Solar Energy 240 (2022) 176–192

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Solar Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/solener

Influence of hot water blanching and saline immersion period on the

thermal effusivity and the drying kinetics of hybrid solar drying of sweet
potato chips
Ndukwu Macmanus Chinenye a, *, Doris Ijeoma Onyenwigwe a, Fidelis Abam b, Bilal Lamrani c,
Merlin Simo-Tagne d, Naoual Bekkioui e, Lyes Bennamoun f, Zafar Said g
a
Department of Agricultural and Bio-resources Engineering, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, P.M.B, 7267 Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria
b
Energy, Exergy and Environmental Research Group (EEERG), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, P.M.B, 7267
Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria
c
MANAPSE Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, Mohammed V University in Rabat, 1014 RP Rabat, Morocco
d
Department of Forestry and Agriculture, CFA-CFPPA of Mirecourt, 22 rue d, Docteur Grosjean, 88500 Mirecourt, France
e
Université Mohammed V de Rabat, Faculté des Sciences, Laboratoire de Matière Condensée et Sciences Interdisciplinaires Unité de Recherche Labellisée CNRST URL-
CNRST-17, B.P. 1014 RP Rabat, Morocco
f
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of New Brunswick ,15 Dineen Drive, E3B 5A3 Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
g
Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering Department, University of Sharjah, P.O. Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of adding pre-treatment to solar dried sweet potato chips.
Solar thermal application The tested pre-treatments were blanching using hot water and saline immersion. Indeed, the potato chips were
Heat treatment dried using a convective indirect solar dryer, equipped with a wind generator and glycerine as thermal storage.
Agricultural products
The system was built locally at the University of Agriculture in Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria. The obtained
Drying kinetics
Product shrinkage
experimental drying curves and kinetics were directly affected by the weather conditions, as the drying rate
increased with the increase of the radiation and the ambient temperature and decreased with their decrease.
Drying of the various pre-treated potato slices took 8–14 h to attain equilibrium moisture level under the variable
external drying conditions. The drying curves were fitted to semi-empirical models. The results showed that the
two-term exponential model was the best model that fitted the experimental data. Shrinkage was a vital phe­
nomenon observed during the drying process, as the volume of the chips was reduced by 50%. The volume of
samples treated by saline immersion was higher by 6% than non-treated samples. Shrinkage phenomenon was
then introduced to determine the thermos-physical properties of sweet potato chips, with particular attention to
the particle density, the bulk density, shape analysis, specific heat capacity, thermal diffusivity, and thermal
effusivity. The particle and bulk density peaked at 1.41–1.44 g/cm3, and 1.52–1.53 g/cm3 respectively for all
treatments. The thermal effusivity ranged from 17.6 to 7.93 W.S1/2.m− 2.K− 1 while the specific heat capacity
ranged from 1028 to 2288 J/kg ◦ C. All the thermo-physical properties were presented as a function of the volume
or moisture content variation with a high degree of association. The results demonstrated the importance of
shrinkage and its direct effect on the determination of the thermos-physical properties of the studied product for
both pre-treated and untreated samples.

1. Introduction
Thermo-physical properties of crops are needed in the design of the
processing and the preservation equipment (Ndukwu and Bennamoun,
2018). The thermos-physical parameters and the drying kinetics studies
are required in the heat and mass transfer analysis during drying. It is
also needed in the energy demand analysis during the drying process
(Krishna et al., 2018). Due to the heterogeneous nature of agricultural
products, moisture evolution throws up a complex challenge in the study
of thermo-physical phenomenon that occurs during moisture loss

