The Isothermal Sorption Measurement and the Isosteric Heats Determinations for the South Algerian Date Varieties

Abstract

The equilibrium water content of a product to be dried is essential during a forced convection solar drying and storage operation. These values are often taken from the so-called isothermal sorption curves. The isotherms determination is an essential step to know the distribution and the intensity of the water connections in the products. They make it possible to determine the products final water content to be reached in order to optimize the drying conditions and give valuable information on the hygroscopic equilibrium. As a result, this experimental study aims to determine the physicochemical components' and the desorption isotherms curves for deferent date type L'hmira, Bamakhlouf and Tegazza from the Touat region, in South-West Algeria, using the saturated salt solution method. The experiment is carried out for three temperature values 40 C, 50 C and 60 C, to study the influence of the temperature on the equilibrium curves of the product and finally to describe the isothermal moisture desorption for deferent date types for three temperatures using known models of GAB, SMITH, LANGMUIR and OSWIN.