The hybrid drying of pistachios by solar energy and high electric field

Abstract

An innovative access to sun drying was tested in this study using a flat bed as product support and high electric field exciter. The moist unshelled pistachios were dried in electric fields under open sun and variation of weight was recorded. The results showed that the Logarithmic model was found to be the most suitable for describing drying curve of pistachios. By applying 10, 20 and 30 kV electric fields about 0.58 to 3.1 W for each kilograms moist pistachio in solar drying; the nuts moisture could be cut in 8 h to a proper level. The energy-efficient and lower cost of the drying apparatus with a simple needle and plate assembly are the advantages of this technique.