The Drying Rate of Chlorella pyrenoidosa Using an Oven in  Bioethanol Production

Megawati; Astrilia Damayanti; Putri Radenrara D. A.; Pradnya Irene N.; Khusnul Hotimah; Yudha Satriawan

Authors

Megawati Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia
Astrilia Damayanti Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia
Putri Radenrara D. A. Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia
Pradnya Irene N. Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia
Khusnul Hotimah Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia
Yudha Satriawan Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia

Keywords:

Chlorella pyrenoidosa, Drying rate, Newton model, Oven, Page model

Abstract

The production of bioethanol from microalgae goes through several stages, including cultivation, harvesting, drying, storage, and conversion to bioethanol. Nearly 40% of the total energy consumed in the bioethanol production from microalgae is from drying. This research aims to study the drying rate model of Chlorella pyrenoidosa using an oven. The drying is carried out at the temperatures of 50, 60, and 70 °C. The initial moisture content of Chlorella pyrenoidosa was 317.798% dry weight. The results showed that at the temperatures of 50, 60, and 70 °C, the critical moisture content was 9.108, 7.583, and 6.93% dry weight, while the equilibrium moisture content was 3.172, 3.158, and 3.109% dry weight. The most optimal drying is at 70 °C and the drying rate gets faster as the temperature does too. The Page model is better at describing the drying rate of Chlorella pyrenoidosa using an oven than the Newton model. The drying speed constants (k) were 0.00056, 0.00061, and 0.00208, at 50, 60, and 70 °C, respectively.