A food technician has a laboratory-scale dryer that is used to dry small quantities of materials...

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A food technician has a laboratory-scale dryer that is used to dry small quantities of materials for testing purposes. In one set of experiments, material is being dehydrated to be used as a potential ingredient in a dried mixture for campers and hikers. After several test runs with one batch of material having an initial moisture content of 85.3% by weight, the technician has been able to set the dryer conditions so that after 10.5 hours of gentle drying the final product moisture is 14.0%. The product specifications require the final moisture to be 14% ± 2.0% (i.e., the final moisture should be in the range of 12% to 16 %). He continues to do tests under these conditions using 4.50 kg of starting material until he runs out of it. At this point, he obtains a second batch of material, which has a moisture content of 1.5% higher than the moisture content of the first batch that was used. The technician decides to dry the new batch of material under exactly the same conditions as he used with the first batch. He figures that since the moisture content of the new batch of material is 1.5% higher than the original batch, the moisture of the dried material from the second batch will be 1.5% higher than it was before. This means that the final moisture content of the second batch of material would still be within the specified limits. When he removes the dried second batch of material from the dryer after 10.5 hours, he is completely surprised to find that the moisture of the second batch of product is not at all what he expected. At this point, he comes to your office wanting to discuss the rather puzzling situation. (7 marks total) a. What moisture would you actually get for the second batch of material if the initial dryer settings were left untouched? Express your answer as a percent moisture to one decimal place. (5 marks) b. What should the technician do to have the second batch reach the desired moisture level? (2 marks) A food technician has a laboratory-scale dryer that is used to dry small quantities of materials for testing purposes. In one set of experiments, material is being dehydrated to be used as a potential ingredient in a dried mixture for campers and hikers. After several test runs with one batch of material having an initial moisture content of 85.3% by weight, the technician has been able to set the dryer conditions so that after 10.5 hours of gentle drying the final product moisture is 14.0%. The product specifications require the final moisture to be 14% ± 2.0% (i.e., the final moisture should be in the range of 12% to 16 %). He continues to do tests under these conditions using 4.50 kg of starting material until he runs out of it. At this point, he obtains a second batch of material, which has a moisture content of 1.5% higher than the moisture content of the first batch that was used. The technician decides to dry the new batch of material under exactly the same conditions as he used with the first batch. He figures that since the moisture content of the new batch of material is 1.5% higher than the original batch, the moisture of the dried material from the second batch will be 1.5% higher than it was before. This means that the final moisture content of the second batch of material would still be within the specified limits. When he removes the dried second batch of material from the dryer after 10.5 hours, he is completely surprised to find that the moisture of the second batch of product is not at all what he expected. At this point, he comes to your office wanting to discuss the rather puzzling situation. (7 marks total) a. What moisture would you actually get for the second batch of material if the initial dryer settings were left untouched? Express your answer as a percent moisture to one decimal place. (5 marks) b. What should the technician do to have the second batch reach the desired moisture level? (2 marks)

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a If the technician uses the same drying conditions for the second batch of material without adjusti... View the full answer