in the drying rate, while thicker layers demonstrated a decrease in the drying rate. We further evaluated five mathematical models, with the Page Model emerging as the most suitable based on the lowest residual standard error (RSE) and Akaike's Information Criteria (AIC), which are 0.06421 and -1123.947, respectively. After plotting the predicted moisture ratio against the experimental moisture ratio, we observed an exceptional predictive accuracy (R² > 0.99) across various conditions. These findings underscore the critical importance of precise parameter control for optimizing potato drying processes in industrial settings, providing valuable insights for enhanced efficiency and resource utilization. Further exploration into real-time optimization and scalability can extend the practical applications of this study.