Assessment of Experimental Energy Consumption and Drying Kinetics Analyses of Processing Waste Pea (Pisum sativum) by Convective Drying

Shelled pea is an important product due to the nutritional values it contains, and it is not possible to consume for a long time due to its high moisture content. For this reason, it can be consumed out of season after drying. In this study, the effect of potassium carbonate and microwave pretreatment was investigated by drying in a cyclone type convective dryer at air flow rates of 287.50, 575.00 and 862.50 m3/h to produce dry peas. The moisture content, drying rate, effective moisture diffusion, specific moisture absorption rate (SMER), specific energy consumption (SEC) and color properties of the drying processes were investigated. Air flows and pretreatments affected the drying kinetics, color and energy analysis of the drying processes. Drying rate values for drying processes varied between 0.01190-0.0237 g moisture/g dry matter per minute. It was determined that the effective moisture diffusion values varied between 7.60×10-8-1.24×10-7 m2/s. Drying processes did not preserve the color values compared to fresh (p<0.05). It has been determined that the SMER values of the drying processes vary between 4.10-8.10×10-4 kg/kWh and the SEC values vary between 1230.59-2451.15 kWh/kg. According to the findings obtained within the scope of the study, it is recommended to dry the shelled peas at 862.50 m3/h air flow rate and after dipping into potassium carbonate solution.