d. zare

Drying shrimp is one of the storage methods that, while increasing the shelf life, leads to the production of a versatile product with various uses, from consumption as snacks to use as one of the main components of foods. Drying is preferred over other preservation methods because it offers numerous advantages, including extended shelf life, enhanced microbial stability, convenient consumption, reduced transportation costs, increased value, and product diversity.To accurately model these processes and thus obtain information on factors such as shelf life and energy consumption, it is necessary to determine the product’s initial and final temperatures, its geometry and dimensions, and its thermo-physical characteristics. Simulation of different drying processes requires accurate estimation of the effective moisture diffusion coefficient, which is highly dependent on temperature and humidity. Its dependence can be shown by an equation with an Arrhenius structure as an empirical function of humidity and temperature, or by considering the activation energy.It is necessary to have sufficient knowledge about heat and mass transfer characteristics, such as diffusion or penetration coefficient and the heat transfer coefficient to estimate the final temperature and drying time. This study investigated the drying process of peeled farmed shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) using a convective hot air dryer. Various parameters such as shrinkage and the effective moisture diffusion coefficient were examined.

A drying device was built to conduct experimental studies on drying shrimp samples. The experiments were conducted on sliced shrimp meat samples at temperatures of 40, 50, and 60 degrees Celsius, with a constant air velocity of 1.5 m/s. The experimental drying models were based on diffusion theory. In these models, it is assumed that the resistance to moisture diffusion occurs from the outer layer of the food. In most cases, Fick's second law was used to describe the phenomenon of moisture penetration.The study used the standard method of immersion in toluene to measure volume changes in the samples. During the drying process, the volume of the samples was measured at 45-minute intervals, and their volume changes were calculated. To measure the moisture content of the samples, each test started by recording the initial weight of the samples using a digital scale with an accuracy of ±0.001 g. During the drying process, the samples were weighed each time their volume was measured.Shrinkage during the drying process is commonly modeled by finding a relationship between shrinkage and moisture, using linear and non-linear models. In most cases, effective permeability is defined as a function of humidity and temperature. For this purpose, curve-fitting methods were employed to analyze the data collected from experimental tests. The appropriate function was extracted by incorporating the Arrhenius equation, which is applicable to most food items.

Based on the results of statistical indices, the linear model was the best model for depicting the relationship between shrinkage changes versus moisture ratio changes among the various experimental models evaluated for shrinkage and drying kinetics. Similarly, the Weibull distribution demonstrated superior performance in expressing variations in moisture ratio over time. A moisture dependent experimental model was used to express the variations in the apparent density of shrimp, resulting in a computed range of 1017-1117 kg m-3. Furthermore, an Arrhenius equation was derived to express the effect of moisture content and temperature on the effective diffusion coefficient of shrimp. According to the results, the effective diffusion coefficient of shrimp exhibited variations ranging from 0.08 ×10-9 m2 s-1 to 7.39×10-9 m2 s-1. When deriving the effective diffusion coefficient, the impact of the number of terms in Fick's second law on the variation of the moisture ratio was studied. The findings revealed that increasing the number of terms beyond 100 did not significantly affect the model’s outputs.

The linear model had the highest coefficient of determination (R2) among the evaluated shrinkage models, as well as the lowest root mean square error and sum of square error (SSE). This makes it the most optimal model for interpreting shrinkage at the tested temperature levels. The Weibull distribution experimental model proved to be the most suitable for expressing changes in the moisture ratio of shrimp meat slices over time within the evaluated temperature range. The Arrhenius model accurately predicts changes in the effective diffusion coefficient of shrimp slices with respect to temperature and moisture content within the tested temperature range.

