Tray, tunnel and fluidised-bed drying sheet5-mark answer frameExplain tray and tunnel drying with their advantages and disadvantages.
How to lay out the answer. Follow the frame, then write it in your own words.
- 1 · Open in two lines. Tray and tunnel dryers dry pieces of fruits and vegetables with heated, moving air under control.
- 2 · Tray (cabinet) dryer.
- Insulated cabinet, stacked mesh trays, fan and heater; batch.
- Cheap and flexible; uneven drying, labour needed.
- 3 · Draw a tray dryer. [Sketch: fan → heater → air across stacked trays → exhaust]
- 4 · Tunnel dryer.
- Trolleys of trays move through a long hot-air tunnel; semi-continuous.
- Co-current (gentle, higher final moisture) or counter-current (drier product, scorching risk).
- 5 · Uses. Vegetable and fruit slices, leaves, dried vegetable mixes.
- 6 · Nutrition link. Cleaner and faster than sun drying, so more vitamin C and carotene survive.
- 7 · Close in one line. Tray dryers suit small units; tunnels suit large-scale drying.
Scoring tip: A small sketch of each dryer and the co-current vs counter-current point lift this answer.