Ultrasonics 44 (2006) e523e527 www.elsevier.

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Food drying process by power ultrasound

S. de la Fuente-Blanco *, E. Riera-Franco de Sarabia, V.M. Acosta-Aparicio, rez A. Blanco-Blanco, J.A. Gallego-Jua
stica, CSIC, Serrano 144, 28006 Madrid, Spain Instituto de Acu Available online 9 June 2006

Abstract Drying processes, which have a great signicance in the food industry, are frequently based on the use of thermal energy. Nevertheless, such methods may produce structural changes in the products. Consequently, a great emphasis is presently given to novel treatments where the quality will be preserved. Such is the case of the application of high-power ultrasound which represents an emergent and promising technology. During the last few years, we have been involved in the development of an ultrasonic dehydration process, based on the application of the ultrasonic vibration in direct contact with the product. Such a process has been the object of a detailed study at laboratory stage on the inuence of the dierent parameters involved. This paper deals with the development and testing of a prototype system for the application and evaluation of the process at a pre-industrial stage. Such prototype is based on a high-power rectangular plate transducer, working at a frequency of 20 kHz, with a power capacity of about 100 W. In order to study mechanical and thermal eects, the system is provided with a series of sensors which permit monitoring the parameters of the process. Specic software has also been developed to facilitate data collection and analysis. The system has been tested with vegetable samples. 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Power ultrasound; Ultrasonic dehydration; Food processing; Drying

1. Introduction At the present time, consumption of dehydrated food has experienced a noticeable increase in its demand on the market. Conventional dehydration methods based on hot-air drying are widely used but they can deteriorate the quality of the nal product [1,2]. Thus, undesired food avour, colour composition, vitamin degradation and the lost of essential amino acids may be produced. Scientists and innovative food centres are looking for emerging food processing technologies to enable the introduction of new, safer, fresher and better quality foods with longer life for local and export markets. Among emergent new technologies ultrasonic dehydration is very promising because the eects of power ultrasound are more signicant at low temperature which reduces the probability of food degradation [3]. In addition, ultrasound permits the removal of mois*

Corresponding author. E-mail address: susana@ia.cetef.csic.es (S. de la Fuente-Blanco).

ture content from solids without producing a liquid phase change [4]. Drying heat-sensitive food materials by power ultrasound is one example of the potential use of ultrasound in the food industry. When a high-intensity ultrasonic wave is directed coupled to the material to be dried, it travels through the solid medium causing a rapid series of alternative compressions and expansions, in a similar way to a sponge when it is squeezed and released repeatedly (sponge eect). The forces involved by this mechanical mechanism can be higher than surface tension which maintains the moisture inside the capillaries of the material creating microscopic channels which may make the moisture removal easier. In addition, ultrasound produces cavitation which may be benecial for the removal of moisture strongly attached [5]. Other eects to be considered are the variation of viscosity, surface tension and the deformation of the porous solid material [6]. This last eect is responsible for the creation of microscopic channels, reducing the diusion boundary layer and increasing the convective mass transfer in foodstu. Nevertheless,

0041-624X/$ - see front matter 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ultras.2006.05.181

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there is not experimental evidence to conrm which of the mechanisms involved in the ultrasonic dehydration process is dominant. This is one of the main reasons why the optimization of this new technological process is under development. Therefore, a deeper knowledge of these basic mechanisms is required. The aim of this work is to present an optimized prototype of a multi-sample ultrasonic dehydration system in direct contact with a rectangular vibrating plate. The plate is driven by a power ultrasonic vibrator at 20 kHz for the application and evaluation of the process at a pre-industrial stage. Future work will be concerned with the quantication of the main physical phenomena involved in the extraction of moisture by ultrasound through the porous solid media. This study will contribute to the improvement of the nal quality of the dried product. 2. Background For the last ten years the authors have been involved in the application of ultrasonic energy with respect to food dehydration. The promising results obtained have validated the potential use of ultrasonic vibrations, in direct contact with food samples, at laboratory scale [7]. Nevertheless, for industrial purposes the development of an ultrasonic drying system, capable of controlling the parameters of the process is required. By this means we aim: (a) to go deeply into the basic knowledge of the physical mechanisms involved in the removal of moisture from the inner part of porous materials by ultrasound; and (b) to develop and experiment with pre-industrial prototypes of ultrasonic dehydration systems. Fig. 1 shows a picture of the ultrasonic dehydration unit developed for mono-sample drying. The system basically consists of a piezoelectric vibrating transducer working at 20 kHz with a power capacity of 100 W driven by a power generator system. The experimen-

Fig. 2. Basic scheme of the direct contact multi-sample ultrasonic dehydration system.

tal results obtained with this system have contributed to determine the relative inuence of the physical parameters involved in the process [8] and, to evaluate the ultrasonic method by means of the determination of the dehydration kinetic of the process for dierent products [9]. Thus, the scientic knowledge reached up to now has allowed us to establish the starting points needed for the development of a multi-sample ultrasonic dehydration system at preindustrial stage in which food samples are in direct contact with a rectangular vibrating plate transducer. The system also is provided of a static pressure unit and a vacuum device to obtain a uniform treatment of the samples (Fig. 2). 3. Experimental set-up 3.1. Criteria for the design of the ultrasonic transducer For the generation and direct application of high-amplitude ultrasonic vibrations to the samples, an ultrasonic

Fig. 1. Experimental set-up of the mono-sample ultrasonic dehydration system.

