Determination of drying kinetics and isotherms of orange bagasse

Determination of drying kinetics and isotherms of orange bagasse. Knowing the behavior of orange bagasse during drying is very important when using it for technological purposes, as is the case of its application as an adsorbent. This work had as objective the determination of the kinetics and isotherms of orange bagasse drying. In order to obtain the drying and drying rate curves, the bagasse was dried in a convective drier, at temperatures from 33 to 92 degrees C, with constant air speed of 1.3 m s(-1). The equilibrium isotherms were determined using the Thermoconstanter Novasina device, with temperatures between 25 and 45 degrees C. The moisture of the bagasse on a dry basis (d.b.) was determined by the furnace method. The drying curves and drying rate curves showed that the increase in temperature decreased drying time, due to an increase in the drying rate. In equilibrium isotherms, the increase in temperature caused an increase in equilibrium moisture content, a factor attributed to the characteristic of the material. The experimental data were adjusted to the BET, SABBAH and OSWIN models; under the studied conditions, the SABBAH model presented the best adjustment, with a correlation coefficient of 0.99.