Equilibrium Moisture Content (equilibrium + moisture_content)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


DEHYDRATION CHARACTERISTICS OF PAPAYA (CARICA PUBENSCENS): DETERMINATION OF EQUILIBRIUM MOISTURE CONTENT AND DIFFUSION COEFFICIENT

JOURNAL OF FOOD PROCESS ENGINEERING, Issue 5 2009
R. LEMUS-MONDACA
ABSTRACT This study determined the drying kinetics behavior of papaya at different temperatures (40, 50, 60, 70 and 80C). Desorption isotherms were determined at 5, 20 and 50C over a relative humidity range of 10,95%. The Guggenheim, Anderson and de Boer models were found to be suitable for description of the sorption data. The samples reached equilibrium moisture of 0.10 ± 0.01 g water/g dry matter. Fick's second law model was used to calculate the effective diffusivity (6.25,24.32 × 10 - 10 m2/s). In addition, experimental data were fitted by means of seven mathematical models. The kinetic parameters and the diffusion coefficient were temperature-dependent and were evaluated by an Arrhenius-type equation. The modified Page model obtained the best-fit quality on experimental data according to statistical tests applied. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The main utility of this study is the application of both different empirical models and the diffusional model in tropical fruits' dehydration, which can be considered a basis for a very accurate estimation of drying time and the optimization of the same process. Two newly mathematical models are proposed in this study, through which a good fit on the data of experimental moisture content was achieved. The study of drying of papaya cultivated in Chile engages a great technological interest, because this product is widely used in the development of different products such as candying, canning, juice, syrup and marmalade. In addition, papayas cultivated in Chile, along with other tropical fruits cultivated in Brazil, Colombia and the Caribbean, have become especially important in the exportations of these countries. The major markets for these products include the U.S.A., the European Community and Asia. [source]


Equilibrium moisture content and heat of desorption of saffron

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 8 2010
Hamid Reza Gazor
Summary The equilibrium moisture contents of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) stigmas were determined experimentally using the standard gravimetric method at temperatures 30, 45 and 60 °C and water activity ranging from 11% to 83%. The sorption isotherm curves of saffron were sigmoidal in shape and decreased with increased temperature at constant relative humidity. Five selected isotherm models GAB, modified Henderson, modified Chung-Pfost, modified Halsaey and modified Oswin were tested to fit the experimental isotherm data. Modified Oswin and modified Henderson models were found acceptable for predicting desorption moisture isotherms and fitting to the experimental data, respectively. The isosteric heats of desorption, determined from equilibrium data using the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, were found to be a function of moisture content. The net isosteric heat of desorption of saffron varied between 1.38 and 5.38 kJ mol,1 at moisture content varying between 2% and 20% (d.b). [source]


A simple model for vapor-moisture equilibrium in biomass subtrates

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 6 2009
V. R. Vásquez
Abstract Equilibrium moisture content (EMC) plays a fundamental role on the properties of bioderived solids such as food, waste biomass, seeds, and many others. For foods, the moisture content affects flavor, texture, and the way the food is stored. In other applications, moisture affects drying conditions and energy requirements for biomass processing. Adequate modeling of EMC in biomass as a function of the water activity is very important in many engineering applications. Most models used to correlate EMC with water activity are based on traditional adsorption models which take into account the adsorption energy of water with the substrate only and do not consider other nonadsorption interactions of water within the substrate such as mixing and swelling effects. Many other models are empirical, which are commonly used for interpolation. Although a detailed description of this type of substrate is very complex, we present a simple model based on standard molecular-thermodynamic models and standard statistical mechanics formulations to correlate the EMC with water activity that attempts to consider both adsorption and nonadsorption interactions of the water with the substrate. Although the model is basic, it captures the behavior of water in this type of systems fairly well and it can be used to fit experimental data with parameters that provide better physical insight on the nature of system. We suggest how to improve the model fundamentally if better knowledge of the water interactions in the substrate are available. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009 [source]


Mathematical modelling of moisture sorption isotherms and determination of isosteric heat of blueberry variety O,Neil