Fig. 3. Vibration mode of the rectangular plate with eight nodal lines at 20 kHz simulated by FEM.

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(FEM). A rectangular aluminium plate of 308 mm 138.5 mm 18.5mm vibrating at 20 kHz with eight nodal lines parallel to the shorter side was selected (Fig. 3). The back face of the plate is grooved in a central section, parallel to its longer side, to homogenize the vibration amplitudes on its surface. In the design, the potential inuence of the application of a uniform pressure on the surface of the plate was also analyzed by FEM. No variation in the vibration mode of the plate was detected when a static pressure is applied homogeneously to all its surface. Fig. 4 shows the vibration amplitude of the plate along its longest axis (YY 0 axis). Thus, the ultrasonic dehydration procedure by direct contact together with suction, air ow at moderate temperatures and static pressure, was carried out. By means of this system it is possible to optimize the study of the main parameters involved in the ultrasonic drying process of vegetables and fruits.
Fig. 4. Vibration amplitude of the rectangular plate along its longest axis of symmetry (YY 0 -axis) at 20 kHz simulated by FEM.

3.2. Description of the multi-sample system The direct contact ultrasonic dehydration system with rectangular vibrating plate is schematically presented in Fig. 5. The system is constituted by the following parts: (a) treatment chamber, (b) ultrasonic power generator, (c) signals and power conditioner, (d) data acquisition unit and, (e) a PC to monitor and control the parameters of the process. Drying process takes place in the treatment chamber. The ultrasonic transducer is located at the upper part of the chamber. A parallelepipedic vacuum chamber, where the suction is applied, is xed parallel to the transducer

power generator, constituted by a transducer with a rectangular exural-vibrating plate and an electronic unit for driving the transducer, has been designed and developed. The transducer consists of an extensive rectangular plate driven at its centre by a piezoelectrically activated vibrator. The extensional vibrator, constituted by a piezoelectric sandwich and a mechanical amplier, drives the rectangular plate which vibrates exurally in one of its modes. For the correct design of the transducer, a 3D simulation was carried out by means of nite element methods

Fig. 5. Scheme of the direct contact ultrasonic dehydration system constituted by: the treatment chamber, the ultrasonic power generator, the signals and power conditioner, the data acquisition unit and the computer.

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100 90 80

plate. Its upper porous surface acts as a multi-sample holder and also facilitates the removal of the moisture extracted from the samples. A pressure cylinder pneumatically controlled by a regulator is xed at the bottom of the vacuum chamber and permits the application of a constant force at the interface transducer-samples. A forced-air generator, with ow-rate and temperature controlled, increases the removal of the internal moisture which is expelled to the lateral surfaces of the samples. The air velocity is controlled by PWM (pulse width modulation) and contrasted with a hot-wire anemometer in order to work at constant velocity by a proportional integral derivative (PID). The temperature of the samples measured with thermocouples, is recorded during the process and stored in a PC. The ultrasonic power generator driving the ultrasonic transducer is composed of an impedance matching unit, a power amplier and a resonant frequency control system. This system was specically developed to keep the power applied constant at the resonant frequency of the transducer during the process, independently of the variations of the acoustic impedance of the load. The ultrasonic generator has a maximum power capacity of about 250 W. The dierent parameters of the driving signal applied on the transducer (frequency, voltage, current and phase) were continuously monitored and stored in a PC. All the electro-mechanic and pneumatic devices installed in the treatment chamber are directly controlled by a PC by using a specic software based on LabView and Mathematica codes, and a signals and power conditioner by means of PWM. In addition, the ultrasonic drying system is able to carry out the dierent steps of the drying process automatically by means of a special software. The evolution of the dierent parameters involved in the process can also be analysed, (data treatment and processing) and if is necessary, transferred via internet to other work stations. In addition, the procedure permits the application, monitoring and control of the parameters of the process. All these advantages will allow us to carry out a more ecient analysis of the basic mechanisms involved in the ultrasonic dehydration process of foods. 4. Raw materials The vegetable samples used for drying in this work were carrots of cylindrical shape. However, future work will be extended to other kinds of products such as potatoes and apples. In this way, materials with dierent representative structural characteristics (a tuber, a root and a fruit) will be treated. The samples were cut into cylinders (24 mm in diameter and 8 mm in thickness). To prepare carrot samples for dehydration we follow some general rules: choose tender vegetables; wash them; remove any damaged areas and cut them into uniform sized pieces. In addition, samples were blanched during a certain amount of time in boiling water before being dried. This pre-treatment avoids enzyme attack and oxidation. Next, samples were stored in a refrigerator.

