The drying kinetics of bird’s chillies in a fluidized bed dryer Original Research Article

The main objective of this study is to obtain the drying kinetics of bird’s eye chilli in fluidized bed dryer and to investigate the performance of the fluidized bed dryer in reducing the moisture content of dried chilli up to 16% as comparable to the dried chilli in the market. Futhermore, dried bird’s eye chillies tested in order to determine the suitability of using a fluidized bed dryer compared to sun drying. Drying experiments conducted at bed depths of 2 cm and 4 cm with air velocities of 0.85 m/s, 0.97 m/s and 1.09 m/s, and operating temperatures of 50 °C, 60 °C and 70 °C. Results showed that bed depth, air velocity and operating temperature enhanced the kinetics of drying of bird’s eye chilli. The drying rate obtained divided into several periods that includes, the initial transient period, first falling rate period and second falling rate period. Besides, the first and second critical moisture content were determined and later used in thin layer analysis. Comparing the dried products, it observed that the bird’s eye chillies dried using fluidized bed dryer were better in quality compared to those dried under the sun.