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Drying is a complex process involving simultaneous heat and mass exchanges, and it is considered one of the oldest unit operations performed for preserving agricultural products. This process requires a significant amount of energy, and researchers have conducted different studies to improve energy efficiency, reduce drying time and preserve product quality. Dryers based on solar energy have gained more space, as this energy source is free and abundant. Thermal energy storage techniques can increase the reliability of solar energy for drying. These techniques allow the stored energy to be used in periods of no solar incidence. The complex processes involving each element of the solar drying process have made experiments quite expensive. Several studies have bet on the use of advanced techniques of computer simulation to minimize this problem. Studies have shown the effectiveness of using these techniques for different solar dryers, achieving satisfactory results. Therefore, this study aims to provide parameters, address different types of dryers, and emphasize the importance and methods of thermal energy storage. In addition, this study also addresses the use of computational numerical modeling to verify the phenomena of heat and mass transfer in drying systems and thermal energy storage.

Knowledge of the relationship between the equilibrium moisture content of the product and the air that involves it is essential to guarantee product quality and preserve its characteristics during storage. This trend can be studied by sorption isotherms. Thus, this study aimed to obtain desorption and adsorption isotherms of soybean grains to determine the mathematical model that best fits the experimental data and analyze the hysteresis phenomenon. Soybean grains with a moisture content of 21.95% (db) were used to verify the desorption process. The grains were dried until 3.50% (db) for the adsorption process. The static-gravimetric method was employed to determine the equilibrium moisture content of the grain at different temperatures (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50°C) and relative humidity levels (0.10 to 0.92%). Eight mathematical models were fitted to the experimental data. The modified Halsey model satisfactorily represented the desorption and adsorption phenomena of soybean grains. The equilibrium moisture content of soybean grains increased along with an increment in water activity. The increase in temperature led to a reduction in the equilibrium moisture content of soybean grains at a constant water activity. The equilibrium moisture content values obtained by desorption are higher than those obtained by adsorption, indicating the hysteresis phenomenon at the studied temperature range. The isotherms obtained for the desorption and adsorption process were classified as type III because of the high oil content in soybean grains.

ABSTRACT It is necessary to determine the sorption isotherms of seeds to develop adequate systems of storage and drying. The chemical composition of a product affects the sorption process; products with a high oil content adsorb a lower amount of moisture from the environment than products with a high carbohydrate content. Given the importance of the hygroscopicity of different agricultural products, this work aimed to determine, model and evaluate the difference between desorption isotherms of ryegrass and flax seeds grown at different temperature and relative humidity conditions. Ryegrass and flax seeds, which contained initial moisture contents of 10.4 and 8.7% (db), respectively, were used. The equilibrium moisture content of the seeds was determined using a static-gravimetric method at different temperatures (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 ± 1 °C) and relative humidity values (between 11 and 96 ± 2%), in three replicates. Seven mathematical models were adjusted to the equilibrium moisture content experimental data of the seeds. The Chung Pfost model best fit the experimental data of ryegrass seeds, whereas the Smith model was determined to be the best fit for flax seeds. The equilibrium moisture content of the seeds was found to decrease as the temperature increased when the value of water activity was constant. The desorption isotherms of ryegrass seeds (Type II) and flax seeds (Type III) are different, according to Brunauer’s classification, which is caused by the composition (starch and oil content) of each product.

ABSTRACT Studies about the thermodynamic properties of ryegrass seeds are necessary to improve post-harvest processes, relating the factors that affect product quality with the interaction between water and its chemical components. Given the importance of recognizing and understanding the intrinsic behavior of water in ryegrass seeds and providing data for the improvement of industrial drying equipment, this work aimed to calculate and evaluate the thermodynamic properties of moisture desorption of ryegrass seeds as a function of the equilibrium moisture content. Ryegrass seeds with initial moisture content of 10.4 (% d.b.) was used. The equilibrium moisture content of seeds was determined by static-gravimetric method at different temperatures (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 °C) and water activity values (between 0.10 and 0.90), in three repetitions. The Chung Pfost model presented the best fit to the experimental data. It was observed that the integral isosteric desorption heat increased as the equilibrium moisture content decreased, ranged from 2499.95 to 4241.96 kJ kg-1 in the moisture content range 2.80 to 22.10 (% d.b.). Differential entropy also increased with decreasing equilibrium moisture content, as did Gibbs free energy, being positive for all temperature studied, indicating that ryegrass seeds desorption is a non-spontaneous process. The enthalpy-entropy compensation theory was satisfactorily applied to the sorption phenomenon, being controlled by enthalpy.

