The effects of air velocity and temperature on drying kinetics of oil palm fronds (OPF)

In the future, OPF is believed to be a very precious raw material since it can be a highly demanded commercial products and renewable energy. Due to this, effective drying method needs to be determined so that the fronds, which currently are left scattering to rotten in most of the oil palm plantations in Malaysia, are not abundantly wasted and they can be dried as to sustain their quality. Therefore, this research investigated the effects of two significant air drying conditions, which are temperature and air velocity, on the drying kinetics of OPF. The experiment used stirred fluidized bed dryer as an alternative to the existing drying methods since it has been proven to be efficient. Different temperatures, which are 60°C, 70°C and 90°C, and the air velocities of 1.45 ms−1 and 1.85 ms−1, were chosen in the experiment. The findings show that the higher the temperature, the shorter the drying time. Furthermore, the air velocity is only significantly effective to the drying rate when the operating air temperature is high.