Mechanical engineering prof’s paper on food drying published

Grove City College professor of mechanical engineering Dr. Erik Bardy’s research on drying kinetics will be published in the ASME Journal of Heat Transfer. 

Bardy, along with professors Michel Havet and Olivier Rouaud of Nantes, France, published a paper titled “Drying Kinetics of Methylcellulose Gel vs. Mango Fruit in Forced Convection Drying With and Without Electrohydrodynamic Enhancement.” The paper stems from Bardy’s work with Grove City College’s European Study Center activity partner in France in 2014 and 2015.

Methylcellulose gel is a substance that can be used to simulate food products. The paper deals with validating the use of methylcellulose gel to approximate mango fruit in conventional and electrohydrodynamic assisted drying.  It was found that both the gel and mango fruit had similar drying kinetics.

The potential practical application of Bardy’s study of food drying techniques is on the storage and shipping of food. More efficient and effective drying can reduce costs and increase distribution of food around the world.