ABSTRACT Dehydration of plant products extends its shelf life and reduces its mass and volume, which increases transport and storage efficiency and adds value to food. However, it is an intensive process in energy and time, making necessary the search for more efficient technologies, Thus, this study aimed to investigate the infrared ginger dehydration process by approaching the constant period of dehydration to the theory of mass and heat transfer process to the wet bulb thermometer and the decreasing period of dehydration to liquid diffusion theory. We submitted 5.0 mm thickness and 2.0 cm diameter slices to a dryer with infrared radiation at 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 °C until constant mass. Heat and mass transfer coefficients, and effective diffusion coefficient increased linearly with temperature increasing, resulting in values ranging from 69.40 to 92.23 W m-2 °C-1, 0.062 to 0.089 m s-1 and 3.81 x 10-9 to 1.13 x 10-8 m2 s-1. Variation of heat and mass transfer coefficients was described by a linear model and the variation of effective diffusion coefficient with the temperature was described with the Arrhenius relation, whose activation energy was 22.07 kJ mol-1. The modified Henderson and Pabis model was able to satisfactorily describe the period of decreasing drying rate.

The industrial seed treatment (IST) of soybeans is an economically recommended technique in agricultural production, providing protection against pests and initial pathogens. However, the real effects of pesticides about the quality of soybean seeds are still little known, since the adoption of the system is still recent by soybean farmers. The objective of this work was to evaluate the physiological quality of soybean seeds, treated or not, with insecticide/ fungicide new mixtures and stored for 240 days in a non-controlled and controlled environment. The completely randomized design was used, distributed in a 5 x 2 x 6 factorial scheme with four replications. The plot treatments consisted of soybean seeds belonging to the cultivar M - 7739 IPRO, treated with six different insecticide/ fungicide mixtures {(Cruiser®); (Amulet®); (MaximAdvanced®); (Cruiser®+ MaximAdvanced®); (MaximAdvanced® + Amulet®); (untreated control)}, stored in two environments {(laboratory – without control and cold room – with control (10 ± 2 ºC,45± 2% UR)} for eight months of storage with five evaluation times (0; 60; 120; 180 and 240days). The following tests were carried out: water content, germination, first count, seedling length and seedling dry mass. It was found that the chemical treatments negatively affect the germination potential of seeds, especially after 120 days of storage, regardless of the environment.Thiamethoxamand Thiamethoxam + Metalaxil; Tabendazole; Fludioxonil after storage provided the biggest reductions in seed viability and vigor after 240 days of storage. The cold room environment provides better conditions for the conservation of the germinative potential of soybean seeds.

Soybean (Glycine max) yield can be influenced by the choice of genetic material along with the use of an adequate plant population and selection of high-quality seeds. This study aimed to evaluate agronomic and physiological characteristics of soybean cultivars and their seeds, according to different plant populations. For this purpose, an experiment was conducted during the 2017/2018 harvest, under field conditions, in a randomized block design in a 3 x 4 factorial arrangement with four replicates. The treatments consisted of three soybean cultivars, TMG2181 IPRO, M 7739 IPRO, and BMX Power IPRO, at four population densities: 180,000; 220,000; 280,000 and 320,000 plants ha-1. The agronomic characteristics of the plants (plant height, stem diameter, number of branches, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per plant, number of seeds per pod, weight of a 100 seeds and seed yield) and physiological quality (germination, first count of germination, seedling length, dry mass of the shoot and root and accelerated aging test) of these seeds were evaluated. The experiment showed that the agronomic characteristics of soybean cultivars and their seeds varied according to the genotypes, and that these phenotypic expressions can be altered according to the plant population. The indeterminate cultivar BMX Power IPRO obtained higher seed yield compared to the semi-determinate and determinate cultivars M 7739 IPRO and TMG2181 IPRO, mainly due to their field conformation and size. The indeterminate cultivar BMX Power IPRO showed higher average germination and seed hardiness and produced normal seedlings with good initial growth rate and dry weight. The yield and quality of soybean seeds were not affected by plant population.