Exploring drying kinetics and energy exergy performance of Mytilus Chilensis and Dosidicus gigas undergoing microwave treatment

Drying kinetics of food materials treated under microwave irradiation is a crucial process to predict moisture content, design, and optimize the drying characteristics. In this study, the performance energy and exergy of two products of Dosidicus gigas and Mytilus Chilensis were analyzed undergoing microwave treatment. Basically fitting of five well-known empirical models was tested for the two types of seafood. Statistical and empirical modeling of the drying curves revealed that the Page model was the most suitable to fit the drying experimental curves of Mytilus and Dosidicus gigas. Various microwave power outputs at (90,160,360, 600, and 750 W) were tested to evaluate their influence on drying kinetics and moisture diffusivity of seafood samples. Specific energy consumption varied from 1.76 to 11.42 and 5.20 to 11.34 MJ/kg for Dosidicus gigas and Mytilus Chilensis respectively. The best exergy and energy aspect appears to be at 90 W microwave power for the drying products. Also, the improvement potential increased with an increase in microwave power, and its values for both products were ranging from 0.58 to 29.70 kJ/kg water. The effective moisture diffusivity increased as well as the microwave generation increased. The activation energy was determined using Arrhenius Law with values of 9.34 and 9.36 kW/kg for Dosidicus gigas and Mytilus Chilensis respectively.