Authors : Gilles Bernard Nkouam, Cesar Kapseu, Ali Ahmed, Danielle Barth and Michel Dirand
Abstract: A comparative study of sorption isotherms of sheanuts kernel and Canarium pulp was conducted at 25, 35, 45 and 55°C. A semi-empirical model was used to determine monolayer energy while an empirical method was used to estimate hysteresis loop energies. Results indicate that Canarium has a thinner hysteresis loop which decreases with increasing temperature. On the contrary, sheanuts kernel hysteresis loop was constant through out the temperature range studied. The estimated energies of the monolayer intermolecular attraction gave a difference of 0.67-0.02 kJ mol•1 for Canarium which was lower than that of sheanut kernel (1.09-0.29 kJ mol•1). The energy of the hysteresis loop of sheanut kernel (103.60-63.89 kJ mol•1 from 25-55°C) was higher than that of Canarium pulp (10.18-2.94 kJ mol•1 from 25-55°C). It appears that dehydration of sheanuts kernel requires more energy than Canarium pulp.
Gilles Bernard Nkouam, Cesar Kapseu, Ali Ahmed, Danielle Barth and Michel Dirand, 2011. Sorption Isotherms of Sheanuts Kernel and Canarium Pulp: Application to Products Dehydration. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 6: 127-129.