During filling a silo, granular material containing a range of particle sizes, the fine material accumulates under the filling point. The inclined surface of stationary bed particle which is formed in silos during filling process acts similar to a sieve through which the smaller particle fall. This effect is called sifting. As a result of the mentioned effect, much finer particles form a vertical cylindrical zone of high concentration at the silo center. For optimal design in industrial process such as aeration of stored products in silos, filling silos, and wherever granular materials are handled, it is necessary to survey the distribution of the fine materials depending on product and process properties. The objectives of present study were: (a) To study fine change as affected by substantial parameters, (b) To model fine changes at different conditions in silos. In the present study, an experimental setup consist of a main container, elevator, trapezoidal container and experimental silo was designed and built. Fine content was defined by BCFM (broken corn and foreign material). By applying a new approach, sampling was performed in a radial and vertical direction. The position of each sampling point was determined with a scaled distance from center (R) and from bottom (Z). Local BCFM (BCL) was defined as the value of BCFM in each sampling point. Influential parameters namely, initial BCFM (BCI), volume flow rate (Q) and fill pipe diameter (DF) were considered as treatments. Non-linear regression technique was applied on the experimental data to predict the distribution pattern of fines into the pilot-scale silo. The most appropriate model in a try and error procedure was selected based on highest value of R2 and least value of χ2, RMSE and MRDM. According to the results of ANOVA, it was found that the effects of all parameters were significant at 5% probability. BCL decreased nonlinearly with a concave down decreasing trend along radial direction due to sifting effect. As a result, most amount of fines remained in the sections closer to the center of the silo. Fine distribution became more uniform with decreasing Z and increasing BCI and DF. Also, the distribution of fine became more uniform with increasing Q. BCL was a nonlinear function of R and a linear function of Z, BCI, Q and DF. Although including more and complex terms increased the model complexity but in the present study considering BCL as an exponential function of R and as an implicit function of Z and R (ZR) improved the quality of the model significantly. The values of 0.94, 1.14, 1.06, 11.39 for R2, χ2, RMSE and MRDM, respectively, gave the best model. The results showed, considerable accumulation of fines occurred at the center of the silo which increased with increase of level of Z. Also, low concentration of fine occurred at the periphery of the silo especially at higher levels of Z. It means that maximum non-uniformity of fine distribution occurred at higher levels of Z. The present study investigated distribution of fines during filling affected by main parameters namely, initial BCFM, volume flow rate and fill pipe diameter in a pilot scale silo. A new procedure was developed for measuring the fine material along radial and vertical directions. Distribution of fine was modeled using a developed equation considering the effects of main parameters. The results showed that distribution of fine becomes more uniform with decreasing height and increasing initial BCFM, volume flow rate and fill pipe diameter.

In this research nutritional indices of pomegranate neckworm on the three cultivars of pomegranate including Malas-Daneh-Sia، Gabri and Shahvar were studied under controlled conditions (30 ± 1ºC، 70 ± 5% RH and 16L: 8D). Enzymatic activity in the midgut of larvae reared on these cultivars was also compared. Results indicated that the relative consumption rate (RCR) was significantly different among three cultivars. The highest amounts of the relative growth rate (RGR)، efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI) and efficiency of conversion of digested food (ECD) were observed on Shahvar cultivar. The approximate digestibility (AD) on Malas-Daneh-Sia was the highest. The highest enzymatic activities of α-amylases and lipases were observed in the midgut of larvae reared on Shahvar cultivar. In contrast، proteases demonstrated the lowest activity in these larvae. The present findings showed that the shahvar cultivar has a higher feeding quality for pomegranate neckworm.

The application of solar energy for drying cereals and other agricultural commodities has been increasing lately. This is due to the fact that solar energy is free, renewable, inexhaustible and environmentally friendly. This research is a new approach for employing solar energy as the main energy source for drying purposes. The drying test rig was designed, fabricated and evaluated. The grain solar dryer is an active mixed mode type with a semi-continuous discharge system. The rig consists of six solar air collectors, a heating channel, a drying chamber and an air distributing system. Rough rice was selected as cereal grain to be dried in the dryer to evaluate the system of the drying rig. In this research the effect of mass flow rate and time of crop discharge, on the rate of crop drying were evaluated. The experiment was conducted as a factorial experiment on the basis of a completely randomized design with three replications. The first factor was mass flow rate at three levels of 0.011, 0.0066 and 0.0048 kg/m2s and the second factor was the time of crop discharge at two levels of 15 and 30 min. The dryer capacity, the amount of energy consumed (electrical and solar) during drying process, and the efficiency of collectors were also evaluated. According to Duncan's multiples range test, the effects of mass flow rate of drying air, and the interval time of discharge, were highly significant on the moisture content of discharged rough rice. The maximum efficiency of the collectors was 37.13% and the fraction of energy consumed by heating channel during the drying process, compared with solar energy, was 6-8 percent. The maximum capacity of the dryer was about 132 kg of rough rice from 11 AM to 2 PM reducing the initial moisture content from 27% to 13%. On the whole, the evaluation results indicated that the dryer could reduce the moisture content of the crop to the storage safe moisture content during appropriate time with highenergy efficiency.