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ndukwumcu@mouau.edu.ng (N.M. Chinenye).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2022.05.026
Received 19 February 2022; Received in revised form 28 April 2022; Accepted 16 May 2022
Available online 25 May 2022
0038-092X/© 2022 International Solar Energy Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
N.M. Chinenye et al.
(Joardder and Karim, 2019). These properties have been linked to
product shrinkage, pore formation, and glass transition temperature
(Rahman et al., 2018; Rahman et al., 2018). Shrinkage influences
product moisture rehydration and facial cracking during drying (Ghnimi
et al., 2017). Research has shown that these properties are affected by
the type of crops or cultivar, drying method, drying temperature, initial
treatment given to the crop before drying, and the initial moisture
content (Ndukwu and Bennamoun, 2018; Krishna et al., 2018). These
factors associated with its thermo-physical characteristics and drying
kinetics are, therefore, important in achieving a quality dried product
from the drying equipment.
Most industrial drying process requires pre-treatment of the crop
before drying. Some of the pre-treatment crops include hot water
blanching and saline immersion. Hot water or steam blanching evacu­
ates the air from the intercellular spaces of the crops and inactivates
enzymes that prevent both off flavour and colour (Wang et al., 2018). It
quickens the mass transport of moisture during drying (Wang et al.,
2018). Furthermore, pre-treatment of some agricultural products with 6
% saline solution before drying has been shown to improve the overall
appearance and acceptability (Reshmi et al., 2018). Under these pre-
treatment conditions, the product’s thermal properties and its drying
kinetics are modified from untreated samples (Ndukwu, 2020). The
behaviour of these properties is also influenced by the drying methods
used.
In Africa and most developing countries, the pre-dominant method of
drying is open sun drying due to the abundance of solar radiation in
most countries (Ndukwu and Bennamoun, 2018; Ndukwu et al., 2020;
Sekhar et al.). This method is cheap though primitive with many
drawbacks such as slow drying that might lead to microbial infestations,
animal, rodents, and birds attack, fear of sudden weather changes, etc.
(Ekka et al., 2020). Therefore, solar drying that is environmentally
friendly has been advocated for faster drying, enhanced efficiency,
uniform drying, protection from animals, rodents and birds attack
(Ndukwu et al., 2017; Abubakar et al., 2018; Lakshmi et al., 2018). The
attractive characteristic of solar dryers is their flexibility in design.
Therefore, it can be adapted to suit different sizes of enterprises based on
financial capacity and choice. However, the challenge in solar thermal
systems is maintaining its heat supply during off-sunshine periods. To
overcome this, different kinds of thermal storage materials have been
incorporated in solar systems as supplementary heater and their thermal
performance studied for different kinds of solar thermal designs
including solar drying process (Reyes et al., 2018; Baniasadi et al., 2017;
Esen and Ayhan, 1996; Esen et al., 1998; Esen, 2000).
Several solar dryer designs exist in the recent literature, ranging from
direct, indirect, and mix-mode solar dryers (Lingayat et al., 2021). These
various designs have been used in drying different crops both at sub­
sistent level or industrially. For example (Eltawil et al., 2018), dried
peppermint, (Lakshmi et al., 2018), dried turmeric, (Dhanushkodi et al.,
2017), dried cashew kernel, (Arun et al., 2019) dried banana, (Karthi­
keyan and Murugavelh, 2018) dried turmeric, (Wang et al., 2018)dried
mango (Essalhi et al., 2018), dried grapes, (Lingayat et al., 2020) dried
apple and watermelon, (Hawa et al., 2021) dried Cabya, (Sekhar et al.)
dried ginger etc. All the above-reviewed papers considered the drying
kinetics of different products. However, the effect of hot water blanching
and saline immersion duration of sweet potato on its thermal effusivity
and drying kinetics, during solar drying cannot be found in the litera­
ture. Moreover, even when hot water blanching is considered, the effect
of steaming time before quenching in cold water was scarce in the
literature.
A large portion of sweet potato produced in many countries today is
exported as an income-generating food crops. The food or feed in­
dustries that purchase them subject them to further processing to ach­
ieve the desired end product. These dried potatoes are exported in
shredded form, slices, wedges, nuggets, etc. (Krishna et al., 2018).
Despite that, a significant quantity of potato is dried and converted into
useful products using solar dryers (Dhalsamant et al., 2018). However,
177
Solar Energy 240 (2022) 176–192
literature on basic thermo-physical properties of potato slices’ solar
drying generally is still very scarce (Krishna et al., 2018). Pre-treatment
like hot water blanching is a common step in the industrial processing of
potato, therefore how this pre-treatment affects the volume changes,
thermal properties, and drying kinetics during drying needs to be
investigated. According to (Cabellero, 2003), the blanching time and
temperature affect the potato structure. Again saline immersion has
been shown to improve the appearance of crops, but this has not been
investigated on sweet potatoes using solar dryers with glycerine as
thermal storage.
Several works of literature have laid credence that drying time and
the efficiency of drying of a particular product varies from one product
to another, treatment is given, and the parameters in which the drying
process is operating irrespective of the geography of the operation
location or solar drying method (Raj et al., 2020; Lamrani et al., 2021).
This makes it difficult to generalize the drying parameters of agricultural
products, thus resulting in variation in drying kinetics for each product
under different operating conditions. Therefore it’s imperative to study
different critical properties of different crops that influence its drying
characteristics under different operating conditions since these values
are product specific. For sweet potato drying, the kinetics of saline pre-
treated slices and their effusive diffusivities is not available in the
literature. Pre-treatment of agricultural products has improved the
overall quality of dried product and also accelerate the drying process.
Studying the thermal properties will assist in designing the processing
equipment and therefore the above study is justified. Consequently, the
objective of the current study is to study the effects of pre-treatments on
the drying kinetics of solar dried potato chips. Furthermore, the effect of
the introduction of shrinkage phenomenon on the thermos-physical
properties of sweet potato chips, with particular attention to the parti­
cle density, the bulk density, shape analysis, specific heat capacity,
thermal diffusivity, and thermal effusivity will also be investigated.
1.1. Present research novelty
As the global energy interest is shifting to cleaner and sustainable
energy consumption, solar dryers are replacing the more conventional
dryers in crop drying even at the industrial level. New products will be
developed through these drying methods and the process of production
optimized. This requires knowledge of the thermal parameters and the
product drying kinetics. Generally, the thermal properties of interest
during heat application in crops are the thermal conductivity, thermal
diffusivity, specific heat capacity (Jayalakshmy and Philip, 2010); and
heat and mass transfer coefficient (Mugi and Chandramohan, 2021).
However, the thermal effusivity or inertia (delay factor or conductive
capacity) determines the rate the heat absorbed by the heated material is
lost to the surrounding air (Blaine, 2019). The dried material tempera­
ture is higher than the ambient air temperature during the off sunshine
period. The heat absorbed by the material is effused to the ambient air
until thermodynamic equilibrium is reached. The ease this occurs might
determine the speed at which the product’s rewetting will occur after
giving off its heat. This might give an idea of how to manage the addi­
tional heat supply. The lower the thermal effusivity value, the longer the
surface temperature will take to equilibrate with the surrounding tem­
perature thermodynamically. Therefore, Jayalakshmy and Philip
(Jayalakshmy and Philip, 2010) defined thermal effusivity as the speed
at which the thermal energy radiates outwards from the material, and it
is inversely related to the thermal impedance. This very important
property has been ignored by most researchers in the thermal property
analysis of crops. Although instruments to directly measure the thermal
effusivity of materials are available for metals, polymers, and insulators,
none is available for crops. Again the calibration of these instruments is
yet standardized, though ASTM has initiated work to this effect (Blaine,
2019). Currently, there is no reference literature on the thermal effu­
sivity of crops (Blaine, 2019). The most recent published literature on
the thermal effusivity of materials is on its relationships with user
N.M. Chinenye et al.
perception based on the material that is used to construct the Table top
(Podrekar et al., 2021). Therefore in the present research effect of
blanching time and product duration in saline solution on some thermo-
physical properties of potatoes, including thermal effusivity evolutions
and drying kinetics of potato, was investigated for solar dried potato
with thermal storage. This will also involve a comparative study with
non-treated samples.
During blanching, the product gains moisture which increases the
weight of the product for future processing. According to Ref (Susan
Featherstone, 2016), the weight gain is dependent on the blanching time
and affects the final textural and thermo-physical properties of the food
product. In the case of potato, blanching duration and temperature also
affects its structure (Cabellero, 2003) and, by extension, the degree of
shrinkage during drying. Therefore comparative studies on the
shrinkage behaviour of hot water blanched and saline treated potato
chips dried in a solar dryer with thermal storage will be investigated.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Material preparation and pre-treatment
Fresh sweet potato was purchased from the local market at Ahieke
Umuahia in Abia state Nigeria. The potato was thoroughly sorted,
cleaned, and peeled with a knife. The sweet potatoes were further sliced
into 2 mm thickness and 20 mm diameter. The potatoes were divided
into three groups for the pre-treatments. The first two groups were
divided into three groups of 1 kg each for hot water blanching at 3 (BL3),
6(BL6) and 9(BL9) minutes and 6 % saline solution immersion for 3
Fig. 1. (A) Schematics of the mix mode solar dryer showing the wind generator (B) The picture of the mix mode solar dryer.
178
Solar Energy 240 (2022) 176–192
(SS3), 6(SS6) and 9(SS9) minutes. Blanching was done with the potato
placed in a plastic sieve of 1 mm hole and soaked in a hot water bath at
80 ◦ C after which it was rapidly cooled in cold water. To ensure uniform
blanching, the potatoes were thoroughly mixed while in the hot water
bath for the duration. Saline solution treatment was made by dipping the
potatoes in 6 % saline solution and stirring for the durations. Finally, the
potatoes were sieved and held in the basket until all the water drained
out.
2.2. Description of solar dryer used
A mix-mode active solar dryer shown in Fig. 1 was developed and
fabricated at the Agricultural Engineering Department of Micheal
Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike. This solar dryer is unique in
that the wind powers the fan. The major components of the solar dryer
were the collector, drying chamber, and a wind generator to power the
fan. The solar dryer consists of a solar collector made of hard wood,
galvanized metal sheet absorber painted black and glazed with trans­
parent Perspex glass cover as shown in Fig. 1. The collector has a
dimension of 1 m × 0.5 m, while the absorber plate has a thickness of
0.1 mm. The skeleton of the drying chamber is also made of hard wood
and covered with a 200 µm thick transparent polyethylene material to
allow solar radiation passage into the drying chamber.
The drying chamber has dimensions of 1 m × 0.7 m and opens into an
air duct at the top. The air duct is trapezoidal shaped and slants at an
angle of 45◦ towards the chimney base at the height of 0.3 m. Inside the
drying chambers are laid nine trays made of wood and plastic mesh. The
chimney and the wind generator were designed to form a single unit.
N.M. Chinenye et al. Solar Energy 240 (2022) 176–192

