ELECTROHYDRODYNAMIC DRYING OF FRUITS: EFFECT OF MATERIAL PROPERTIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

Abstract

Electrohydrodynamic drying is a novel nonthermal drying technique with simple equipment design, low operational costs, and relatively low energy consumption. This study investigated the effect of material properties and environmental conditions on the EHD drying of fruits. Considering Atlantic Canada's production volume and market demand, an experimental study was carried out using apples and strawberries. The experiments showed that the drying flux and effective diffusivity were independent of the thickness and the drying flux was significantly reduced at higher humidity. Further, the effective diffusivity increased with an increase in external airflow. The specific energy consumption increased with reducing load density and was significantly smaller than hot air drying. In addition, the impact of EHD drying conditions on the quality of apple slices was insignificant in the range of experimental design, but significantly better than in hot air drying.