Influence of External and Intrinsic Parameters on Convective Drying of Cassava Cubic Samples

This work aims to study the behavior of cassava subjected to convective drying, taking into account the external temperature and varying the dimensions of the cubic-shaped samples. The temperatures used are 40°C, 50°C, 60°C and 70°C. The results show that drying is faster at higher temperatures. For example, for cubes with a side of 1 cm, drying takes 240, 320, 600 and 520 minutes at 40°C, 50°C, 60°C and 70°C respectively. For cubes of 1.5 cm, the drying times are longer: 380, 510, 520 and 630 minutes. The drying rate curves show that the rate increases with temperature, reaching higher peaks at 70°C. In comparison, smaller samples dry faster than larger ones, especially at higher temperatures. At 40°C, the influence of size is less noticeable, but at higher temperatures (50°C, 60°C, 70°C), sample size becomes more significant. For example, at 70°C, 1 cm, 1.5 cm and 2 cm cubes dry in 240, 380 and 480 minutes, respectively. In summary, higher temperatures speed up drying, but lower temperatures slow down drying, but it can preserve the nutritional quality of cassava. Small cassava cubes dry faster than large ones, especially at higher temperatures.