1. Comparative analysis of drying coffee beans using microwave and conventional oven.
- Author
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Javier Muñoz-Neira, Milton, Fernando Roa-Ardila, Manuel, and Rodrigo Correa-Celi, Carlos
- Subjects
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COFFEE beans , *ELECTROMAGNETIC radiation , *CAVITY resonators , *HEAT radiation & absorption , *MICROWAVE ovens , *COMPARATIVE studies , *DIFFUSION coefficients - Abstract
This article reports a comparative study of experimental results obtained during the drying of Castilla-variety coffee beans from Santander, Colombia. They were performed by two means: thermal and electromagnetic radiation. Twenty experiments were carried out, ten tests in a microwave cavity at 2,450 MHz-1,080W, and ten tests using a conventional electric oven with temperature controlled at 50±2°C. Experiments were made using samples of coffee beans with parchment, without parchment, and of the only-parchment. For each sample, dimensionless moisture ratio and diffusion coefficients were determined, according to the second law of Fick. We found that the diffusion coefficient of the samples dried in a microwave cavity was twenty-two times higher than the diffusion coefficient of samples dried with thermal radiation. Likewise, it was observed that samples in conventional oven showed a uniform temperature, in contrast with those heated by microwave radiation. Such results are useful for designing hybrid systems for drying coffee beans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020