The hollow shaft of the wind generator directly passed through the Table 2
centre of the chimney with the help of two frictionless bearings into the Design parameters for solar dryer with wind air generator.
air duct. At the bottom of the shaft is screwed an axial suction fan blade Parameters Value units
while the top is attached to three curved aluminium fan blades. The idea
Collector Area 0.54 m2
is that as the wind rotates the aluminium blades with the help of the Thickness of the Absorber 0.002 m
frictionless bearings, the suction fan blades placed at the air duct also Collector Tilt angle 15.47 o

rotates automatically to remove the hot moist air through the chimney Quantity of glycerine used 2 litres
vents. Liquid Glycerol was provided at the collector during the sunshine Weight of glycerine 2 kg
Capacity of the drying chamber 0.7 m2
periods and removed to the drying chamber during off-sunshine periods Total No of trays 9 –
to support the moisture removal process. The material specifications and Distance between trays 0.01 m
design parameters are presented in Table 1 and Table 2. Height of the chimney 0.3 m
Collector vent area 0.0335 m2
Average Air mass flow rate 0.017748 kg/s
2.3. Drying procedure

Wind generator design data

The experimental evaluation was conducted at Umudike (latitude
Swept area 0.007 m2
5.53 oN, longitude 7.49 oE) in Abia State Nigeria’s South Eastern central Height 0.5 m
state, during the December period. Three mix-mode solar dryers of equal Rated power 12.37 W
capacity and the same design were assembled and used concurrently to Average Wind speed (minimum value) 0.31 m/s
accommodate the drying of blanched potatoes, saline-treated potatoes, Blade width 10 cm
Power coefficient 0.1 –
and non-treated potatoes. For each pre-treatment method, the samples Air density 1.225 kg/m3
pre-treated at 3, 6, and 9 min durations were dried simultaneously with
the same dryer. However, they are placed in different trays, and their
positions on the racks were frequently interchanged to ensure uniform
Table 3
drying. The potato slices were spread on the trays to form a single layer
Specifications and sensitivities of measuring instruments.
and dried from the period of clear sky (9–10.00 am) in the morning till
sunset (4–6.00 pm) in the evening. Loss of weight was manually Instruments Specifications Sensitivity Manufacturer

measured at 1 hr intervals until constant weight is achieved. The relative Pyronometer Apogee MP- APOGEE USA
humidity and temperatures of the collector, drying chamber, and 200, serial 1250, ±1 W/m2
Digital balance KERRO model ±0.01 g KERRO, China
ambient conditions were measured with a thermocouple, temperature
Data logger HH1147 ±0.1 ◦ C and Omega Stanford
probe, and humidity clock. Also, the solar radiation intensity was ±1% USA
measured with a pyranometer. All readings were taken hourly in trip­ Thermocouple K-type, USB linked ±0. 1 ◦C Omega Stanford
licate, and the average values were used for computations. Microsoft and USA
Origin pro 2022 (origin inc. USA) was used for data analysis and fittings. Temperature and ±0.1 ◦ C, TLX, Guandong
humidity clock DTH-82 ±1.0 % China
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the level of significance Vane anemometer AM-4826 ±2% of Landesk,
using general factorial experimental design. The specifications of the velocity Guangzhou,
instruments used and their sensitivities are shown in Table 3. China
Hot air oven UMB 500 Sehutzart, ± 0.1 ◦C Memmert,
DIN EN 60529-IP 20 Germany
2.4. Experimental uncertainties

The experimental uncertainties were expected from the measure­ Eq. (1) a as follows (Argo, 2020).
ments of the primary data used to evaluate the secondary data. Tem­ [( ]1/2
) ( ) ( )
peratures, solar radiations, air velocities, relative humidity, thickness, ∂R ∂R ∂R
UR = w1 2 + w1 2 + ⋯ + wn 2 (1)
major axis, and weight loss were measured during the drying process. x1 x2 x2
The results were used to generate the uncertainties for the moisture
contents, drying rate, volume shrinkage, and moisture ratio according to w1, and w2 and wn are the uncertainty in the independent variables x1,
x2 and xn. For the evaluated moisture contents, drying rate, volume
Table 1 shrinkage, and moisture ratios, the determined uncertainties were ±
Material specification. 0.017, ± 0.021, ± 0.015 and ±0.05.
Units Specifications Source

Solar collector Hard wood, tilted 15.47oN, 1.0 1 m × 0.5 Locally made 2.5. Moisture evolution and mathematical modelling
m × 0. 2 m (Custom design
Absorber Black painted galvanized metal sheet, Locally made
1.0 × 0.5 m × 0.001 m (Custom design)
The moisture content of the potatoes at each drying time interval is
Glazing Transparent glass, 1.0 m × 0.5 m, 0.002 Perspex given as.
m
Drying Chamber Hard wood skeleton. 1 m × 0.7 m, 45◦ Locally made
wt (Mi − Mf )
Mt = (1a)
tapering at 0.3 m height at 0.7 m From (Custom design) 1 − Mf
the base
Drying trays Hard wood skeleton, plastic wire mesh, Locally made where wt is the mass of potatoes at time t, Mi is the initial moisture
0.7 m × 0.28 m, laid in two’s per rack (Custom design)
content on a wet basis determined through oven drying, and Mf is the
Polyethylene Transparent, 200 µm –
cover final moisture content.
Chimney Hollow galvanized steel, pipe; ϕ 0.75 m Locally made The drying rate was calculated with Eq. (1b) as follows.
and 0.5 m high (Custom design)
mt − mt+Δt
Wind generator Φ0.05 m hollow pipe, 0.15 m − 0.10 m Locally assembly Dr = (1b)
and fan curved aluminium fan blade, frictionless (Custom design) Δt
bearings, 0,156 m plastic axial exhaust The obtained moisture content was converted as moisture ratio and
fan blade
expressed as follows.

