UTILIZATION OF DRYING AIR TEMPERATURE AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR SAVING THE REQUIRED TIME AND ENERGY FOR DRYING ROSEMARY PLANTS

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Senior Res., Agric. Eng. Res. Inst., Ag. Res. Center (ARC), Dokki, Giza, Egypt.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to test and evaluate the effect of drying temperature on the behavior of moisture content and relative humidity of the drying air and drying time of orchid plants at four different levels of temperature. An experimental dryer was designed and installed with local components, which can control the temperature under study to the levels of (35, 40 , 45 and 50 oC) with a corresponding relative humidity of to the levels of (32.2, 28.3, 24.5 and21.2) respectively. The air speed was adjusted at (1.5 m / s) to achieve maximum utilization of energy used in drying. The average primary moisture content of the rosemary was 80% on a wet basis. There is an inverse relationship between the temperature and relative humidity of the air inside the dryer where the relative humidity of the air decreases from 32.2% to 21.2% when the temperature increased from 35 to 50 oC  . There is an inverse relationship between temperature and final moisture content values ​​where the final moisture content is reduced from 80 to 32.65% on a dry basis with temperatures increasing from 35 to 50 ° C. There is a difference between the temperature in and out of the drying air and the difference is greater at the beginning of the drying process has decreased to reach the lowest value at the end of the drying process. The highest value of the relative humidity outside of the air was at the beginning of the drying process and it was reduced during the drying process until it reaches its lowest value at the end of the drying process. There is an inverse relation between temperature and drying time, the higher the temperature the lower the drying time.

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