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 10 2009
Antonio Vega-Gálvez
Summary The sorption isotherms of blueberry variety O'Neil were determined at 20, 40 and 60 °C, for a range of water activity of 0.10,0.95. The isotherms showed that the equilibrium moisture content increased when temperature decreased at constant water activity. The BET, GAB, Halsey, Henderson, Caurie, Smith, Oswin and Iglesias-Chirife equations were tested for modelling the sorption isotherms. The results showed that GAB, BET and Halsey models gave the best fit quality for the experimental desorption data, and BET, Oswin and Henderson for adsorption data as suggested by the statistical tests employed. The net sorption heat was calculated using the Clausius,Clapeyron equation giving 38.62 kJ mol,1 (desorption) and 30.88 kJ mol,1 (adsorption) at a moisture content of 0.01 g water (g d.m.,1). Tsami equation was applied to estimate the net isosteric heat of sorption as function of equilibrium moisture content with satisfactory results. [source]


Competitive plasticization in ternary plasticized starch biopolymer system

JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE, Issue 1 2010
Deeptangshu S. Chaudhary
Abstract Two plasticizers namely, glycerol and xylitol, based on their similar molecular diameter (, 6.3 Å) but different molecular weights (glycerol-92; xylitol-152) were selected were selected for studying the plasticization of starch biopolymer containing 70% amylopectin structure via glass transition measurements carried over a wide range of water activity. A standard calorimetry was used to determine the onset temperature of polymeric viscous flow. For both glycerol and xylitol, typical antiplasticization was evident at low plasticizer concentrations, whereas at higher concentration, there was significant reduction in glass transition temperature. Water activity isotherms showed that equilibrium moisture content of the starch biopolymer (no plasticizer) steadily increases up to 11%, however, for plasticized biopolymer, the moisture content was nearly double than that of biopolymer. We used a modified Gordon-Taylor model, using a new interaction parameter, to understand the competitive plasticization of glycerol and xylitol in presence of water, and determined 8 wt % water as a threshold amount of matrix water for strong three-way interactions: starch-plasticizer, plasticizer-plasticizer/water and starch-water. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010 [source]


DRYING OF CHILI PEPPER (CAPSCIUM FRUTSCENS)

JOURNAL OF FOOD PROCESS ENGINEERING, Issue 4 2010
T.Y. TUNDE-AKINTUNDE
ABSTRACT Drying is one of the common methods of food preservation and is carried out on untreated/unblanched and treated/blanched chili pepper using sun, solar and hot-air drying. The drying curves generated from the three methods showed that drying of treated/blanched pepper was faster than that of untreated/unblanched pepper. The drying rate period observed for all the methods and samples was the falling rate drying regime. This suggests that the blanching pretreatment assisted water loss and thus decreased the resistance to water loss at the surface of the product. The drying time of the dried pepper varied from 27 h for hot-air drying to 144.5 h for sun drying respectively. The values of moisture diffusivity coefficient ranged from 2.163 × 10,9 m2/s for hot-air drying to 1.125 × 10,9 m2/s for sun drying. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS A common method of preserving pepper, a vegetable with versatile use, is drying and this is done by sun, solar and oven-drying methods. Climatic variations of sun and solar drying make it unsuitable for large-scale production. Hot-air drying is thus considered as an alternative drying method because it decreases drying time and improves the hygienic quality of the dried product. Pretreating pepper by blanching increases its rate of drying. The effect of each drying method on the drying rate, equilibrium moisture content and moisture diffusivity coefficient were used to compare the drying methods. Hot-air drying had the lowest drying time whereas pretreated samples also dried faster. The effective moisture diffusivity of oven dried samples as well as pretreated samples were highest. This indicates that oven drying reduces drying time and can be used to dry pepper samples for large-scale production. [source]


ADSORPTION CHARACTERISTICS OF FUNCTIONAL SOY PROTEIN PRODUCTS

JOURNAL OF FOOD PROCESS ENGINEERING, Issue 6 2003
ZHONGLI PAN
ABSTRACT The moisture adsorption characteristics of three commercial functional soy protein products (two isolates and one concentrate) in the temperature range of 10 to 40C were studied. The temperature showed significant effect on both the change of moisture content during adsorption and equilibrium moisture content. The rate of moisture adsorption of a soy protein isolate at water activity of 0.84 increased, but its equilibrium moisture content decreased with the increase of temperature. The suitability of Peleg and GAB equations for modeling the change of moisture content during adsorption and adsorption isotherms was respectively examined, and the constants in both equations were determined. In the temperature range of 10C to 40C, the relative errors of predicted change in moisture content at water activity of 0.84 and predicted isotherms of a soy protein isolates were ranged from 1.36% to 4.85% and 2.80% to 3.63%, respectively. The two equations can be used to predict the change in moisture content during adsorption and isotherms of functional soy protein products at different temperatures with satisfactory accuracy. [source]


