Experimental and Modeling Investigation of Mass Transfer during Infrared Drying of Kumquat Slices

In this work, mass transfer of kumquat slices was investigated during infrared drying. The effect of the infrared radiation power (50-88 W) on the drying characteristics of the Kumquat slices was evaluated as the drying parameter. It was determined that the infrared power affected the drying and colour characteristics of kumquat slices and drying time decreased with increased infrared power. Five different mathematical models were evaluated for moisture ratios using nonlinear regression analysis. The results of regression analysis indicated that the Midilli & Kucuk model is the best model to describe the drying behaviour with the lowest RMSE values and highest R2 value. The effective moisture diffusivity at each infrared power was determined by Fick’s second law of diffusion, an increase in the power led to increase in the effective moisture diffusivity between 8.31× 10？9 and 1.89 × 10？8 m2/s. The dependence of effective moisture diffusivity on infrared power was expressed by a modified Arrhenius type equation. Activation energy was estimated by a modified Arrhenius type equation as 1.92 kW/kg. A positive effect was observed on the ΔE with increasing in infrared power and with rising in infrared radiation power it was decreased. Whereas, it was observed that the chroma values increased with rising in infrared radiation power