Authors : I.O. Ogunleye , S.B. Adeyemo and M.B. Adeyemi
Abstract: The effects of moisture contents on the physical, thermal and drying properties of granular cassava particles were determined experimentally. These properties are physical properties such as loose particle density, porosity, voidage fraction and particle size distributions, thermal properties such as specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity and drying properties such as moisture ratio, drying rate versus free moisture and diffusion coefficients with moisture contents. The methods used for the experiments include gravimetric analysis, sieve analysis, calorimetric and oven drying. The empirical equations developed for loose particle density, porosity, voidage fraction, specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity are found to be linear functions of the percentage moisture contents. All these properties are found to increase with the percentages moisture contents, except the specific heat capacity which decreases with increase in the percent moisture content. The diffusion coefficients obtained from the isothermal drying curves are expressed empirically as a function of drying temperatures and are found to be non linear.
I.O. Ogunleye , S.B. Adeyemo and M.B. Adeyemi , 2008. Effects of Moisture Contents on the Physical, Thermal and Isothermal Drying Properties of Granular Cassava Particles. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 3: 416-423.