[en] 1-cm strawberry slices were partially airflow-dried at 50 °C, to reach 0.25 g H2O/g db. Optimized DIC treatment was performed at 350 kPa for 10 s. The final drying stage of these DIC-expanded slices was achieved from 0.25 to 0.1 g H2O/g db (dry basis) using intermittent Pulsed Micro-Wave Drying PMWD to prevent from the paradoxical step of coupled conduction heat transfer with deep generation and transfer of vapor. PMWD was defined at constant 100 W for 3.25±0.05 g with constant active time ton maintained at 2 s, and tempering time toff ranged between 2 and 10 s, or with a continuous way. By decreasing both energy consumption and total drying time of DIC-expanded slices using intermittent microwave, the whole cost significantly decreased to be much lower than the conventional MWD drying, with a great increasing of the quality. (Author)

[en] This research work is about dehydrofreezing assisted by DIC treatment as an innovative conservation process of apple fruits. Samples previously dehydrated and DIC treated were frozen at -30 °C and at two different practical freezing rates. The effects of sample water content (W) and practical freezing rate (PFR) on freezing characteristics and apple texture were examined. Thaw exudate water (TEW) of 200% and 100% db samples was approximately 3 g/100 g water. Whereas, it was lower than 0.5 g/100 g water for samples with 30% db W during thawing at 4 °C. Moreover, the impact of PFR on TEW was significant and very important only for high W samples. For samples whose water content was lower than 100% db, firmness was as higher as the W was lower, without any significant impact of PFR. (Author)

[en] Apple samples were submitted to partially drying prior to freezing. Then, quality assessments were achieved in order to evaluate the quality of these various frozen samples during frozen-storage. Significant positive effects of water content were observed on thaw exudate water and total color difference of dehydrofrozen/thawed apples. Total polyphenol content and total flavonoid content losses were important for samples without any dehydration pretreatment. They noticeably decreased when water content decreased during the whole period of storage. Thus, a partial removal of water prior to freezing is a relevant way to maintain the stability of fruit quality during long-term frozen-storage. (Author)

[en] This study is related to the work on beneficiation of raw phosphates by thermal processing (selective vaporization). More precisely it deals with the ability of a calcium-aluminium phosphate (ores from Thies) to vaporize selectively as phosphorus pentoxide and uranium contents. Experiments are performed on liquid samples at Tsub(f)< T<2000⁰C in vacum (p < 1 torr) or in air. Both uranium and phosphorus pentoxide vaporize quite selectively up to 1600⁰C with approximately the same rate of vaporization. At higher temperatures only calcic and aluminous compounds remain as stable phases in the residuum

No abstract available

[en] In the present work, a theoretical model of a chemical moving bed reactor for gasifying coal with steam is developed. The heat used to drive the endothermic reaction is provided by a high temperature nuclear reactor. The model describes the complex physical and chemical processes taking place in the multiphase moving bed using mass and energy balances and gives information about the rates of the chemical reaction and physical transport processes. The dependence of the reactor performance on control parameters is also studied. (authors)