179
N.M. Chinenye et al. Solar Energy 240 (2022) 176–192

Mt − M e ξ is the volume shrinkage coefficient experimentally obtained by

MR = (2)
Mi − M e fitting the volume shrinkage data with the moisture content data (Janjai
et al., 2008)as follows.
where Mt is the moisture content at time t and Me is the equilibrium
moisture content. The equilibrium moisture content is attained if, three Vs = 1 − ξ(Xo − X) 8
consecutive constant water content is obtained during drying and this
where Vs is the experimentally obtained volume shrinkage calculated as
shows the end of the drying process (Hawa et al., 2021).
a relative value between the initial volume of the sample (Vi) and the
To predict the moisture ratio, 11 semi-theoretical and empirical
volume of drying sample (Vd) as described by Takahashi et al (Takahashi
models listed in Table 4 were used to fit the moisture ratio data. Sta­
et al., 2018) in Eq. (10) as follows.
tistical data that includes the coefficient of determination, root mean
square error and chi-square presented in Eqs. (3)–(5) were used for Vd
Vs = 1 − (9)
model verification and the choice of the best fit model under different Vi
pre-treated conditions. Origin Pro 2022 (Origin Inc. USA) graphing and
To determine the volume of the potato cylinders, the initial volume
analysis software was used for model fitting.
of the potato was obtained using liquid displacement methods as
∑N ( )2 described by (Ndukwu et al., 2020; Ndukwu, 2020). The volume ob­
MRpre,i − MRexp,i
R2 = 1 − ∑i=1N ( ) 2
(3) tained was calibrated with the volume obtained with the measurement
i=1 MRpre − MRexp,i
method. In the measurement method, the potato slice was assumed to be
∑N ( )2 a regular cylinder with the thickness representing the height of the
χ2 = i=1 MRpre,i − MRexp,i
(4) cylinder (h), which changes with the radius as the drying progresses.
N− n Therefore the thickness and diameter for each drying time was measured
[ ]12 with a Venire calliper and the volume determined as a volume of a
1 ∑ regular cylinder as follows.
N
( )2
RMSE = MRpre,i − MRexp,i (5)
N i=1
V = πr2 h (10)

where r is the radius of the potato chips and h is the thickness.

2.6. Evolution of the physical properties of the potatoes
The particle density is deduced as a function of water content as
follows (Krokida and Maroulis, 1997).
2.6.1. Gravimetric properties and shrinkage
The values of the porosity for the potatoes as it evolves during drying (1 + X)
was intrinsically evaluated for a single particle following the empirical ρp = ( ) (11)
1 X
ρ +ρ
methods as having been presented by (Ndukwu and Bennamoun, 2018) x w

as follows.
ρX is the density of a single dried particle given as 1.6 ± 0.026 g/cm3 for
ρ
εp = 1 − b (6) convective dried potato (Krokida and Maroulis, 1997).
ρp
2.7. The shape factor
where ρb is the bulk density deduced from Kroikida et al (Krokida and
Maroulis, 1997) as follows.
The shape factor was expressed as a normalized value of the radius
(1 + X) (R) expressed as roundness factor (Rf) as have been done by some re­
ρb = ( ) (7)
1 βX searchers (Lewicki and Pawlak, 2003; Mayor et al., 2005). The round­
ρ +ρ
b0 w
ness values are used to deduce the closeness of the product to circularity
and range from 0 to 1. The roundness factor is presented in terms of the
ρbo is the dry bulk density given as 1.50 g/cm3 for potato (Krokida and
volume of water lost and shrinkage constant as has been used for bio­
Maroulis, 1997). Also, ρw is the density of enclosed water given as 1.03
materials undergoing drying and shrinkage as follows (Feyissa et al.,
g/cm3 for potato (Krokida and Maroulis, 1997).
2009; Cascone et al., 2015):
( )1/3
Table 4 R βVw,l,t
Drying kinetic models. Rf = = 1− (11a)
R0 Vo
Model name Model Reference
where Ro is the initial radius is the radius at the time of drying, S is the
Page MR = exp( − kt) (Argo et al.,
2018) surface. To determine the surface area, the potato was assumed as a
Henderson and Pabis’s MR = ae− kt (Argo et al., cylinder with thickness as the height and the area calculated as that of a
2018) regular cylinder. However the diameter and the thickness is manually
Logarithmic model (Argo et al.,
determined as the drying progresses.
kt
MR = ae− +c
2018)
Wang and Singh MR = 1 + at + bt2 (Argo et al.,
2018) 2.8. Evolution of thermal properties
Verma et al. MR = aexp( − kt) + (Argo et al.,
(1 − a)exp( − gt) 2018)
Modified Page MR = exp( − ktn ) (Argo et al., The thermal properties considered are the specific heat capacity,
2018) thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and the introduction of ther­
Modified Pabis and MR = aexp( − kt) + bexp( − gt) + (Argo et al., mal effusivity evolutions. The specific heat capacity was deduced with
Henderson cexp( − ht) 2018) respect to moisture evolution (Ndukwu and Bennamoun, 2018) as
Two-term MR = aexp( − k0 t) + bexp( − k1 t) (Argo et al.,
2018)
follows.
Two-term exponential MR = aexp( − kt) + (Argo et al., ( )
X
(1 − a)exp( − kat) 2018) Cp = 1256.26 + 0.818 (12)
Diffusion approach MR = aexp( − kt) + (Argo et al., Xo
a)exp( − kbt) 2018)
The thermal conductivity was determined as a function of moisture
(1 −

