Generalized Empirical Correlations for drying of thin layer hawthorn in a tray dryer

Drying process of thin layer hawthorn fruits was investigated in a tray dryer in 4 different temperatures (60,65,70, 75 C) and 4 different air velocities ( 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0 m/s). The hawthorn samples were dried from original moisture content of 44.37% to final moisture content of 1.63%. The experimental data were fitted to different empirical correlations and the Genetic Algorithm optimization method was used to obtain the best parameters. The results showed that the modified Page model was the best model to describe the thin layer drying of hawthorn fruits in a tray dryer. The parameters of the empirical correlations may be presented as a function of temperature and velocity of the drying air. So, the generalized empirical correlations may describe the drying behavior of thin layer hawthorn in various conditions, while the previous empirical correlations were just applied to a certain drying experiment.