Determination of moisture diffusivity and activation energy in the convective drying of fish

The moisture diffusivity and activation energy of three tilapia fish varieties were determined under convective drying process (CDP). A locally fabricated drying system was used for the experiment at 60, 90/60 and 90 oC drying air temperatures. The drying rate showed falling rate period for all the drying processes with no sign of constant rate period. The moisture diffusivity values which increased with the increase in drying air temperature varied from 7.821 x 10-11 to 4.591 x 10-10 m2/s. The predicted Arrhenius constant and activation energy were 2.221 x 10-10 m2/s and 23.79 kJ/mol respectively