P-10　Drying Rate of Vegetable and Fruit Residues at Ambient Condition

Abstract

Vegetable and fruit residues generated at house kitchen were dried at ambient condition. The primary purposes of the present study are to (1) obtain the drying rate data of representative vegetable and fruit residues and (2) propose the drying kinetics, whice may be useful for suppressing the amount of high moisture trashes at each house. The mass of vegetable and fruit residues was measured at intervals of around ten hours till the equilibrium moisture content (EMC) was attained. The time course data of the mass were analyzed by a first order kinetic equation, in which the drying rate becomes zero at the EMC. The drying rate constant ranged from 0.01 to 0.09 h^-1, and most of them were around 0.03-0.04 h^-1. It was found that the reciprocal of the rate constant was approximately proportional to the representative size of the residues with a proportionality constant of 3.3 h/mm.