Heat and moisture with thermodynamically interactive fluxes and volumetric changes. III. Computer simulation

A generally applicable computer program was developed for estimating transient state moisture concentration and temperature distributions and volumetric shrinkage of food undergoing drying. The program used a modified Luikov's model and numerical solution algorithms previously developed. An overall shape of food was assumed to be a body of rotation or infinite column, both with any arbitrary cross-sectional contour. Heat and moisture transfer in a spherical sample was simulated using the developed computer program. The simulation results agreed well with published experimental data. According to additional sample simulations, convective surface mass transfer coefficient and moisture diffusivity influenced heat and moisture transfer in an oblate sample while convective surface heat transfer coefficient and Soret diffusivity did not.