Impact of the Instant Controlled Pressure Drop Treatment on Hot Air Drying of Cork Granules

Instant controlled pressure drop (DIC) is known to enhance drying kinetics of cork granules. The overall kinetics is limited by the internal mass transfer. Hence, the drying kinetics carried out at 50, 60, and 70°C allows the effective diffusivity values to be determined as 2.63E-10 to 4.50E-10 and 4.34E-10 to 6.99E-10 m2 s−1 for untreated and DIC-treated cork granules, respectively. Because the temperature dependence is represented by an Arrhenius-type relationship, the activation energy values are determined as 25.29–48.12 kJ/mol and 32.43–43.98 kJ/mol for untreated and DIC-treated cork granules, respectively.