Heat and Mass Transfer in Shrimp Hot-Air Drying: Experimental Evaluation and Numerical Simulation

Shrimp is one of the most popular and widely consumed seafood products worldwide. It is highly perishable due to its high moisture content. Thus, dehydration is commonly used to extend its shelf life, mostly via air drying, leading to a temperature increase, moisture removal, and matrix shrinkage. In this study, a mathematical model was developed to describe the changes in moisture and temperature distribution in shrimp during hot-air drying. The model considered the heat and mass transfer in an irregular-shaped computational domain and was solved using the finite element method. Convective heat and mass transfer coefficients (57.0–62.9 W/m²∙K and 0.007–0.008 m/s, respectively) and the moisture effective diffusion coefficient (6.5 × 10⁻¹⁰–8.5 × 10⁻¹⁰ m²/s) were determined experimentally and numerically. The shrimp temperature and moisture numerical solution were validated using a cabinet dryer with a forced air circulation at 60 and 70 °C. The model predictions demonstrated close agreement with the experimental data (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msup><mrow><mi>R</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msup><mo>≥</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> 0.95 for all conditions) and revealed three distinct drying stages: initial warming up, constant drying rate, and falling drying rate at the end. Initially, the shrimp temperature increased from 25 °C to around 46 °C and 53 °C for the process at 60 °C and 70 °C. Thus, it presented a constant drying rate, around 0.04 kg/kg min at 60 °C and 0.05 kg/kg min at 70 °C. During this stage, the process is controlled by the heat transferred from the surroundings. Subsequently, the internal resistance to mass transfer becomes the dominant factor, leading to a decrease in the drying rate and an increase in temperatures. A numerical analysis indicated that considering the irregular shape of the shrimp provides more realistic moisture and temperature profiles compared to the simplified finite cylinder geometry. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis was performed using the validated model to assess the impact of the mass and heat transfer parameters and relative humidity inside the cavity on the drying process. The proposed model accurately described the drying, allowing the further evaluation of the quality and safety aspects and optimizing the process.