Experimental Determination and Modeling of the Moisture-Sorption Isotherms and Isosteric Heat of Tobacco Leaves

During a forced convection sun drying and storage operation, the equilibrium water content of a product to be dried is critical. These figures are frequently derived using isothermal sorption curves. The calculation of isotherms is a necessary step in determining the distribution and intensity of water connections in products. for that this paper concentrates on the experimental determination of the adsorption-desorption isotherms for various temperatures (40, 50, and 60℃) of the Nicotiana Tabacum L plants. From which we had established the relationship between the water activity and the water content in the product. However, the aforementioned determination was carried out by the static gravimetric method. Eight saturated salt solutions have been utilized in applications such as (KOH, KCl, MgCl2, MgNO3, K2CO3, BaCl2, K2SO4, and NaCl). Hygroscopic equilibrium was completed after 13 days for temperature 40℃, 11 days for 50℃, and 9 days for 60℃. The overall experimental sorption curves are summarized by six models (HENDERSON, modified HALSEY, OSWIN, GAB, modified BET, and PELEG). The sorption isotherms built using the Clausius–Clapeyron equation were used to determine the net isosteric temperatures of desorption and adsorption of Nicotiana Tabacum L. The results for the adsorption-desorption isotherms found are type III according to IUAPC. Following the smoothing of the experimental results by different used models, it was found that the models of GAB and Peleg allow having the lowest mean relative errors and correlation coefficient.