Thin layer modelling of Gelidium sesquipedale solar drying process

The effect of air temperature and air flow rate on the drying kinetics of Gelidium sesquipedale was investigated in convective solar drying. Drying was conducted at 40, 50 and 60 °C. The relative humidity was varied from 50% to 57%, and the drying air flow rate was varied from 0.0277 to 0.0833 m3/s. The expression for the drying rate equation is determined empirically from the characteristic drying curve. Thirteen mathematical models of thin layer drying are selected in order to estimate the suitable model for describing the drying curves. The two term model gives the best prediction of the drying curves and satisfactorily describes the drying characteristics of G. sesquipedale with a correlation coefficient R of 0.9999 and chi-square (χ2) of 3.381 × 10−6.