180
N.M. Chinenye et al.
content as (Ndukwu and Bennamoun, 2018) follows.
( )
X
k = 0.05 + 0.06 (13)
Xo
The thermal diffusivity was determined as a function of thermal
conductivity and specific heat capacity of potatoes as follows.
k
φ= (14)
ρa C p
The thermal effusivity was determined as a function of thermal
conductivity and specific heat as follows (Jayalakshmy and Philip,
2010).
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
ϱ = k ρa C p (15)
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Environmental effects on drying characteristics of pre-treated potato
slice
The hourly variations of the solar radiation, collector, drying
chamber, and ambient temperatures are presented in Fig. 2. In contrast,
the corresponding relative humidity and environmental air speed vari­
ations are shown in Fig. 3. Solar radiation was higher in the afternoon
and peaked at 626 W/m2, while it was lowest in the morning with the
lowest value of 10 W/m2. The average solar intensity obtained for the
drying duration was 280 W/m2. Low radiation values do not really drive
the drying process at that value but serve to warm the solar dryer
(Ndukwu et al., 2020). The ambient temperature and relative humidity
variables with both the collector and drying chamber temperature were
0.4–14 ◦ C and 2–20.8%, respectively. The mean ambient, collector and
drying chamber temperatures were 33, 42.2 and 41.2 ◦ C respectively.
Drying of the potato slices was driven by four factors: the increased
temperature and the lowering of the humidity of the drying chamber,
the incorporation of wet air suction fan powered by electricity free wind
generator, and the incorporation of liquid glycerine as thermal storage.
These factors quickened the drying process, and rewetting of the product
was prevented. Drying took between 8 and 13 h to reach the equilibrium
moisture content of 13.36 ± 4.6 % w.b for all the drying treatments,
although drying continued until 14 h, as shown in Fig. 4. From Fig. 4 it
can be shown that drying treatment and the duration of each treatment
method affected the drying behaviour of the product. The potato slices
Fig. 2. Variation of Temperature and Solar Radiation.
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Solar Energy 240 (2022) 176–192
reached the equilibrium moisture content faster in 8 h of drying when
treated with 6 % saline immersion for 3 min followed by 9 min im­
mersion which attained moisture equilibrium in 10 h respectively. This
is reflected in the plot of the drying rate in Fig. 5.
The quick drying of saline treated samples might be due to the initial
osmotic action of the saline solution on the product moisture before
drying commences. A saline solution is a hypertonic solution that can
initiate a non thermal dehydration from food material through osmotic
dehydration (Mayor et al., 2011). The potential difference between the
crop moisture and the salt solution promotes the removal of moisture
from the product while the product absorbs the soluble. Though the
drying rate plot is irregular which is common to the solar dying process
due to the vagaries of weather condition (Ndukwu, 2020), however the
highest average values of 0.08994 kg of water/kg.h obtained for 3 min
saline immersion corroborated the higher drying rate obtained for 3 min
saline immersion. The lowest average drying rate value was obtained for
non-treated samples compared to treated samples, which is similar to
other obtained results in product pre-treatment before drying (Prakash
et al., 2019; Hawa et al., 2021). Hot water blanching time was found to
be inversely related to the time taken for the product to reach equilib­
rium moisture content as reflected in the average drying rate, which was
0.05549, 0.05605, and 0.05675 kg of water/kg.h for 3, 6, and 9 min hot
blanching respectively. However, these values for blanching treatment
are not significantly different from each other at 95 % confident limit
but compared to saline, immersion, they were significant.
Although the colour analysis was not carried out in terms of CIELAB
colour parameters, the colour’s brightness was compared with visible
eyes. Fig. 6 shows that saline solution immersion presents a brighter
colour of the dried samples with a better colour appeal compared to the
untreated and blanched product.
3.2. Mathematical modelling of potato drying curve
The moisture ratio data were fitted with the drying time using eleven
diffusion models presented in Table 4. Non linear exponential regression
fittings were done in Origin graphing and analysis software 2022. Iter­
ations were based on Levenberg Marqurdt iteration algorithm. Fitting
was accepted if they successfully converged with positive R2 values. The
choice of the best model is based on the highest R2 and the lowest χ2 and
RMSE; otherwise, all the fitted models satisfactorily predicted the
moisture ratio for all treatments. From Table 5, the two-term exponen­
tial model gave the best fit for all the treatments and therefore can be
N.M. Chinenye et al. Solar Energy 240 (2022) 176–192

Fig. 3. Variation of Relative humidity and Wind speed.

Fig. 4. Variation of Experimental moisture ratio with Time.

chosen for the best model for mix-mode solar drying of treated and MR = 2.1967exp( − 0.2938t) − 1.1967exp( − 0.64539t) (19)
untreated potato slices with glycerin thermal storage under the tropical
weather condition of West Africa coastal areas where this study is con­ MR = 2.2126exp( − 0.2476t) − 1.2126exp( − 0.54784t) (20)
ducted. The fitting of this model with untreated and treated samples is
presented in Figs. 7 and 8, respectively. In contrast, the moisture ratio MR = 2.2635exp( − 0.2525t) − 1.12635exp( − 0.57153t) (21)
expressions in terms of the tw-term exponential model is presented in
Eqs. (16)–(22) for SS3, SS6, SS9, Untreated, BL3, BL6 and BL9 MR = 2.2815exp( − 0.2716t) − 1.12815exp( − 0.61965t) (22)
respectively.
MR = 2.2540exp( − 0.2704t) − 1.254exp( − 0.60948t) (16).
3.3. Shrinkage and shrinkage coefficient
MR = 2.1264exp( − 0.2273t) − 1.1264exp( − 0.48333t) (17)
The variations in the volume change with moisture content are
MR = 2.2058exp( − 0.2821t) − 1.2058exp( − 0.62223t) (18) shown in Fig. 9. The volume change increases with the loss of moisture
as the drying progresses, which shows a structural collapse associated

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Fig. 5. Variation of Drying Rate with Time.
Fig. 6. Dried potato samples under different treatments (A- untreated potato slice, B- Blanched potato slice, and C- potato treated with salt solution.
with agricultural material during drying (Joardder et al., 2017). How­
ever, the method of treatment and treatment duration significantly (p <
0.05) affected the shrinkage level. The potato slice lost about
49.01–59.70 % of its initial volume during the drying process. At the end
of the drying process, the 3 min saline-treated samples lost the highest
volume of 59. 70 % while the 3 min hot water blanched lost the lowest
value of 49.01 %. Averagely, drying saline-treated samples had the
highest shrinkage volume at the end of the drying, followed by untreated
samples. At the same time, the least is the blanched samples. For a
porous material like a potato slice, this volume change might be lower in
the actual case because the spaces left by the water vapour can be
occupied by air. Fitting the moisture content data with the volume
shrinkage data with Eqs. (8) and (9) corroborated the shrinkage data
with a high shrinkage coefficient obtained for 3 min saline-treated
sample compared to others in Table 6 for potato. For all treatments,
the shrinkage coefficient ranged from 1.03 to 1.1165, with the untreated
sample having the least value. Research has shown that the shrinkage
coefficient is dependent on the instantaneous condition (Madiouli et al.,
2012). Therefore, it is not constant for any product but varies for every
real-time condition shown by Ref (Zogzas et al., 1994; Rahman, 2007).
This implies that the values obtained are for solar dried sweet potato
slices under the investigated pre-treatment conditions. The plot of the
shrinkage graph in Fig. 9 showed two linear characteristics similar to the
moisture removal process for solar dried potato slices. The slope of the
first stage was steeper (64. 2–14.83 % moisture content), while the
second stage (14.83–8.13 % moisture content) was a more shallow
curve. This showed that the product is more porous. There is enough
space for the intercellular structure to shrink to the solid core as they
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Solar Energy 240 (2022) 176–192
contract into the spaces left by the lost moisture (Ndukwu et al., 2017).
However, as the drying progresses, this space becomes difficult to come
by, and the structural strength of the potato also increases (Aprajeeta
et al., 2015). Therefore the structure of the dried product becomes fixed
at this last period. Generally, a smooth curve was obtained for shrinkage,
which shows that shrinkage is gradual, indicating that a difference
might not exist between the glass transition temperature and the tem­
perature of the product (Bonazzi and Dumoulin, 2011).
The shrinkage of sweet potato can be presented as a power function
in terms of normalized moisture loss as follows.
( ( k) )
Vd X
= 1 − β1 − β 2 (23)
V1 Xo
where β1, β2, and k are regression coefficients. The above equation was
considered independent of drying temperature and air flow velocity
through the dryer, therefore is valid independent of the process condi­
tions. The values of β1 and β2 for all pre-treatment conditions is pre­
sented in Table 7.
3.4. Evolution of the gravimetric properties.
Bulk and Particle density: Figs. 10 and 11 show the moisture
evolution with the potato samples’ bulk density and particle density.
The bulk density and particle density showed no significant difference
(p < 0.05) for all pre-treatment. However, the bulk and particle density
increased with moisture loss as the drying progressed. This is because of
volume reduction due to shrinkage and increased mass of the solid core
N.M. Chinenye et al. Solar Energy 240 (2022) 176–192

