Comprehensive study on potato drying in convective air dryer: experimental observations, mathematical modeling, and model validation

We studied the drying kinetics of sliced potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) using a tray dryer. An experiment was conducted on how the drying rate was impacted by air temperature, sample thickness, and air velocity. The study was conducted under varying temperature ranges (50°C, 60°C, and 70°C), air velocities (0.6 ms−1, 0.7 m s−1, and 0.8 m s−1), and potato slice thickness (2 mm, 4 mm, and 6 mm). The findings revealed that a higher air temperature was correlated with an increase in the drying rate, while thicker layers demonstrated a decrease in the drying rate. We further evaluated five mathematical models, with the Page Model emerging as the most suitable based on the lowest residual standard error (RSE) and Akaike's Information…