Humidity-Responsive Starch-Poly(methyl acrylate) Films

MACROMOLECULAR CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS, Issue 7 2008
Julious L. Willett
Abstract Blown films prepared from starch-poly(methyl acrylate) graft copolymers plasticized with urea and water display shrinkage at relative humidities greater than 50%. Shrinkage at relative humidities below approximately 75% is strongly correlated with the urea/starch weight ratio, which controls the equilibrium moisture content (MC) in the films. Above 75% relative humidity, film shrinkage is essentially independent of composition. At relative humidities below 90%, films plasticized with urea and water exhibited greater shrinkage than films plasticized with water only. A master curve can be constructed by shifting shrinkage data with respect to a reference relative humidity, indicating that relaxation processes in the starch phase control film shrinkage. This conclusion is confirmed by the fact that shrinkage data for a wide range of compositions and relative humidities fall on a single curve when plotted against MC. Polarized Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicated some loss of orientation in the starch phase during shrinkage. These results demonstrate that the hydrophilic nature of starch can be exploited to develop responsive polymers which display controllable shrinkages activated by increases in relative humidities. [source]


Wasserdampfsorptionsverhalten ausgewählter heimischer und überseeischer Holzarten

BAUPHYSIK, Issue 2 2009
Rudolf Popper Dipl.-Ing.
Feuchte; Versuche Abstract An 21 heimischen und 11 überseeischen Holzarten wurde die Gleichgewichtsfeuchte bei 20 °C und 35, 50, 65, 80 und 95 % relativer Luftfeuchtigkeit experimentell in der Adsorptionsphase bestimmt. Aufbauend auf den experimentell bestimmten Mittelwerten wurden mit dem Hailwood-Horrobin-Modell (HH-Modell) ausgewählte Parameter wie Fasersättigungsfeuchte, mono- und polymolekulare Sorption, spezifische Oberfläche des Sorbenten, hypothetisches Molekulargewicht des Sorbenten sowie Unzugänglichkeit des Sorbenten zum Sorbat berechnet. Zusätzlich wurden Tabellen für die Gleichgewichtsfeuchte bei 20 °C und in 2-%-Schritten abgestufter relativer Luftfeuchtigkeit berechnet. Die mittels des HH-Modells berechnete Fasersättigungsfeuchte liegt für alle geprüften Holzarten im Bereich zwischen 22 bis 36 %, im Mittel bei ca. 30 %. Es treten erhebliche Abweichungen zwischen den einzelnen Holzarten in der Fasersättigungsfeuchte auf. Die Tendenzen für die Kenngrößen der Sorptionsanalyse wurden aufgezeigt. Water vapour sorption behaviour of selected domestic and overseas wood species. At 21 domestic and 11 overseas wood species the equilibrium moisture content at 20 °C and 35, 50, 65, 80 and 95% relative humidity was experimentally determined in the adsorption phase. The experimentally determined average values were computed with help of the Hailwood Horrobin model to get selected parameters such as fiber saturation point, mono- and polymolecular sorption, specific surface, hypothetical molecular weight as well as inaccessibility of the sorbent to the sorbate. Tables for the equilibrium moisture contents at 20 °C computed in 2% steps of relative humidity are presented. The fiber saturation point computed with the Hailwood-Horrobin model lies for all examined wood in the range from 22% to 36%, on the average with approx. 30%. There are substantial deviations in the fiber saturation point between the individual wood species. The tendencies for the characteristics of the sorption analysis were pointed out. [source]


Physicochemical properties and application of pullulan edible films and coatings in fruit preservation

JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 10 2001
Tony Diab
Abstract The effects of water, sorbitol and a sucrose fatty acid ester (SE) on the water sorption behaviour and thermal and mechanical properties of pullulan-based edible films as well as the physiological responses of fruit coated with pullulan have been studied. Incorporation of sorbitol or SE in pullulan films resulted in lower equilibrium moisture contents at low to intermediate water activities (aw), but much higher moisture contents at aw,>,0.75; estimates of monolayer values (within 4.1,5.9,gH2O,kg,1 solids) were given by application of the Brunauer,Emmett,Teller (BET) and Guggenheim,Anderson,DeBoer (GAB) models. A single glass,rubber transition (Tg), attributed to the polysaccharide component, was detected by calorimetry and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) at a sorbitol level of 15,30% DM. With both tests the strong plasticising action of water and polyol was evident in the thermal curves, and the Tg vs moisture content data were successfully fitted to the Gordon,Taylor empirical model. Multifrequency DMTA measurements provided estimates for the apparent activation energy of the glass transition in the range of , 300,488,kJ,mol,1. With large-deformation mechanical testing, large decreases in Young's moduli (tensile and three-point bend tests) were observed as a result of water- and/or polyol-mediated glass-to-rubber transition of the polymeric films. In the moisture content range of 2,8%, increases in flexural modulus (E) and maximum stress (,max) with small increases in moisture content were found for films made of pullulan or pullulan mixed with 15% DM sorbitol; a strong softening effect was observed when the water content exceeded this range. Addition of sorbitol increased the water vapour transmission rate of the films, whereas addition of SE had the opposite effect. Application of a pullulan/sorbitol/SE coating on strawberries resulted in large changes in internal fruit atmosphere composition which were beneficial for extending the shelf-life of this fruit; the coated fruit showed much higher levels of CO2, a large reduction in internal O2, better firmness and colour retention and a reduced rate of weight loss. In contrast, similar studies on whole kiwifruits showed increased levels of internal ethylene, which caused acceleration of fruit ripening during storage. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry [source]


Wasserdampfsorptionsverhalten ausgewählter heimischer und überseeischer Holzarten

BAUPHYSIK, Issue 2 2009
Rudolf Popper Dipl.-Ing.
Feuchte; Versuche Abstract An 21 heimischen und 11 überseeischen Holzarten wurde die Gleichgewichtsfeuchte bei 20 °C und 35, 50, 65, 80 und 95 % relativer Luftfeuchtigkeit experimentell in der Adsorptionsphase bestimmt. Aufbauend auf den experimentell bestimmten Mittelwerten wurden mit dem Hailwood-Horrobin-Modell (HH-Modell) ausgewählte Parameter wie Fasersättigungsfeuchte, mono- und polymolekulare Sorption, spezifische Oberfläche des Sorbenten, hypothetisches Molekulargewicht des Sorbenten sowie Unzugänglichkeit des Sorbenten zum Sorbat berechnet. Zusätzlich wurden Tabellen für die Gleichgewichtsfeuchte bei 20 °C und in 2-%-Schritten abgestufter relativer Luftfeuchtigkeit berechnet. Die mittels des HH-Modells berechnete Fasersättigungsfeuchte liegt für alle geprüften Holzarten im Bereich zwischen 22 bis 36 %, im Mittel bei ca. 30 %. Es treten erhebliche Abweichungen zwischen den einzelnen Holzarten in der Fasersättigungsfeuchte auf. Die Tendenzen für die Kenngrößen der Sorptionsanalyse wurden aufgezeigt. Water vapour sorption behaviour of selected domestic and overseas wood species. At 21 domestic and 11 overseas wood species the equilibrium moisture content at 20 °C and 35, 50, 65, 80 and 95% relative humidity was experimentally determined in the adsorption phase. The experimentally determined average values were computed with help of the Hailwood Horrobin model to get selected parameters such as fiber saturation point, mono- and polymolecular sorption, specific surface, hypothetical molecular weight as well as inaccessibility of the sorbent to the sorbate. Tables for the equilibrium moisture contents at 20 °C computed in 2% steps of relative humidity are presented. The fiber saturation point computed with the Hailwood-Horrobin model lies for all examined wood in the range from 22% to 36%, on the average with approx. 30%. There are substantial deviations in the fiber saturation point between the individual wood species. The tendencies for the characteristics of the sorption analysis were pointed out. [source]