Table 5
Results of model fitting and statistical parameters.
Model SS3 SS6 SS9 Untreated BL3 BL6 BL9

Page
k 0.1493 0.1304 0.1586 0.1656 0.1371 0.1377 0.1476
R2 0.8828 0.9197 0.9031 0.9105 0.9078 0.8807 0.8846
RMSE 0.2125 0.1233 0.1657 0.1505 0.1542 0.2155 0.2113
χ2 0.0152 0.0088 0.0118 0.0107 0.0110 0.0154 0.0151

Henderson and Pabis

a 1.1612 1.1310 1.1439 1.1393 1.1533 1.1680 1.1696
k 0.1733 0.1491 0.1816 0.1887 0.1593 0.1615 0.1727
R2 0.9063 0.9405 0.9219 0.9279 0.9338 0.9151 0.9115
RMSE 0.1577 0.0849 0.1239 0.1125 0.1028 0.1533 0.1505
χ2 0.0121 0.0065 0.0095 0.0086 0.0079 0.0118 0.0116

Logarithmic
a 1.3363 1.3805 1.2202 1.1804 1.38332 1.4821 1.3562
c − 0.2091 − 0.2869 − 0.096 − 0.0536 − 0.2681 − 0.3592 − 0.2220
k 0.1223 0.0961 0.1511 0.1692 0.1047 0.0958 0.1200
R2 0.9119 0.9496 0.9201 0.9238 0.9434 0.9236 0.9186
RMSE 0.1368 0.0664 0.1172 0.1098 0.0811 0.1182 0.1278
χ2 0.0114 0.0055 0.0098 0.0091 0.0068 0.0098 0.0106

Wang and Singh

a − 0.1181 − 0.1012 − 0.1310 − 0.1384 − 0.1058 − 0.1034 − 0.1157
b 0.0037 0.0026 0.0047 0.0053 0.0028 0.0025 0.0035
R2 0.9113 0.9466 0.9263 0.9324 0.9372 0.9165 0.9140
RMSE 0.1494 0.0762 0.1171 0.1055 0.0976 0.1400 0.1462

χ2 0.0115 0.0059 0.0090 0.0081 0.0075 0.0108 0.0112

Verma et al.
a 0.9062 1.0065 1.00379 0.9190 1.0065 0.9022 1.0066
k 0.1733 0.1069 0.14486 0.1886 0.1123 0.1615 0.1231
g 0.1733 − 0.1534 − 0.1335 0.1889 − 0.1549 0.1615 − 0.1466
R2 0.9130 0.9329 0.9063 0.9331 0.9219 0.9151 0.8964
RMSE 0.1578 0.1030 0.1602 0.1125 0.1307 0.1533 0.1898
χ2 0.0131 0.0086 0.0133 0.0094 0.0109 0.0128 0.0158

Diffusion Approach
a 1.0000 1.164E13 1.0000 1.152E13 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000
k 0.1492 0.1410 0.1586 0.4017 0.1371 0.1377 0.1478
b 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000
R2 0.8828 0.9208 0.9031 0.9609 0.9078 0.8807 0.8846
RMSE 0.2125 0.1216 0.1657 0.0563 0.1542 0.2155 0.2113
χ2 0.0177 0.0101 0.0138 0.0047 0.0128 0.0180 0.0176

Modified page
k 0.0243 0.0386 0.04374 0.0557 0.0333 0.0203 0.0243
n 1.9783 1.6154 1.7109 1.6134 1.7309 1.9940 1.9683
R2 0.9600 0.0347 0.9556 0.9531 0.9758 0.9706 0.9650
RMSE 0.0673 0.9757 0.0705 0.0733 0.0376 0.0492 0.0595
χ2 0.0052 0.0027 0.0054 0.0056 0.0029 0.0038 0.0046

Modified Pabis and Henderson

a 0.3870 0.377 0.3813 0.3797 0.3844 0.3893 0.3898
k 0.1733 0.1491 0.1815 0.1887 0.1593 0.1615 0.1727
g 0.1733 0.1491 0.1815 0.1887 0.1593 0.1615 0.1727
b 0.3870 0.3770 0.3813 0.3797 0.3844 0.3893 0.3898
c 0.3870 0.377 0.3813 0.3797 0.3844 0.3893 0.3898
h 0.1733 0.1491 0.1815 0.1887 0.1593 0.1615 0.1727
2
R 0.9130 0.9447 0.9275 0.9331 0.9385 0.9151 0.9178
RMSE 0.1578 0.0849 0.1239 0.1125 0.1028 0.1533 0.1505
2
χ 0.0175 0.0094 0.0138 0.0125 0.0114 0.0170 0.0167

Two Term
a 0.5806 0.5655 0.5718 0.5696 0.5767 0.5841 0.5848
ko 0.1733 0.1491 0.1815 0.1887 0.1593 0.1616 0.1728
b 0.5806 0.5655 0.5719 0.5696 0.5767 0.5842 0.5848
k1 0.1733 0.1491 0.1815 0.1887 0.1593 0.1616 0.1728
R2 0.9130 0.9447 0.9275 0.9331 0.9385 0.9151 0.0137
RMSE 0.1578 0.0849 0.1239 0.1125 0.1028 0.1533 0.1505
(continued on next page)

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Table 5 (continued )
Model SS3 SS6 SS9 Untreated BL3 BL6 BL9

χ2 0.0143 0.0077 0.0113 0.0102 0.0093 0.0139 0.9178

Two-term exponential
a 2.2540 2.1264 2.2058 2.1967 2.2126 2.2635 2.2815
k 0.2704 0.2273 0.2821 0.2938 0.2476 0.2525 0.2716
R2 0.9661 0.9820 0.9684 0.9687 0.9855 0.9736 0.9741
RMSE 0.0615 0.0277 0.0541 0.0527 0.0242 0.0477 0.0474
χ2 0.0047 0.0021 0.0042 0.0041 0.0019 0.0037 0.0036

Fig. 7. Experimental and predicted moisture ratio with the two term exponential model for untreated sample.

