Design and Construction of a Cabinet Dryer for Food Waste and Evaluation of its Kinetics and Energy Consumption

IntroductionProviding new solutions to control wet waste is one of the most important issues in maintaining public health. Drying will reduce the harmful effects on the environment by reducing moisture and the smell of wastes as well as easy transportation and disposal costs. The purpose of the design and development of the household dryer is to dry food waste in order to reduce its volume and prevent the spread of its pollution in the air, water, and soil. To study the drying behavior of food waste, an experimental cabinet dryer was designed, fabricated, and evaluated for drying food waste.Materials and MethodsThe dryer consisted mainly of the drying chamber, electric heater, fan, air inlet channel, mesh tray, air distribution plates, temperature sensor, and control panel. Different parts of the dryer were made of a stainless galvanized sheet. The dryer was modeled using Catia 2019 software and its various parts were designed. The heating power was calculated as 2.7 kW. A centrifugal fan with an air volume of 310 m3h-1, 2800 rpm, and 110 Pa was used to supply airflow in the dryer. In the drying process, a tray with medium and lateral air passage was fabricated and applied. Food waste was obtained from fruit and vegetable waste, homemade food, and fruit shops. And nonfood items such as glass, paper, plastics, and metals were separated from the waste and crushed with a shredder, and reduced to sizes less than 20 mm. First, the product was placed in the environment for one hour and then pressed with a mechanical press with the same pressure to eliminate part of the water. An anemometer UT363 model made in China was used to measure the air velocity. The temperature was measured and controlled by a temperature thermostat of G-sense model made in Iran. The effect of three temperatures of 50, 60, and 70 °C and three inlet velocities of 1, 1.5, and 2 m s-1 on the kinetics and intensity of drying of food waste and energy consumption of food waste with a thickness of 3 cm was investigated. Moisture ratio and drying intensity diagrams were extracted. Diffusion, activation energy, and energy consumption were determined.Results and DiscussionDrying kinetics diagrams showed that temperature had a significant effect on moisture variation of food waste during drying. Drying period decreased with increasing temperature. The slope of the drying intensity diagrams increased with the increase of the dryer temperature. Drying rate was decreased at the temperature of 70 °c and it had a steeper slope that indicates the more intensity of the drying process in this condition. The drying process of all three samples occurred in the falling rate stage. The air duct on the side and in the middle of the tray caused hot air conducted above the tray and increased energy consumption. Effective moisture diffusivity of food waste during the drying process was in the range of 3.65×10-9-4.56×10-9 (m2 s-1). The effective moisture diffusivity at temperatures of 50 °C and 60 °C was less than 70 °C. Because at the temperature of 70 °C, the membrane resistance of the cell destroyed by high heat and increased the diffusion coefficient in the material.ConclusionIncreasing temperature caused the drying period decreased and the drying occurred in the falling rate stage. Temperature and the interaction of velocity and temperature had a significant effect on the drying process. The highest drying intensity and the lowest drying time were observed at the temperature of 70 °C and a velocity of 2 m s-1. Energy consumption had the maximum value at the temperature of 70 °C and a velocity of 2 m s-1 and a minimum value at the temperature of 50 °C and a velocity of 1 ms-1. The amount of activation energy for the food waste mass at three velocities was equal to 10417.44 J mol-1.