ABSTRACT
The search for the reduction of production costs and for the diversification of the commercialization of agricultural products is necessary when looking to ensure autonomy and increase income for farmers. The use of solar dryers for the dry fruits production provides an excellent alternative for consideration. However, in order to introduce this technology, one must understand the drying kinetics for a given product. This paper’s purpose was to study the intermittent drying kinetics of banana in a hybrid dryer. The drying was performed in a hybrid dryer composed of a solar collector (photothermal energy), a drying chamber containing Banana-Prata cut into cylindrical and disc shapes and a power-driven exhaust system. The process occurred during four sequential days, totaling 78 h of operation and 12 h of intermittence. The effective drying period took 39 h, with a temperature and relative humidity inside the drying chamber of 43.4 °C and 45.3%, respectively, and an air speed of 1.0 m.s-1. In the first few hours of drying, a sharp decrease in the moisture content was verified. During this period, the maximum and minimum drying temperatures were approximately 42 and 28 °C, respectively. A higher reduction in the moisture content of the disc samples was observed when compared to the cylindrical shape. After the intermittence period, a peak of moisture ratio was observed, followed by a marked loss of water in the fruit in both formats. The results have shown that the Page model is the one that better applies to the experimental data for the intermittent solar drying of banana in both shapes.
Key words:
Dryer solar; Solar energy; Intermittent drying; Dried fruit; Dehydrated banana