%Sample Weight

70 60 50 40 30 20 0 15 30 45 60 75 90

25W 50W 75W 100W 0W

t (min)

Fig. 6. Inuence of ultrasonic power on the dehydration kinetics process of carrot cylinders.

5. Results and discussion First experimental trials were carried out to study the inuence of ultrasonic power (0 W, 25 W, 50 W, 75 W and 100 W) in the kinetics of the dehydration process. In all trials the temperature and relative humidity were kept between 2426 C and 3046%, respectively. The applied static pressure was xed at 0.06 kg/cm2, the suction at 60 mbar and the air ow velocity and temperature at 2 m/s and 30 C, respectively. Moisture content of samples was measured by weighing them at xed intervals of 15 min. Fig. 6 shows the evolution of the weight percentage (%) during the drying process of a set of thirty carrot samples assisted by power ultrasound (+US) and without ultrasound (US). The results clearly show the strong inuence of the acoustic intensity in the process. The curves obtained up to a maximum power applied of 100 W reveal a direct increase of the drying eect with the acoustic intensity and no saturation was reached. The use of the present prototype of ultrasonic drying system has so conrmed the role of the main ultrasonic parameter when the other thermo-mechanical parameters (temperature, ow rate, suction, etc.) are kept constants. 6. Conclusions A new prototype of a multi-sample ultrasonic dehydration system based on the application of high-amplitude ultrasonic vibrations in direct contact with food samples at low temperatures and together with vacuum, forced-air and static pressure, at pre-industrial stage has been designed, constructed and tested. The system which represents a noticeable improvement with regard to our previous laboratory devices is looking to approach industrial treatments of dierent products. It is provided with electromechanical and pneumatic elements together with the software and hardware necessary for the automatic control

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and monitoring of all the variables of the process. In addition, the experimental system described in this paper will facilitate the advancement in the study of the mechanisms involved in the ultrasonic dehydration process to aim of extend the application of this technology. Acknowledgments This work has been supported by the following research projects of the Spanish National Plan of R&D+i: CICYTAGL2001-2774-C05-02 and MCYT-DPI2002-03409. The guez, D. Chaco n, A. Pinto authors are grateful to G. Rodr nez for their help in the design and developand I. Mart ment of the direct contact ultrasonic dehydration system. References
[1] A.S. Mujamdar, A.S. Menom, Drying of solids: Principles classication and selection of dryers, Handbook of Industrial Drying A (1995) 140.

[2] K.S. Jarayaman, D.K. Das Gupta, Dehydration of fruits and vegetablesRecent developments in principles and techniques, Drying Technol. 10 (1) (1992) 150. [3] T.J. Mason, Power ultrasound in food processing-the way forward, in: M.J.W. Povey, T. Mason (Eds.), Ultrasounds in Food Processing, Blackie Academic and Professional, London, 1998. zquez, T.S. Yang, J.C. Ga lvez, G. Rodr guez, [4] J.A. Gallego, F. Va shydration, Internacional Patent No PCT/ Procede et dispositif de de EP9601935 (1996). [5] E.S. Tarleton, R.J. Wakeman, Ultrasonically assisted separation process, in: M.J.W. Povey, T.M. Mason (Eds.), Ultrasounds in Food Processing, Blackie Academic and Professional, London, 1998. [6] E.S. Tarleton, The role of eld-assisted techniques in solid/liquid separation, Filtr. Sep. (May/June) (1992) 246253. rez, G. Rodr guez-Corral, J.C. Ga lvez-Moraleda, T.S. [7] J.A. Gallego-Jua Yang, A new high intensity ultrasonic technology for food dehydration, Drying Technol. 17 (3) (1999) 597608. metros [8] S. de la Fuente, E. Riera, J.A. Gallego, Estudio de los para n ultraso nica de vegetales, involucrados en el proceso de deshidratacio stica XXXV (1&2) (2004) 2530. Revista de Acu mez, V.M. Acosta, F. [9] S. de la Fuente, E. Riera, J.A. Gallego, T.E. Go zquez, Parametric study of ultrasonic dehydration process, ProVa ceedings of World Congress on Ultrasonics, WCU 2003, 1 (2003) 61 64. ISBN 2-9515619-8-9.