Sauna Technique, Drying Kinetic Modeling and Effectiveness on Solar Drying Compared with Direct Drying in Drying Process of Kappaphycus striatum in Selakan Island Malaysia

Majid Khan Majahar Ali¹, Ahmad Fudholi², Jumat Sulaiman¹, Mohd Hafidz Ruslan², Suhaimi Md. Yasir³

¹Mathematics with Economics Programme, School of Science and Technology, University Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
²Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
³Seaweed Research Unit (UPRL), School of Science and Technology, University Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.

DOI: 10.4236/epe.2014.69026                

Abstract

A sauna drying technique—the solar drier was designed and imposed, constructed and tested for drying of seaweed. The seaweed moisture content was decreased around 50% in 2-day sauna. Kinetic curves of drying of seaweed were known to be used in this system. The non-linear regression procedure was used to fit three different drying models. The models were compared with experimental data of red seaweed being dried on the daily average of air temperature about 40℃. The fit quality of the models was evaluated using the coefficient of determination (R2), Mean Bias Error (MBE) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). The highest values of R² (0.99027), the lowest MBE (0.00044) and RMSE (0.03039) indicated that the Page model was the best mathematical model to describe the drying behavior of sauna dried seaweed. The percentage of the saved time using this technique was calculated at 57.9% on the average solar radiation of about 500 W/m2 and air flow rate of 0.056 kg/s.

Keywords

Mathematical Modeling, Sauna Technique, Drying Curve, Moisture Content, Seaweed, Kappaphycus striatum

