Effect of tray dryer’s independent variables (drying temperature and air velocity) on the quality of olive pomace and system’s energy efficiency

In this study, the effects of drying temperature (70, 80, 90°C) and air velocity (0.5, 1.8 m/s) of hot air drying (tray drying) on quality of dried 2-phase olive pomace and system’s energy efficiency were investigated. The drying experiments were carried out in a tray dryer. The effects of drying conditions were evaluated with analyzing drying time, the primary and secondary oxidation and calculating specific moisture extraction rate (SMER), moisture extraction rate (MER) and specific energy consumption (SEC). The results showed that increase in drying temperature and decrease in air velocity led to decrease in quality of dried olive pomace. Keywords: Waste valorization, 2-phase olive pomace, Tray dryer, Energy efficiency, oxidation stability