Abstract

In food processing, drying is an important unit operation for preserving the product quality by moisture content reduction. However, some drying processes suffer from technical and economical drawbacks mainly related to low process efficiency, high energy cost, and product quality degradation. Drying food products using dehumidified air at low temperature is one of the smart options to solve the abovementioned problems. This review presents some challenges and opportunities for dehumidifying air to enhance the driving force for drying. The potential of some solid materials, namely zeolite, silica-based materials, activated carbons (ACs), and other biomass-based materials, as moisture adsorbents for air dehumidification in food drying applications is also discussed. This paper also comprehensively reviews the recent perspectives and emerging technologies in the development of efficient adsorbent materials for air dehumidification, moisture adsorption–desorption characteristics, and its potential for food drying application. Moreover, some crucial parameters for advancing the research and development of adsorptive dehumidification systems are criticized in this review paper.

摘要

在食品加工中，干燥是通过降低水分含量来保持产品质量的重要单元操作。然而，一些干燥工艺存在技术和经济缺陷，主要与工艺效率低、能源成本高和产品质量下降有关。在低温下使用除湿空气干燥食品是解决上述问题的明智选择之一。本综述提出了除湿空气以增强干燥驱动力的一些挑战和机遇。还讨论了一些固体材料，即沸石、二氧化硅基材料、活性炭 (AC) 和其他生物质基材料作为食品干燥应用中空气除湿的水分吸附剂的潜力。本文还全面回顾了开发用于空气除湿的高效吸附材料、水分吸附-解吸特性及其在食品干燥应用中的潜力的最新观点和新兴技术。此外，这篇评论文章批评了一些促进吸附式除湿系统研究和开发的关键参数。