Analytical Study of Temperature–Dependent Thermal Conductivity in Convective Drying of Food Material

Abstract

The effect of temperature-dependent thermal conductivity on the convective drying of food materials is examined in this study. With the use of the perturbation approach and the Eigenfunction expansion technique, the governing equations have been decoupled and solved. Graphs were created to show how the dimensionless parameters affected the temperature and moisture concentration profile. It is important to note that whereas moisture concentration rises with an increase in pellet mass number, the temperature rises with an increase in pellet energy number. Furthermore, it becomes apparent that the moisture concentration drops as the reference velocity rises without affecting the temperature profile.