RESEARCH OF APRICOT DRYING PROCESS IN SOLAR DRYERS

Abstract

By the nature of the interaction between the moisture of the dried apricots and the drying agent, the regularity of the change in the average moisture content and the average temperature of the dried apricots from the drying time has been experimentally established. Three stages of the apricot drying process have been experimentally revealed: wet, hygroscopic and equilibrium. The duration of the stage of drying processes under the influence of solar radiation was taken: wet - 25 hours; hygroscopic - 60 hours.

In this article, according to the magnitude of the drying rate, the periods of the drying process are revealed: increasing; falling. The technology of the apricot drying process has been established: to dry the apricots in direct solar dryers until the end of the wet drying stage, so that the moisture content reaches    thereafter, continue drying in indirect solar dryers, which do not have direct solar radiation on the surface of the dried apricots.