as the air is evacuated with moisture. Other researchers have made this
observation for dried food crops (Khalloufi et al., 2010; Koç et al., 2008).
The bulk density reached a maximum value of 1.41–1.44 g/cm3, as
shown in Fig. 10. The particle density peaked at 1.52–1.53 g/cm3 for all
treatments before remaining constant. The bulk density is related to
volume change and moisture loss because the volume and moisture
content becomes constant until drying (Aprajeeta et al., 2015). Ac­
cording to Roos and Karel (Roos and Karel, 1991); towards the final
drying stage, the glassy nature of the product prevents shrinkage and
boasts the potato’s mechanical strength. Thus, the density becomes
constant. The increase in particle density was gradual at the first 4 h of
drying. Still, it later becomes geometric before it stabilizes. This obser­
vation has been made in the dehydration of other food materials (Mayor
et al., 2011). The reason is that product composition is the primary
factor that affects particle density. This value increases as moisture de­
creases, leading to an increase in particle density (Mayor et al., 2011). It
was observed that differences exist among the particle densities of
different treatments at the period beyond 4 h of drying; however, this
difference disappears as the products dry to the equilibrium moisture
level. Both the bulk density (g/cm3) and the particle density (g/cm3) are
correlated with a logarithmic function in terms of the initial moisture
content in Eq. (24) for all treatments except the bulk density of untreated
samples, which is best predicted with Eq. (25).
( )
X maximum roundness factor of 1.0 at the initial volume. However, as the
ρ = ω1 − ω2 ln + ω3 (24)
Xo
( ( ))
X magnitude of decrease for the roundness was higher for saline treated
ρb = − 1.01885ln 4.358 − 1.101885 R2 = 0.99912
Xo
where ω1 ω2 and ω3 regression coefficients with their values given in
Tables 8 and 9 for bulk and particle density, respectively.
Porosity: The porosity of crops has been associated with the chem­
ical composition and structural matrix of the product (Mayor et al.,
2011). Researchers have shown that the porosity of a product can in­
crease or decrease with moisture loss. However, most of them have
attested to the initial decrease of porosity during drying. In this case, the
porosity decreased for all treatments except for untreated samples and 9
min saline treatment; the porosity increased slightly, as shown in
Fig. 12. Decreased porosity can be linked to a shrinking network of pores
in the solid material that increases the internal resistance to water
removal (Nnamchi et al., 2021). The porosity fitted with the moisture
content as a power function given below as follows.
( )κ 2
X
ε = κ1 (26)
Xo
where ĸ1 and ĸ2 are regression coefficients s given in Table 10.
3.5. Shape analysis
During the water removal process in hot air drying, the product
usually deforms as it shrinks towards the core. Eq. (11a) assumes the
dried product is perfectly round at the beginning, assigning the
drying progresses, the product shape moves away from maximum value
and decreases. Fig. 13 shows the roundness factor for all treatments. The
(25)
samples and untreated samples, while blanched samples maintained a
higher roundness through the drying process. There were significant
differences (p < 0.05) between the same samples at different time

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N.M. Chinenye et al. Solar Energy 240 (2022) 176–192

Fig. 8. Model fitting of the experimental and predicted moisture ratio with the two term exponential model (a-c: saline immersion treatment, d-f: blanch­
ing treatment).

durations and blanched, and saline treated samples. However 9 min

saline treated samples showed no significant difference with untreated
3.6. Evolution of the thermal properties
samples. The non linear correlation equation is given below while
theregression coefficients ∊ and γ is given in Table 11.
Figs. 14–16 shows the relationships between the specific heat,
( ( ))
Vi − Vd thermal diffusivity, and thermal effusivity with moisture loss. The
R = Ro In ∊ − γ (27) thermal diffusivity and effusivity values were derived as a function of
Vi
the thermal conductivity and specific heat. The specific heat capacity

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N.M. Chinenye et al. Solar Energy 240 (2022) 176–192

Fig. 9. Variation of shrinkage with moisture content.

Table 6
Shrinkage coefficient for potato.
SS3 SS6 SS9 Untreated BL3 BL6 BL9

ξ 1.11648 1.06564 1.06494 1.03001 1.011937 1.01377 1.01069

R2 0.96854 0.98433 0.99021 0.99439 0.98427 0.98236 0.98052
2
χ 0.00137 6.4398E− 4 4.7204E− 4 2.84976E− 4 5.01678E− 4 8.10179E− 4 8.73507E− 4
RMSE 0.01921 0.00902 0.00661 0.00399 0.00702 0.01134 0.01223

Table 7
Shrinkage regression coefficients.
SS3 SS6 SS9 Untreated BL3 BL6 BL9

β1 0.58098 0.81011 0.92695 1.36765 0.54986 0.61283 0.94154

β2 0.57834 0.81371 0.91708 1.35575 0.54661 0.60961 0.93089
k 0.96373 0.57897 0.41968 0.23260 0.83337 0.91461 0.37095
R2 0.96301 0.98750 0.98615 0.99137 0.99238 0.99330 0.99549

Fig. 10. Evolution of the bulk density with moisture content.

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N.M. Chinenye et al. Solar Energy 240 (2022) 176–192

Fig. 11. Evolution of the particle density with moisture content.

and thermal effusivity decreased with moisture loss while the thermal
Table 8
diffusivity increased. Specific heat is associated with heat retention and
bulk density regression coefficients.
distribution within the drying matrix and therefore is a function of both
SS3 SS6 SS9 BL3 BL6 BL9 available moisture and the food nutrient composition of the product
ω1 1.24932 1.20365 1.27849 1.18210 1.25091 1.21943 (Aprajeeta et al., 2015). As the drying progresses, moisture is lost
ω2 0.19367 0.12690 0.18107 0.11305 0.19320 0.14019 together with the volatile food constituents, and intercellular links are
0.26110 0.03645 0.28152 − 0.00223 0.26234 0.09469
ω3 broken due to the creation of voids. This decreases the heat transfer and
R2 0.99997 0.99067 0.99998 0.99529 0.99970 0.99659
its rate within the matrixes (Raigar and Mishra, 2016). Therefore the
specific heat decreases due to the tortuosity factor. For all treatment, the

Table 9
particle density regression coefficients.
SS3 SS6 SS9 Untreated BL3 BL6 BL9

ω1 1.36283 1.36155 1.36266 1.36307 1.36324 1.36289 1.36211

ω2 0.19368 0.19270 0.19361 0.19415 0.19447 0.19382 0.19285
ω3 0.28169 0.27535 0.28076 0.28262 0.28323 0.28188 0.27777
R2 0.99998 0.99997 0.99998 0.99997 0.99997 0.99997 0.99995

Fig. 12. Evolution of the porosity with moisture content.

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Table 10
Porosity regression coefficients.
SS3 SS6 SS9 Untreated BL3 BL6 BL9

ĸ1 0.06463 0.06866 0.06245 0.06186 0.07485 064,600 0.06608

ĸ2 0.38871 0.0.6225 − 0.01679 − 0.42986 0.89715 0.36855 0.52344
R2 0.99369 0.98967 0.99718 0.99922 0.98357 0.99334 0.99159

Fig. 13. Variation in shape factor with moisture evolution.

