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The drying procedure is a key to producing pasta of intended quality and with a specific price tag. However, the existing models are mainly to describe the drying process in a steady state. A mathematical model of tube-shaped pasta drying in a conveyor belt dryer with a stepwise heating supply allows determining the curve of temperature and moisture gradients for a tube-shaped pasta unit. It also helps select the best settings to minimize the heat-power costs while maintaining the good quality of a dried product. The given model describes the drying process in a true-to-life form and ensures the convergence of calculations to observations (deviation: 12.5%). The model was utilized to design a transient drying protocol for conveyor belt dryers with a stepwise heating supply. The proposed dryer has high service reliability and produces uniformly dried high-quality product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]