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Ruslan, M.H., Fudholi, A., Othman, M.Y., et al. (2011) The Double Pass Solar Dryer for Drying Palm Oil Fronds. Proceedings of the 10th WSEAS International Conference on System Science and Simulation in Engineering, Penang, 2011, 143-149.
[2]	Dissa, A.O., Bathiebo, D.J., Desmorieux, H., Coulibaly, O. and Koulidiati, J. (2011) Experimental Characterization and Modelling of Thin Layer Direct Solar Drying of Amelie and Brooks Mangoes. Energy, 36, 2517-2527. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2011.01.044
[3]	Doymaz, I. (2010) Effect of Citric Acid and Blanching Pre-Treatments on Drying and Rehydration of Amasya Red Apples. Food and Bioproducts Processing, 88, 124-132. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fbp.2009.09.003
[4]	Daun, X., Min, Z., Arun, S.M. and Shaojin, W. (2010) Microwave Freeze Drying of Sea Cucumber (Stichopus japonicus). Journal Food Engineering, 96, 491-497. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2009.08.031
[5]	Dissa, A.O., Desmoricux, H., Savadoge, P.W., Segda, B.G. and Koulidiati, J. (2010) Shinkage, Porosity and Density Behaviour during Convective Drying of Spirulina. Journal Food Engineering, 97, 410-418. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2009.10.036
[6]	Kilic, A. (2009) Low Temperature and High Velocity (LTHV) Application in Drying: Characteristics and Effects on the Fish Quality. Journal Food Engineering, 91, 173-182. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2008.08.023
[7]	Demirbas, A. (2010) Use of Algae as Biofuel Sources. Energy Conversion and Management, 51, 2738-2749. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2010.06.010
[8]	Amin, S. (2009) Review on Biofuel Oil and Gas Production Processes from Microalgae. Energy Conversion and Management, 50, 1834-1840. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2009.03.001
[9]	Ge, L., Peng, W. and Haijin, M. (2011) Study on Saccharification Techniques of Seaweed Wastes for the Transformation of Ethanol. Renewable Energy, 36, 84-89. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2010.06.001
[10]	Vergara-Fernandez, A., Vargas, G., Alarcon, N. and Velasco, A. (2007) Evaluation of Marine Laminaria Japonica as Source of Biogas in a Two-Stage Anaerobic Reactor System. Biomass and Bioenergy, 32, 338-344. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2007.10.005
[11]	Sopian, K., Othman, M.Y. and Zaidi, S.H. (2012) Advances in Solar Assisted Drying System for Marine and Agricultural Products. http://ases.conference-service.net/resources/252/2859/pdf/SOLAR 2012
[12]	Fudholi, A., Sopian, K., Ruslan, M.H. Alghoul, M.A. and Sulaiman, M.Y. (2010) Review of Solar Dryers for Agricultural and Marine Products. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 14, 1-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2009.07.032
[13]	Amer, B.M.A., Hossain, M.A. and Gottschalk, K. (2010) Design and Performance Evaluation of a New Hybrid Solar Dryer for Banana. Energy Conversion and Management, 51, 813-820. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2009.11.016
[14]	Gupta, S., Cox, S. and Abu-Ghannam, N. (2011) Effect of Different Drying Temperatures on the Moisture and Phytochemical Constituents of Edible Irish Brown Seaweed. LWT-Food Science and Technology, 44, 1266-1272. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2010.12.022
[15]	Fudholi, A., Othman, M.Y., Ruslan, M.H., Yahya, M., Zaharim, A. and Sopian, K. (2011) The Effects of Drying Air Temperature and Humidity on Drying Kinetics of Seaweed. In: Recent Research in Geography, Geology, Energy, Environment and Biomedicine, World Scientific and Engineering Academy and Society (WSEAS), Corfu, 129-133.
[16]	Fudholi, A., Othman, M.Y., Ruslan, M.H., Yahya, M., Zaharim, A. and Sopian, K. (2011) Design and Testing of Solar Dryer for Drying Kinetics of Seaweed in Malaysia. In: Recent Research in Geography, Geology, Energy, Environment and Biomedicine, World Scientific and Engineering Academy and Society (WSEAS), Corfu, 119-124.
[17]	Fudholi, A., Ruslan, M.H., Haw, L.C., Othman, S.M.M.Y., Zaharim, A. and Sopian, K. (2012) Mathematical Modeling of Brown Seaweed Drying Curves. Proceedings of the WSEAS International Conference on Applied Mathematics in Electrical and Computer Engineering, 207-211.
[18]	Akpinar, E.K. (2010) Drying of Mint Leaves in a Solar Dryer and under Open Sun: Modelling, Performance Analyses. Energy Conversion and Management, 51, 2407-2418. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2010.05.005
[19]	Akbulut, A. and Durmu?, A. (2010) Energy and Exergy Analyses of Thin Layer Drying of Mulberry in a Forced Solar Dryer. Energy, 35, 1754-1763. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2009.12.028
[20]	Meziane, S. (2011) Drying Kinetics of Olive Pomace in a Fluidized Bed Dryer. Energy Conversion and Management, 52, 1644-1649. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2010.10.027
[21]	El-Sebaii, A.A., Aboul-Enein, S., Ramadan, M.R.I., Shalaby, S.M. and Moharram, B.M. (2011) Thermal Performance Investigation of Double Pass-Finned Plate Solar Air Heater. Applied Energy, 88, 1727-1739. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2010.11.017
[22]	Basri, D.F., Fudholi, A. and Ruslan, M.H. (2012) Drying Characteristics of the Borneo Canarium odontophyllum (Dabai) Fruit. The American Journal of Agricultural and Biological Science, 7, 347-356. http://dx.doi.org/10.3844/ajabssp.2012.347.356
[23]	Othman, M.Y., Fudholi, A., Sopian, K., Ruslan, M.H. and Yahya, M. (2012) AnalisiskinetikpengeringanrumpailautGracilaria cangii menggunakansistempengeringsuria (Drying Kinetics Analysis of Seaweed Gracilaria cangii Using Solar Drying System). Sains Malaysiana, 41, 245-252.
[24]	Tunde-Akintunde, T.Y. (2011) Mathematical Modeling of Sun and Solar Drying of Chilli Pepper. Renewable Energy, 36, 2139-2145. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2011.01.017
[25]	Azoubel, P.M., Baima, M.D.A.M., Amorim, M.D.R. and Oliveira, S.S.B. (2010) Effect of Ultrasound on Banana cv Pacovan Drying Kinetics. Journal of Food Engineering, 97, 194-198. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2009.10.009
[26]	Duc, L.A., Han, J.W. and Keum, D.H. (2011) Thin Layer Drying Characteristics of Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.). Journal of Stored Products Research, 47, 32-38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jspr.2010.05.006
[27]	Doymaz, I. (2005) Drying Behaviour of Green Beans. Journal of Food Engineering, 69, 161-165. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2004.08.009
[28]	Doymaz, I. (2005) Drying Characteristics and Kinetics of Okra. Journal of Food Engineering, 69, 275-279. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2004.08.019
[29]	Simal, S., Femenia, A., Garau, M.C. and Rosselló, C. (2005) Use of Exponential, Page’s and Diffusion Models to Simulate the Drying Kinetics of Kiwi Fruit. Journal of Food Engineering, 66, 323-328. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2004.03.025
[30]	Ibrahim, M., Sopian, K. and Daud, W.R.W. (2009) Study of the Drying Kinetics of Lemon Grass. The American Journal of Applied Sciences, 6, 1070-1075. http://dx.doi.org/10.3844/ajassp.2009.1070.1075
[31]	Van Gool, W. (1997) Enery Policy: Fairy Tales and Factualities. In: Soares, O.D.D., da Cruz, A.M., Pereira, G.C., Soares, I.M.R.T. and Reis, A.J.P.S., Eds., Innovation and Technology—Strategies and Policies, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 93-105. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-0-585-29606-7_6