Drying of Scenedesmus obliquus: Experimental and modeling study

The biomass obtained from the cultivation of microalgae has been highlighted in the biotech scenario by its huge potential in a wide range of applications. The drying process is an important step in the production of biomass, because it allows obtaining stable and storable product for further processing. In this work, an analysis of the drying process of the microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus in thin layer in two areas was carried out, one referent to the experimental study and the other to the mathematical modeling and simulation. The operating conditions employed in the process were temperature of 50 degrees C and 60 degrees C and air velocity was held stable at 1 m s(-1) and 2 m s(-1). The experimental results showed that drying of the biomass in thin layer occurred mainly during the falling- rate period. The highest production of dry biomass occurred in the experiment at 60 degrees C and 2 m s(-1), case in which the drying time was lower. Heat and mass transfer in porous media model was applied to simulate the drying of the microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus in thin layer using the finite element method. The results reproduced satisfactorily the behavior observed in the experimental study.