Author
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Lyn, Margaret |
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YING, DANYANG - Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) |
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Submitted to: Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 1/11/2010 Publication Date: 2/17/2010 Citation: Lyn, M.E., Ying, D. 2010. Drying Model for Calcium Alginate Beads. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research. 49(4):1986-1990. Interpretive Summary: It has been shown that the time dependence of the water loss from alginate beads, over almost the entire drying range, can be described by a single simple expression, (1-t/tc)2/3. The parameter tc is easily estimated from the physical parameters of water vapor alone. An explanation of this surprising fact might be that the surface of the bead is covered by a thin layer of free water. As this water evaporates, it is continuously renewed by fresh water expelled from the interior of the shrinking beads. The calcium alginate beads dry essentially as a water droplet. Technical Abstract: The dehydration of freshly prepared calcium alginate beads is observed to have a simple power-law time dependence. The ratio of the water content, M(t), to the initial water content, Mo, can be expressed as, M(t)/Mo = (1-t/tc)3/2. The parameter tc is quite insensitive to the composition of the alginate including the degree of cross linking. Using a simple model, tc can be estimated from the properties of water vapor, the initial water content, and the relative humidity |