Table 11
Roundness factor regression coefficients.
SS3 SS6 SS9 Untreated BL3 BL6 BL9

∊ 2.7331 2.73704 2.7229 2.71538 2.72497 2.73585 2.74152

γ 1.17824 1.05075 1.15493 1.13793 0.86032 1.06014 1.03406
R2 0.99668 0.98114 0.98318 0.98232 0.99158 0.9804 0.97435

specific heat capacity ranged from 2288 to 1028 J/kg ◦ C, similar to other
food materials (Turgut et al., 2009). Treatment methods affected the
particular heat from 60.7 % w.b moisture content, but these values
attain almost the same value as they dry to equilibrium moisture con­
tents. The specific heat values were correlated to the moisture content as
a rational function as follows.
( )
α1 + α2 XXo
(28)
Cp = ( )
1 + α3 XXo
where α1, α2 and α3 are regression coefficients given in Table 12.
The thermal diffusivity value indicates the efficiency of heat energy
transport within the potato slice as it receives heat from the surrounding
air. This thermal property is related to the thermal conductivity and
specific heat. Therefore, it is controlled by the magnitude of their values.
In this case, the thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity
decreased but the thermal diffusivity increased, showing that the
magnitude of decrease of thermal conductivity was lower than that of
the specific heat capacity. Jayalakshmy and Philip (Jayalakshmy and
Philip, 2010) have found out that thermal diffusivity characteristics in
biological materials are inconsistent. While it can increase in some dried
materials, it decreases in others.
Thermal Effusivity: The values of the thermal effusivity ranged
from 17. 6–7.93 W⋅S1/2⋅m− 2⋅K− 1 as shown in Fig. 16. This value is far
much lower than materials like water (1600 W⋅S1/2⋅m− 2⋅K− 1), fresh
leaves (675 W⋅S1/2⋅m− 2⋅K− 1 to 750 W⋅S1/2⋅m− 2⋅K− 1) or polymers
(400–1500 W⋅S1/2⋅m− 2⋅K− 1) but its within the range stipulated for in­
sulators (10–400 W⋅S1/2⋅m− 2⋅K− 1). However the values are higher than
that of the static air (5.0 W⋅S1/2⋅m− 2⋅K− 1) or agricultural soil (1.38–4.01
W⋅ S1/2⋅m− 2⋅K− 1) as presented by Oladunjoye and Sanuade (Plant,
2012). The lower the thermal effusivity value, the longer the surface
temperature will take to equilibrate with the surrounding temperature
thermodynamically. According to Jayalakshmy and Philip (Jaya­
lakshmy and Philip, 2010), low effusivity is associated with higher ca­
pacity to retain absorbed heat which is slowly given off into the

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Fig. 14. Evolution of the specific heat capacity with moisture content.

Fig. 15. Evolution of the thermal diffusivity with moisture content.

environment. Juxtaposing this value with the relatively high specific temperature will take to thermodynamically equilibrate with the sur­
heat capacity of the products, it showed that agricultural crops during rounding temperature. The evolution of the thermal diffusivity with
drying can act as a good heat sink. The implication is that heat loss by moisture content is corroborated as modified linear function follows.
the product to the environment during heating period can be neglected ( )
X
because most of the absorbed heat is transferred directly to the cooler e = ψ1 + ψ2 (29)
Xo
bound and unbound water vapour that initiates the moisture removal
process. This observation is important in modelling the heat and mass
where ψ1 and ψ2 are the regression coefficients given in Table 13.
transfer process during drying. However during prolonged off sunshine
period in the night (no heating), the dried material temperature be­
4. Conclusion
comes higher than the ambient air temperature due to absorbed heat
and very low thermal effusivity. Therefore this heat absorbed by the
Thermo-physical data of sweet potato pre-treated with 6 % saline
material is effused slowly to the ambient air until thermodynamic
solution or blanched at different time duration was studied using a solar
equilibrium is reached. The ease this occurs might determine the speed
dryer with glycerine as thermal storage. Drying of the various pre-
rewetting of the product will occur after giving off its heat. This might
treated potato slices took 8–14 h to attain equilibrium moisture level
give an idea of how to manage or solve the problem of rewetting in solar
under the variable external drying conditions. Dimensionless volume
drying that prolongs the drying process and allows mould growth on the
shrinkage, bulk density, particle density, specific heat, thermal diffu­
product. The lower the thermal effusivity value, the longer the surface
sivity, and thermal effusivity was determined as secondary data from the

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Fig. 16. Evolution of the thermal effusivity with moisture content.

Table 12
Specific heat regression coefficients.
SS3 SS6 SS9 Untreated BL3 BL6 BL9

α1 0.46846 0.33880 0.37275 0.43173 0.28259 0.26982 0.27777

α2 791.068 877.680 805.25 846.057 907.960 814.970 800.131
α3 2540.77 2159.92 2261.01 2261.01 2008.08 1994.61 2011.29
R2 0.99144 0.98282 0.98274 0.98315 0.98744 0.98641 0.99195

Table 13
Effusivity regression coefficients.
SS3 SS6 SS9 Untreated BL3 BL6 BL9

ψ1 10.9370 10.2704 10.5253 10.4986 10.1542 10.34472 10.0737

ψ2 0.62670 0.72367 0.69464 0.68882 0.74064 0.71088 0.75188
R2 0.98788 0.98044 0.98046 0.98013 0.98588 0.98476 0.98813

measurement of the thickness, diameter of the sweet potato cylinders,
and moisture loss data. The initial shrinkage determined as a function of
normalized volume was zero at the initial moisture content but
increased as the volume of the sweet potato shrinks up to maximum
values of 49.01 – 59.70 %. Treated samples with 6 % saline solution lost
more volume compared to others. Volume shrinkage coefficient for solar
dried potato ranged from 1.03 to 1.16. The intrinsic bulk and particle
density of different samples increased gradually with almost the same
values, but the difference becomes more pronounced as the drying
progresses, although this difference disappears and becomes insignifi­
cant (p < 0.05) as they attain equilibrium moisture level. The porosity of
the treated samples decreased with moisture content while it increased
with untreated samples. The specific heat capacity and thermal effu­
sivity decreased with moisture content while the thermal diffusivity
increased. The regression model for shrinkage and porosity were best
fitted to a non linear power function, while bulk and particle density is
best fitted to a logarithmic non linear function. Additional, the specific
heat capacity was bettered fitted to a non linear rational function while
modified linear function best fitted the thermal effusivity. All the above
functions showed a high level of association between the various
properties with the normalized moisture content with R2 values 0f
0.96301 to 0.99998. The two term exponential model best fitted the
drying kinetics of drying the sweet potato under variable external con­
ditions and pre- treatment. The obtained results will be useful in the
design of solar dryers and also in the primary processing potato chips
using solar dryers in agro – food industries. In future the heat and mass
transfer analysis of the drying process could be carried out with nu­
merical simulation analysis to be able to project the obtained results
under different variable external conditions.
Funding
The authors Ndukwu, Onyenwigwe and Abam wishes to acknowl­
edge the supported of the National Research Fund (NRF) under Tertiary
Educational Trust Fund (TETFund), Abuja (Grant number EIT/03/18).
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
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